Proverbs 15 is the fifteenth chapter of the Book of Proverbs in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Old Testament of the Christian

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

.Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012. The book is a compilation of several wisdom literature collections, with the heading in 1:1 may be intended to regard Solomon as the traditional author of the whole book, but the dates of the individual collections are difficult to determine, and the book probably obtained its final shape in the post-exilic period. This chapter is a part of the second collection of the book.

Text

The original text is written in

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. This chapter is divided into 33 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

are of the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...

, which includes the Aleppo Codex (10th century), and

Codex Leningradensis The Leningrad Codex ( la, Codex Leningradensis [Leningrad Book]; he, כתב יד לנינגרד) is the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible in Hebrew, using the Masoretic Text and Tiberian vocalization. According to its colopho ...

(1008). Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the ...

including 4Q103 (4QProv; 30 BCE – 30 CE) with extant verses 1–8, 19–31.Dead sea scrolls - Proverbs
/ref> There is also a translation into

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

known as the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...

, made in the last few centuries BC. Extant ancient manuscripts of the

version include

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(B;

\mathfrak

^B; 4th century),

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus ( Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscript ...

(S; BHK:

\mathfrak

^S; 4th century), and

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(A;

\mathfrak

^A; 5th century).

Analysis

This chapter belongs to a section regarded as the second collection in the book of Proverbs (comprising

Proverbs 10 Proverbs 10 is the tenth chapter of the Book of Proverbs in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012. The book is a compilation of sever ...

:1– 22:16), also called "The First 'Solomonic' Collection" (the second one in

Proverbs 25 Proverbs 25 is the 25th chapter of the Book of Proverbs in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012. The book is a compilation of several w ...

:1– 29:27). The collection contains 375 sayings, each of which consists of two parallel phrases, except for Proverbs 19:7 which consists of three parts.

Verse 1

:''A soft answer turns away wrath,'' ::''but a harsh word stirs up anger.'' *"Soft”: from the Hebrew adjective , ''rakh'', "soft; tender; gentle”; in conjunction to an "answer" provides a meaning of 'more than a mild response' but 'conciliatory response that restores good temper and reasonableness', as illustrated by Gideon in his answer ( Judges 8:1-3) that brings peace. *"Harsh": from the Hebrew noun , ''ʿetsev'', “pain, hurt” that functions as an attributive genitive referring to 'something that causes pain', as illustrated by Jephthah's harsh answer which led to war (

Judges 12 Judges 12 is the twelfth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Samuel,Gilad, ElonWho Really Wrote the Biblical Books of Kings and the Prophet ...

:1-6). This verse contrasts a conciliatory reply that soothes a situation leading to reasoned discussion and the acrimonious reply that inflames a situation and makes intelligent discussion impossible.

Verse 4

:''A gentle tongue is a tree of life,'' ::''but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.'' *"Gentle": in Hebrew literally, “a tongue of healing,” referring to 'speech that is therapeutic or soothing'. This saying points that conciliatory or healing speech promotes life, in contrast with twisted or perverse speech, which may cause injury and bring death (cf. Proverbs 18:21).

Verse 23

:''A man has joy by the answer of his mouth,'' ::''and a word spoken in due season, how good it is!'' *"The answer of his mouth": this term parallels to 'the good word spoken in season', so it would refer to "a proper or fitting answer".Notes on Proverbs 15:23 in NET Bible. This saying praises how a timely word brings satisfaction for both the speaker and the hearer(s), because words spoken out of "due season' would be ineffective and counter-productive.

References

Sources

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External links

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

translations: *
Mishlei - Proverbs - Chapter 15 (Judaica Press)
translation ith_Rashi's_commentary.html"_;"title="Rashi.html"_;"title="ith_Rashi">ith_Rashi's_commentary">Rashi.html"_;"title="ith_Rashi">ith_Rashi's_commentaryat_Chabad.org *__Christian_translations: *
''Online_Bible''_at_GospelHall.org
(ESV,_KJV,_Darby,_American_Standard_Version,_Bible_in_Basic_English)
Book_of_Proverbs_Chapter_15_King_James_Version
*__Various_versions {{DEFAULTSORT:Proverbs_15 Book_of_Proverbs_chapters.html" ;"title="Proverbs_15.html" ;"title="Rashi">ith_Rashi's_commentary.html" ;"title="Rashi.html" ;"title="ith Rashi">ith Rashi's commentary">Rashi.html" ;"title="ith Rashi">ith Rashi's commentaryat Chabad.org * Christian translations: *
''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Book of Proverbs Chapter 15 King James Version
* Various versions {{DEFAULTSORT:Proverbs 15 Book of Proverbs chapters">15