“An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression.”
My Notes
What Does Proverbs 29:22 Mean?
The proverb identifies anger as a social contagion: an angry person stirs up strife (creates conflict where it didn't exist), and a furious person multiplies transgression (increases the volume of sin in every room they enter). Anger doesn't stay contained. It spreads.
"Stirreth up strife" (garah madon) means to provoke, to initiate quarrels. The angry person isn't responding to existing conflict. They're creating it. Their internal state becomes the external environment. They walk into a peaceful room and leave it divided.
"Aboundeth in transgression" (rab pesha) means the furious person overflows with offense. Not just their own sin — they generate sin in others. Their anger provokes anger. Their hostility breeds hostility. One furious person in a community multiplies the total amount of wrong being done.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Does strife tend to follow you — and could your emotional state be the common denominator?
- 2.How does one angry person change the atmosphere of an entire group? Have you witnessed this?
- 3.What's the difference between occasional anger and the chronic anger this proverb describes?
- 4.If anger is contagious, what practical steps can you take to stop exporting yours?
Devotional
An angry person doesn't just feel anger. They export it. They walk into a room and the room gets worse.
The proverb isn't about the person who occasionally loses their temper. It's about the person whose default state is anger — whose emotional baseline is hostility. That person doesn't just carry anger. They distribute it. Strife that didn't exist before they arrived materializes. Transgression that was below the surface erupts.
Anger is contagious. When one person in a group is furious, the temperature of the whole group rises. Arguments start. Sides form. Things get said that can't be unsaid. And the angry person is often the last one to realize they caused it. They think the world is hostile. But the world is reflecting them.
"Aboundeth in transgression" — the furious person doesn't just sin more. They create an environment where everyone sins more. Their anger gives others permission to be angry too. Their hostility normalizes hostility. One person's unchecked fury multiplies the total transgression in every relationship and community they touch.
Are you that person? Not occasionally angry — that's human. Chronically angry. Habitually hostile. The one whose presence raises the temperature. If strife follows you, the common denominator might not be the world. It might be you.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
An angry man stirreth up strife,.... In families, neighbourhoods, communities, churches, and commonwealths; that is, one…
See here the mischief that flows from an angry, passionate, furious disposition. 1. It makes men provoking to one…
furious Rather, wrathful, R.V. Comp. Pro 15:18; Pro 28:25.
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture