Scorners set a whole city aflame, while wise men turn anger aside.
Two civic effects of speech are named in Proverbs 29:8: Scorners set a city aflame, but wise men turn away anger (v. 8). One uses his words to burn; the other uses them to save.
Scorners set a city aflame. Mockers, scoffers, and contemptuous men can ignite a whole community. Their speech mocks what is sacred, attacks what is honored, undermines what holds people together. Their effect on a city is incendiary.
But wise men turn away anger. The wise, by contrast, defuse rather than ignite. They speak in ways that turn anger aside. They calm crowds. They restore reasonable conversation. The verse names the social weight of two kinds of mouths. A handful of mockers can burn a city; a handful of wise men can save it.
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Proverbs 29:8 meaning
Two civic effects of speech are named in Proverbs 29:8: Scorners set a city aflame, but wise men turn away anger (v. 8). One uses his words to burn; the other uses them to save.
Scorners set a city aflame. Mockers, scoffers, and contemptuous men can ignite a whole community. Their speech mocks what is sacred, attacks what is honored, undermines what holds people together. Their effect on a city is incendiary.
But wise men turn away anger. The wise, by contrast, defuse rather than ignite. They speak in ways that turn anger aside. They calm crowds. They restore reasonable conversation. The verse names the social weight of two kinds of mouths. A handful of mockers can burn a city; a handful of wise men can save it.