Proverbs 25:28

He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
He	אִ֝֗ישׁ 'Ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
rule	מַעְצָ֣ר ma'.Tzar	H4623	subjectively · noun, common masculine singular absolute
spirit	לְרוּחֽוֹ le.ru.Cho	H7307	wind · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
city	עִ֣יר 'ir	H5892	a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · noun, common feminine singular construct
down	פְּ֭רוּצָה Pe.ru.tzah	H6555	to break out (in many applications · verb, qal passive participle, feminine singular absolute
walls	חוֹמָ֑ה cho.Mah	H2346	a wall of protection · noun, common feminine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Proverbs 16:32 He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.
Proverbs 22:24 Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go:
Nehemiah 1:3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Je…
2 Chronicles 32:5 Also he strengthened himself, and built up all the wall that was broken, and raised it up to the towers, and another wall without, and repai…
1 Samuel 20:30 Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou has…
1 Samuel 25:17 Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 25:28–end

Here is, 1. The good character of a wise and virtuous man implied. He is one that has rule over his own spirit; he maintains the government of himself, and of his own appetites and passions, and does not suffer them to rebel against reason and conscience. He has the rule of his own thoughts, his desires, his inclinations, his resentments, and keeps them all in good order. 2. The bad case of a vicious man, who has not this rule over his own spirit, who, when temptations to excess in eating or drinking are before him, has no government of himself, when he is provoked breaks out into exorbitant passions, such a one is like a city that is broken down and without walls. All that is good goes out,…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 25:28

Such are exposed to the incursions of evil thoughts and successful temptations. Next: Proverbs Chapter 26

John Gill on Proverbs 25:28

He that hath no rule over his own spirit,.... His affections and passions, puts no restraint, unto them, as the word signifies; no guard against them, no fence about them, to curb his curiosity, to check his pride and vanity, to restrain his wrath and anger and revenge, and keep within due bounds his ambition and itch of vainglory; is like a city that broken down and without walls; into which the may go with pleasure, and which is exposed to the rapine and violence of everyone; and so a man that has no command of himself and passions, but gives the reins to them, is exposed to the enemy of souls, Satan and is liable to every sin, snare and temptation.

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 25:28–end

This verse, counselling restraint as to the spirit, is connected with the foregoing, which counsels to self-control as to enjoyment: A city broken through, now without walls - A man without self-control over his spirit. A "city broken down" is one whose wall is "broken," Ch2 32:5, whether it has met with breaches (פּרצים), or is wholly broken; in the former case also the city is incapable of being defended, and it is all one as if it had no wall. Such a city is like a man "who hath no control over his own spirit" (for the accentuation of the Heb. words here, vid., Thorath Emeth, p. 10): cujus spiritui nulla cohibitio (Schultens), i.e., qui animum suum cohibere non potest (Fleischer: עצר, R.…

The Church Fathers

"As a city broken down and without walls," etc. For if it does not have the wall of silence, the city of the mind lies open to the darts of the enemy. And as it casts itself outside through words, it exposes itself openly to the adversary; which he overcomes without effort, as much as the one who is conquered fights against herself through much talking.
— Bede, Commentary on Proverbs

And again "like a city that has its walls destroyed and is not fenced in, so is a man who does anything without counsel." And how injurious the absence of this is to a monk, the illustration and figure in the passage quoted shows, by comparing it to a city that is destroyed and without walls. Herein lies wisdom, herein lies intelligence and understanding without which our inward house cannot be built, nor can spiritual riches be gathered together, as it is said: "A house is built with wisdom, and again it is set up with intelligence. With understanding the storehouses are filled with all precious riches and good things."
— John Cassian, CONFERENCE 2:4

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Anger · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Proverbs 25:28

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 25:28–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 25:28

John Gill on Proverbs 25:28

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 25:28–end

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 25:28

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 25:28–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 25:28

John Gill on Proverbs 25:28

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 25:28–end

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 25:27-28

Rashi on Proverbs 25:27