Proverbs 19:12

Pro 19:12 The king’s wrath [is] as the roaring of a lion; but his favour [is] as dew upon the grass.

Ver. 12. The king’s wrath is as the roaring of a lion.] Heb., Of a young lion, which, being in his prime, roars more terribly; sets up his roar with such a force that he amazeth the other creatures whom he hunteth, so that, though far swifter of foot than the lion, they have no power to fly from him. {a} Kings have long hands, strong clutches. Good therefore is the wise man’s counsel in Ecc 8:2-4. {See Trapp on "Pro 16:14"} {See Trapp on "Pro 16:15"}

{a} Ambros., Hexs., lib. vi. cap. 5.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pro 19:12. The king’s wrath is as the roaring of a lion — The words of a king in anger are as much to be feared as the roaring of a lion; but his favour is as dew upon the grass — Any token of his favour and kindness is as comfortable as the dew which refreshes the grass and herbs, parched by the hot beams of the sun.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19:12 A lion’s roar is a frightening prelude to life-threatening violence (cp. 20:2). Dew on the grass is soothing and contributes to growth (see 16:14-15).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

This is to the same purport with what we had Pro 16:14, Pro 16:15, and the design of it is, 1. To make kings wise and considerate in dispensing their frowns and smiles. They are not like those of common persons; their frowns are very terrible and their smiles very comfortable, and therefore it concerns them to be very careful that they never frighten a good man from doing well with their frowns, nor ever give countenance to a wicked man in doing ill with their smiles, for then they abuse their influence, Rom 13:3. 2. To make subjects faithful and dutiful to their princes. Let them be restrained from all disloyalty by the consideration of the dreadful consequence of having the government against them; and let them be encouraged in all good services to the public by the hopes of the favour of their prince. Christ is a King whose wrath against his enemies will be as the roaring of a lion (Rev 10:3) and his favour to his own people as the refreshing dew, Psa 72:6.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(Compare Pro 16:14-15; Pro 20:2). A motive to submission to lawful authority.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 12. The king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion] There is nothing more dreadful than the roaring of this tyrant of the forest. At the sound of it all other animals tremble, flee away, and hide themselves. The king who is above law, and rules without law, and whose will is his own law, is like the lion. This is strongly descriptive of the character of Asiatic sovereigns.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. as dew upon the grass] Comp. Pro_16:15; Psa_72:6.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion,.... Which is very terrible when hungry, and is after its prey, and has got it. Kings, especially tyrannical ones, are compared to lions; as Nebuchadnezzar by Jeremiah, Jer 4:17; and Nero by the Apostle Paul, Ti2 4:7; and the rage of such is very dreadful, as Ahasuerus's was to Haman. Jarchi interprets the king, of the holy blessed God. It may be applied to Jesus Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah; who is said to cry with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth; and whose wrath is terrible to wicked men, and even to the kings of the earth, Rev 5:5;

but his favour is as dew upon the grass; which refreshes and revives it, and causes it to grow and flourish: and so the favour and good will of a king to his subjects delights them, and causes joy and cheerfulness in them; and such an effect has the love of God and Christ on the children of men, Hos 14:6.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Anger. Is not their dominion enough? Having none to admonish them, they do not perceive their excesses.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

12. King’s wrath — The verse presents a striking picture of an Oriental despot, on whose smile or frown life or death depends. The word rendered lion means a young lion, said to be the strongest and fiercest. Comp. Pro_16:14; Pro_20:2; Pro_28:15. For the figure of dew, comp. Pro_16:15; Psa_72:6.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The king"s wrath is as the roaring of a lion, which inspires terror, as precluding danger and death. The same idea occurs in Pro_20:2. (comp. Amo_3:4, Amo_3:8) The Assyrian monuments have made us familiar with the lion as a type of royalty; and the famous throne of Solomon was ornamented with figures of lions on each of its six steps. (1Ki_10:19, etc.) Thus St. Paul. alluding to the Roman emperor, says, (2Ti_4:17) "I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion." "The lion is dead," announced Marsyas to Agrippa, on the decease of Tiberius (Josephus, "Ant.," 18:6, 10). The mondist here gives a monition to kings to repress their wrath and not to let it rage uncontrolled, and a warning to subjects not to offend their ruler, lest he tear them to pieces like a savage beast, which an Eastern despot had full power to do. But his favour is as dew upon the grass. In Pro_16:15 the king"s favour was compared to a cloud of the latter rain; here it is likened to the dew. (comp. Psa_72:6) We hardly understand in England the real bearing of this comparison. "The secret of the luxuriant fertility of many parts of Palestine," says Dr. Geikie ("Holy Land and Bible," 1:72, etc.), "lies in the rich supply of moisture afforded by the sea winds which blow inland each night, and water the face of the whole land. There is no dew, properly so called in Palestine, for there is no moisture in the hot summer air to be chilled into dewdrops by the coolness of the night, as in a climate like ours. From May till October rain is unknown, the sun shining with unclouded brightness day after day. The heat becomes intense, the ground hard; and vegetation would perish but for the moist west winds that come each night from the sea. The bright skies cause the heat of the day to radiate very quickly into space, so that the nights are as cold as the day is the reverse....To this coldness of the night air the indispensable watering of all plant life is due. The winds, loaded with moisture, are robbed of it as they pass over the land, the cold air condensing it into drops of water, which fall in a gracious rain of mist on every thirsty blade. In the morning the fog thus created rests like a sea over the plains, and far up the sides of the hills, which raise their heads above it like so many islands The amount of moisture thus poured on the thirsty vegetation during the night is very great. Dew seemed to the Israelites a mysterious gift of Heaven, as indeed it is. That the skies should be stayed from yielding it was a special sign of Divine wrath, and there could be no more gracious conception of a loving farewell address to his people than where Moses tells them that his speech should distil as the dew. The favour of an Oriental monarch could not be more boneficially conceived than by saying that, while his wrath is like the roaring of a lion, his favour is as the dew upon the grass." wOxr (ration), "favour," is translated by the Septuagint, to ilaron , and by the Vulgate, hilaritas, "cheerfulness", (as in Pro_18:22) which gives the notion of a smiling, serene, benevolent countenance as contrasted with the angry, lowering look of displeased monarch.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12 A murmuring as of a lion is the wrath of the king,

And as dew on plants is his favour.

Line 1 is a variation of Pro 20:2; line 2a of Pro 16:15. זעף is not the being irritated against another, but generally ill-humour, fretfulness, bad humour; the murmuring or growling in which this state of mind expresses itself is compared to that of a lion which, growling, prepares and sets itself to fall upon its prey (vid., Isa 5:29, cf. Amo 3:4). Opposed to the זעף stands the beneficial effect of the רצון, i.e., of the pleasure, the delight, the satisfaction, the disposition which shows kindness (lxx τὸ ἱλαρὸν αὐτοῦ). In the former case all are afraid; in the latter, everything lives, as when the refreshing dew falls upon the herbs of the field. The proverb presents a fact, but that the king may mirror himself in it.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

The monarch of the forest is a just comparison to the monarch of the land.†1 "The lion hath roared; who will not fear?"†2 The rocks and hills echo the terrific cry. The whole race of the animals of the forest are driven to flight, or petrified to the spot. Such is the king’s wrath in a land of despotism;†3 reigning without law, above law, his will his only law; an awful picture of cruelty,†4 tyranny,†5 and caprice!†6 Unlimited power is too much for proud human nature to bear, except with special grace from above. Just so is the king’s favour a reviving blessing, as dew upon the grass — the nourishment of vegetative life in the East, where the more powerful influence is only partially or periodically known.†7

But if the wrath of a king be so terrible — Oh, my soul, what must be the wrath of God! (Luk 12:4-5 .) If it be so terrible in this world, where every drop is mixed with mercy; what will it be in eternity, where it is "poured out without mixture" and wthout cessation (Rev 14:10-11 ); where his power is so fearfully manifested, not only in tormenting, but in preserving and "establishing for correction"? (Hab 1:12 .) Oh! let this wrath be the grand object of my reverential fear. Let me flee from it by the only way of escape, while escape is open to me; and seek his favour, as the enriching "dew" unto Israel, invigorating and fertilizing my barren soil. (Hos 14:5-7 . Psa 72:6 .)

Footnotes:

†1 Compare Jer 4:7 ; Jer 50:17 . 2Ti 4:17 .

†2 Amo 3:8. Rev 10:1-3 . See Homer’s fine picture, Iliad, Y. 164-171.

†3 Pro 16:14; Pro 20:2 ; Pro 28:15 .

†4 Mat 2:16-18.

†5 Exo 5:4-9. Dan 3:1-19

†6 Dan 2:5-12.

†7 Pro 16:15. 2Sa 23:3-4 .

Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

v. 12. The king’s wrath is as the roaring of a lion, striking terror to the hearts of men as he prepares to fall upon his prey; but his favor is as dew upon the grass, pleasant and refreshing.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The King’s fury is like a lion’s roar [The fury of] the Holy One, blessed be He.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.