By patience a ruler is persuaded. A soft tongue breaks the bone.
Parallel Translations
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By patience a ruler is persuaded. A soft tongue breaks the bone.
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By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone.
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By long forbearing is a ruler persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone.
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to Proverbs 25:15 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 15:1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
- Ecclesiastes 10:4 If the spirit of the ruler rises up against you, don’t leave your place; for gentleness lays great offenses to rest.
- Proverbs 16:14 The king’s wrath is a messenger of death, but a wise man will pacify it.
- Genesis 32:4-21 He commanded them, saying, “This is what you shall tell my lord, Esau: ‘This is what your servant, Jacob, says. I have lived as a foreigner with Laban, and stayed until now. I have cattle, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.’ ” The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two companies; and he said, “If Esau comes to the one company, and strikes it, then the company which is left will escape.” Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, Yahweh, who said to me, ‘Return to your country, and to your relatives, and I will do you good,’ I am not worthy of the least of all the loving kindnesses, and of all the truth, which you have shown to your servant; for with just my staff I crossed over this Jordan; and now I have become two companies. Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and strike me and the mothers with the children. You said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which can’t be counted because there are so many.’ ” He stayed there that night, and took from that which he had with him a present for Esau, his brother: two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty milk camels and their colts, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals. He delivered them into the hands of his servants, every herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and put a space between herd and herd.” He commanded the foremost, saying, “When Esau, my brother, meets you, and asks you, saying, ‘Whose are you? Where are you going? Whose are these before you?’ Then you shall say, ‘They are your servant, Jacob’s. It is a present sent to my lord, Esau. Behold, he also is behind us.’ ” He commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the herds, saying, “This is how you shall speak to Esau, when you find him. You shall say, ‘Not only that, but behold, your servant, Jacob, is behind us.’ ” For, he said, “I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.” So the present passed over before him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp.
- 1 Samuel 25:14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to Greet our master; and he insulted them.
- 1 Samuel 25:24-44 She fell at his feet, and said, “On me, my lord, on me be the blame! Please let your servant speak in your ears. Hear the words of your servant. Please don’t let my lord pay attention to this worthless fellow, Nabal; for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him; but I, your servant, didn’t see my lord’s young men, whom you sent. Now therefore, my lord, as Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, since Yahweh has withheld you from blood guiltiness, and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now therefore let your enemies, and those who seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. Now this present which your servant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord. Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For Yahweh will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord fights Yahweh’s battles. Evil will not be found in you all your days. Though men may rise up to pursue you, and to seek your soul, yet the soul of my lord will be bound in the bundle of life with Yahweh your God. He will sling out the souls of your enemies, as from the hollow of a sling. It will come to pass, when Yahweh has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you prince over Israel, that this shall be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. When Yahweh has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.” David said to Abigail, “Blessed is Yahweh, the God of Israel, who sent you today to meet me! Blessed is your discretion, and blessed are you, who have kept me today from blood guiltiness, and from avenging myself with my own hand. For indeed, as Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, who has withheld me from harming you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely there wouldn’t have been left to Nabal by the morning light so much as one who urinates on a wall.” So David received from her hand that which she had brought him. Then he said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. Behold, I have listened to your voice, and have granted your request.” Abigail came to Nabal; and behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. Therefore she told him nothing until the morning light. In the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. About ten days later, Yahweh struck Nabal, so that he died. When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed is Yahweh, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from evil. Yahweh has returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head.” David sent and spoke concerning Abigail, to take her to himself as wife. When David’s servants had come to Abigail to Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, “David has sent us to you, to take you to him as wife.” She arose, and bowed herself with her face to the earth, and said, “Behold, your servant is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” Abigail hurried, and arose, and rode on a donkey, with five ladies of hers who followed her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife. David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they both became his wives. Now Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.
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Explain this verse (18 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain By not ministering occasion to provoke him further.
By not ministering occasion to provoke him further.
That is, the heart that is bent to anger, as Prov. 15:1.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 25:15 By long forbearing is a prince persuaded,…
Pro 25:15 By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone.
Ver. 15. By long forbearing is a prince persuaded.] If he be not over hasty, his wrath may be appeased, and his mind altered. Our Henry III gave commandment for the apprehending of Hubert de Burgo, Earl of Kent, who, having sudden notice thereof at midnight, got him up and fled into a church in Essex. They to whom the business was committed finding him upon his knees before the high altar, with the sacrament in one hand, and a cross in the other, carried him away nevertheless unto the Tower of London. Roger, Bishop of London, taking this to be a great violence and wrong offered unto the holy Church, would never leave the king until he had caused the earl to be carried unto the place whence he was fetched. And this, it is thought, was a means of saving the earl’s life. For though order was taken he should not escape thence, yet it gave the king’s wrath a time to cool, and himself leisure to make his apology, by reason whereof he was afterwards restored to the king’s favour and former places of honour. {a} So true is that of the philosopher, Maximum irae remedium est dilatio, {b} and that of the poet -
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“Ut fragilis glacies, interit ira mora.” - Ovid.
There are those who read and sense the words thus: By meekness a prince is appeased - that is, when he seeth that he is not opposed, that his subjects repine not, rebel not against him. An old courtier of Nero’s being asked how he had escaped that lion’s mouth, answered, Iniurias ferendo, et gratias agendo, by taking shrewd turns and being thankful.
A soft tongue breaketh the bones.] Though it be flesh, and no bones, yet it breaketh the bones - that is, stout and stern spirits, that otherwise would not yield. Thus Gideon broke the rage of the Ephraimites, {Jdg 8:1-3} and Abigail David’s, by her humble and dutiful oration. {1Sa 25:23-34} {See Trapp on "Pro 15:1"}
{a} Godwin’s Catal., p. 164.
{b} Sen., De Ira.
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain By long forbearing, by patient submission and expectation,
By long forbearing, by patient submission and expectation,
is a prince persuaded, or pacified, whereas his rage is increased by opposition. Compare Ecc 10:4.
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A soft tongue, a mild and humble answer,
breaketh the bone; softeneth a heart which is as hard as bone or stone. He alludes to those oils which sink through the flesh to the very bone. See Psa 109:18.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Two things are here recommended to us, in dealing…
Two things are here recommended to us, in dealing with others, as likely means to gain our point: - 1. Patience, to bear a present heat without being put into a heat by it, and to wait for a fit opportunity to offer our reasons and to give persons time to consider them. By this means even a prince may be persuaded to do a thing which he seemed very averse to, much more a common person. That which is justice and reason now will be so another time, and therefore we need not urge them with violence now, but wait for a more convenient season. 2. Mildness, to speak without passion or provocation: A soft tongue breaks the bone; it mollifies the roughest spirits and overcomes those that are most morose, like lightning, which, they say, has sometimes broken the bone, and yet not pierced the flesh. Gideon with a soft tongue pacified the Ephraimites and Abigail turned away David's wrath. Hard words, we say, break no bones, and therefore we should bear them patiently; but, it seems, soft words do, and therefore we should, on all occasions, give them prudently.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain By long forbearing is a prince persuaded,.... To come…
By long forbearing is a prince persuaded,.... To come into measures, and do that which his council and ministry advise him to, and to which he may seem at first very averse; but by a mild and gentle representation of things, by an humble submission of them to him, and by frequent remonstrances and patient waiting, his mind is softened, bent, and inclined to take their advice, and pursue the measures suggested to him; which, had they been pressed with heat, haughtiness, and haste, would have been rejected;
and a soft tongue breaketh the bone; or "hardness", as the Vulgate Latin version renders it; soft words, or words delivered in soft language, remove hardness and roughness from the minds of men; and work upon, influence, and bend men, whose wills are obstinate and stubborn, and make them pliable and tractable: so David, with a soft tongue, wrought upon Saul, his enemy; and Abigail, by her soft language, turned the mind of David, who was bent upon the destruction of Nabal, Sa1 24:16; see Pro 15:1. Jarchi interprets this soft tongue of prayer and supplication, by which severe things against sinners are removed from them; and so he understands the former clause of the forbearance of God, which gives encouragement to sinners, to persuade him in their favour by repentance and prayer; see Mat 18:26.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Forbearing - By patient submission and expectation. Breaketh -…
Forbearing - By patient submission and expectation. Breaketh - Softens the hardest heart.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 15. A soft tongue breaketh the bone.] This…
Verse 15. A soft tongue breaketh the bone.] This is similar to another proverb on the same subject: "A soft answer turneth away wrath." An angry word does nothing but mischief.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Pro 25:15. By long forbearing is a prince persuaded…
Pro 25:15. By long forbearing is a prince persuaded — That is, by patient submission and expectation he is pacified, whereas his rage is increased by opposition. And a soft tongue breaketh the bone — A mild and humble answer softens a heart which is as hard as a bone or stone. He alludes to those oils which sink through the flesh to the very bone: see Psa 109:18.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain A soft tongue - Winning and gentle speech does…
A soft tongue - Winning and gentle speech does what it seems at first least capable of doing; it overcomes obstacles which are as bones that the strongest jaws would fail to crush.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Charles Bridges 1846 · Public Domain The wise man had before given a general rule…
The wise man had before given a general rule for gentleness. (Pro 15:1 .) Here he takes an extreme case, and shews its power with the prince, whose unrestrained anger may rise to immediate revenge.†1 Yet submission, long-forbearing, has mighty power to persuade. David thus wrought upon Saul’s enraged temper.†2 Often by putting a case before an angry prince at a fitting opportunity, he may be persuaded by "the meekness of wisdom" against his present mind.
But the general principle is most instructive. The soft member breaking the hard bone may seem to be a paradox. But it is a fine illustration of the power of gentleness above hardness and irritation. Apply it to those who are set against the truth. Many a stout heart has been won by a forbearing, yet uncompromising, accommodation to prejudice.†3 In reproof Jehovah shewed what he could do in "the strong wind and the earthquake." But his effective rebuke was in the "still small voice;" without upbraiding; sharp, yet tender. (1Ki 19:11-13 .) So powerful is the energy of gentleness! Indeed ’among all the graces that adorn the Christian soul, like so many jewels of various colors and lusters, against the day of her espousals to the Lamb of God, there is not one more brilliant than that of patience.’†4 Its enduring spirit is a manifest fruit of regeneration (Jas 1:18-19 ); a clear exhibition of the mind of Christ (Mat 11:29 ), and the practical resemblance of his own long-forbearance amidst our continued and most aggravated provocations. For, when we have been indulged with the privilege of the beloved disciple — ’leaning upon Jesus’s breast,’†5 nothing have we felt to be there, but gentleness, tenderness, and love.
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Footnotes:
†1 Ecc 8:3; Ecc 10:4 . 1Sa 22:17-18 .
†2 1Sa 24:8-20 ; 1Sa 26:13-25 .
†3 2Ti 2:24-26 . 1Co 9:20-22 .
†4 Bp. Horne’s exquisite Sermon on Patience.
†5 Joh 13:23; Joh 21:20 .
Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Hardness. Hebrew and Septuagint, "bones." (Haydock)
Hardness. Hebrew and Septuagint, "bones." (Haydock)
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Gentleness and kindness overcome the most powerful and obstinate.
Gentleness and kindness overcome the most powerful and obstinate.
long forbearing--or, "slowness to anger" (Pro 14:29; Pro 15:18).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 15. By long forbearing — By delay of anger…
15. By long forbearing — By delay of anger or resentment; by patience.
A soft tongue (a gentle or kind word) breaketh the bone — Changes the most obstinate mind and allays the most irritated feeling. Similar to another proverb, “A soft answer turneth away wrath;” or the German proverb, “Patience breaks iron.” Compare Pro_15:1; Pro_16:14; Luke 18:45; Gen_32:4, et seq.; 1Sa_25:24.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 15. We have an illustration of this proverb in…
15. We have an illustration of this proverb in the effect of the “long forbearing” of David during his persecution by Saul, and of his “soft tongue” at Engedi (1 Samuel 24), and in the wilderness of Ziph (Ib. Pro_26:7 ff.): “And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice and wept: “Return, my son David; for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day.”
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 Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain By long forbearing; i.e. by patience, calmness that does…
By long forbearing; i.e. by patience, calmness that does not break out into passion whatever be the provocation, even, it is implied, in the face of a false and malicious accusation. (comp. Pro_14:29) Is a prince persuaded. Katson is rather "an arbiter," or judge, than "a prince," and the proverb says that such an officer is led to take a favourable view of an accused person"s case when he sees him calm and composed, ready to explain the matter without any undue heat or irritation, keeping steadily to the point, and not seduced by calumny or misrepresentation to forget himself and lose his temper. Such a bearing presupposes innocence and weighs favourably with the judge. The LXX makes the gnome apply to monarchs alone, "In long suffering is prosperity unto kings." A soft tongue breaketh the bone. A soft answer, (Pro_15:1) gentle, conciliating words, overcome opposition, and disarm the most determined enemy, and make tender in him that which was hardest and most uncompromising. "Gutta cavat lapidem, non vi, sed saepe cadendo." Similar proverbs are found elsewhere, though probably in a different sense. Thus in modern Greek, "The tongue has no bones, yet it breaks bones;" in Turkish, "The tongue has no bone, yet it crushes;" again, "One drop of honey," says the Turk, "catches more bees than a ton of vinegar."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a…
Pro_25:15
By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone.
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The power of gentleness
In the government of our words, mildness, or meekness, is specially commendable. The right disposition includes meekness, gentleness, courteousness, kindness. These are the virtues of a soft tongue. The opposites are hardness, roughness, sharpness, bitterness, clamour, brawling. By the term breaking is meant persuading, pacifying, convincing, appeasing, prevailing with. A meek and gentle way of discourse is the most effectual means to overcome the fiercest passions and most obdurate, cruel dispositions. A calm and gentle way in vindicating ourselves is the most effectual means to work confusion in such as would calumniate and reproach us. This truth may be confirmed by two considerations.
1. The nature of these fierce passions and this obduracy or hardness of temper, which are increased by opposition, and consequently must be abated by gentleness and yielding.
2. From the nature of lenity and gentleness, whose property it is to insinuate itself into the hardest things. It is compared with oil. How does this doctrine consist with the imprecations of Scripture? Explain that some of them, though pronounced optatively, are to be understood declaratively, as descriptive of the true state and condition of such parties. Those who used these imprecations were inspired for a particular purpose. They spoke in their zeal for God. It may be right to wish evil to come to persons for the sake of its disciplinary mission. How does this doctrine consist with the severe imprecations of Scripture? Our Saviour called the Pharisees vipers, Herod a fox. The apostle calls some people dogs. To this it may be said, those who have an extraordinary power of discerning may use such hard terms. And those in public stations may thus severely chide and reprehend. How does this doctrine consist with the duties of zeal and reproving, which sometimes must be done with severity? A man may sometimes sin in not being angry. True meekness of wisdom directs a, man how to order his zeal and rebukes. Learn--
1. That if soft words be of such a prevailing efficacy, soft and gentle actions must be so too.
2. The folly and sinfulness of hard speeches, whereby others may be provoked to anger and offence.
3. The lawfulness and fitness of giving men the reverence and honour due to their proper titles.
4. Bitter and provoking words are unmanly, as being against the rules of morality and very un-Christian, as being against the precepts of the gospel. (Bp. John Wilkins.)
The manifestation and mightiness of moral power
There are three kinds of power--material, mental, and moral.
I. The manifestation of moral power. The words indicate a threefold manifestation.
1. Stillness. By long forbearing is a prince persuaded. Forbearance implies calm endurance--a patience like that which the Great Heavenly Exemplar exhibited under insults and persecutions.
2. Speech. A soft tongue breaketh the bone. A soft tongue not a simpering tongue, not a silly tongue, not a sycophantic tongue, but the soft tongue of tender love and forbearing kindness. Such a tongue is might: it breaketh the bone. This somewhat paradoxical expression expresses the amazing power of kind words; they break the bone, the ossified heart of the enemy. Another manifestation of power here is--
3. Service. If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink, etc. In the smelting of metals, says Arnot, whether on a large or small scale, it is necessary that the burning coals should be above the ore as well as beneath it. The melting fuel and the rude stones to be melted are mingled together and brought into contact, particle by particle, throughout the mass. It is thus that the resistance of the stubborn material is overcome, and the precious separated from the vile. There are but few hearts so obdurate as not to melt under the fires of love that blaze over and under them. These words direct our attention to--
II. The mightiness of moral power.
1. Persuading. By long forbearing is a prince persuaded. Thus David brought down Saul (1Sa_24:8-20; 1Sa_26:3-20).
2. Breaking. A soft tongue breaketh the bone. Loving words can mollify the roughest natures. Gideon, with a kind word, pacified the Ephraimites, and Abigail turned Davids wrath away.
3. Melting. Thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. The Americans have a tract on this subject, entitled, The Man who Killed his Neighbours. It contains, in the form of a narrative, many useful, practical suggestions on the art of overcoming evil with good. It is with kindness--modest, thoughtful, generous, persevering, unwearied kindness--that the benevolent countryman killed his churlish neighbour: and it is only the old evil man that he kills, leaving the new man to lead a very different life in the same village, after the dross has been purged away. How sublimely elevated is the moral legislation of the Bible! (D. Thomas, D.D.)
The power of Christian kindness
There is a tremendous power in a kind word.
1. Kindness as a means of defence. Have you ever known acerbity and acrimonious dispute settle a quarrel? I have seen men moving amid the annoyances, and vexations, and assaults of life in such calm Christian deliberation that all the buzzing around about their soul amounted to nothing. They conquered them, and, above all, conquered themselves.
2. Kindness as a means of usefulness. In all communities you find sceptical men. How shall you capture them for God? Sharp argument and sareastic retort never yet won a single soul from scepticism to the Christian religion. When such are brought in, it is through the charm of some genial soul, and not by argument at all. Men are not saved through the head; they are saved through the heart. The same thing is true in the reclamation of the openly vicious. Was ever a drunkard saved through the caricature of a drunkard? You can never drive man, woman, or child into the kingdom of God. (T. De Witt Talmage, D.D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Pro_25:15. Prince. Rather “Judge”
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Pro_25:15. Prince. Rather “Judge”
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MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_25:15
FORBEARANCE AND PERSUASIVENESS
I. Patience without speech is an overcoming power. The strongest smith will find a piece of cold iron too much for him—if he attempt to bend or break it he will be met with a resistance which he cannot overcome. But he places the apparently unconquerable bar upon the coals, and by degrees it seems to assume altogether another nature, and is ready to be fashioned to any shape or form. He gets this victory by waiting, and he finds it a far more effectual method than attempting to subdue the metal by physical force. Forbearance will sometimes do as much for the stubborn human will as the fire does for the iron. Many men who cannot be threatened into compliance with our wishes, may be overcome by patient kindness. A prince may be here put by Solomon as a type of all men in authority and high position, who by reason of their position are less under the power of others and consequently are less likely to yield to any other force than persuasion. With such men high-handed dealing and efforts to intimidate generally provoke a more stubborn resistance.
II. Patience seconded by gentle speech is doubly powerful. The smith’s work is not done when by waiting he has given time for the iron to become soft and impressible; he must then bring his skill and activity to bear upon it and so mould it to his will. So after long forbearance there must be wise and persuasive speech to finish the work. The long-suffering patience, perhaps under trial and provocation, has softened the hard heart or the stubborn will, and now the gentle words are listened to and have their full weight. But this would not have been the case if patience without speech had not gone first to make way for them.
III. Those who conquer by forbearance in deed and gentleness in word walk in the Divine footsteps. In the dealings of God with the human race, no attribute of His character is more manifest than “the riches of His forbearance and long suffering” (Rom_2:4), and it is by this that He “leads men to repentance.” “Instead of coming down upon man by storm,” says Dr. Bushnell, “in a manner of direct onset to carry his submission by storm, God lays gentle siege to him, waiting for his willing assent and choice.… To redress an injury by gentleness, and tame his adversary’s will by the circuitous approach of forbearance and a siege of true suggestion is not the manner of men, only of God.” It is not, alas! the manner of men in general, but all those who call Him Master try to imitate Him in this as in all other of His perfections that can be imitated by finite and imperfect creatures.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
The soft member breaking the hard bone may seem to be a paradox. But it is a fine illustration of the power of gentleness above hardness and irritation. Apply it to those who are set against the truth. Many a stout heart has been won by a forbearing, yet uncompromising, accommodation to prejudice. In reproof Jehovah showed what He could do in “the strong wind and the earthquake.” But His effective rebuke was in the “still small voice;” without upbraiding; sharp, yet tender, (1Ki_19:11-13.) So powerful is the energy of gentleness! Indeed, “among all the graces that adorn the Christian soul, like so many jewels of various colours and lustres, against the day of her espousals to the Lamb of God, there is not one more brilliant than that of patience.”
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 With patience a ruler can be persuaded
With patience a ruler can be persuaded
These words can be translated in active form. AT: "Someone who is patient can persuade a ruler" or "Someone who is patient can speak to a ruler and change his mind" (See: Active or Passive)
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a soft tongue can break a bone
The word "tongue" is a metonym for the words the person speaks using the tongue. The word "bone" is a metaphor for strong opposition. AT: "gentle speech can overcome strong opposition" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
patient
rule
tongue
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.