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Saturday, October 5th, 2024
the Week of Proper 21 / Ordinary 26
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Read the Bible

New Living Translation

Proverbs 18:19

An offended friend is harder to win back than a fortified city. Arguments separate friends like a gate locked with bars.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Castle;   Family;   Strife;   Thompson Chain Reference - Family;   Strife;   Unity-Strife;   The Topic Concordance - Offense;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Cities;   Sieges;   Strife;  

Dictionaries:

- Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Pardon;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Castle;   Proverbs, Book of;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Fortress;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Castle;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Bar (2);   Offence;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for January 15;  

Parallel Translations

Legacy Standard Bible
A brother offended is harder to win over than a strong city,And contentions are like the bars of a citadel.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city, And contentions are like the bars of a citadel.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Brethren beyng at variaunce are harder to be wonne then a strong citie, and their contentions are like the barre of a castell.
Darby Translation
A brother offended is [harder to be won] than a strong city; and contentions are as the bars of a palace.
New King James Version
A brother offended is harder to win than a strong city, And contentions are like the bars of a castle.
Literal Translation
An offended brother is worse than a fortified city; yea, their contentions are like the bars of a castle.
Easy-to-Read Version
An insulted brother is harder to win back than a city with strong walls. Arguments separate people like the strong bars of a palace gate.
World English Bible
A brother offended is more difficult than a fortified city; And disputes are like the bars of a castle.
King James Version (1611)
A brother offended is harder to be wonne then a strong citie: and their contentions are like the barres of a castle.
King James Version
A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The vnite of brethren is stronger then a castell, and they that holde together are like the barre of a palace.
THE MESSAGE
Do a favor and win a friend forever; nothing can untie that bond.
Amplified Bible
A brother offended is harder to win over than a fortified city, And contentions [separating families] are like the bars of a castle.
American Standard Version
A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city; And such contentions are like the bars of a castle.
Bible in Basic English
A brother wounded is like a strong town, and violent acts are like a locked tower.
Update Bible Version
A brother offended [is harder to be won] than a strong city; And [such] contentions are like the bars of a castle.
Webster's Bible Translation
A brother offended [is harder to be won] than a strong city: and [their] contentions [are] like the bars of a castle.
New English Translation
A relative offended is harder to reach than a strong city, and disputes are like the barred gates of a fortified citadel.
Contemporary English Version
Making up with a friend you have offended is harder than breaking through a city wall.
Complete Jewish Bible
It is harder to win an offended brother than a strong city; their fights are like the bars of a fortress.
Geneva Bible (1587)
A brother offended is harder to winne then a strong citie, and their contentions are like the barre of a palace.
George Lamsa Translation
A brother helped by a brother is like a city helped by its fortifications; and his helpers are like the bars of a castle.
Hebrew Names Version
A brother offended is more difficult than a fortified city; And disputes are like the bars of a castle.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city; and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.
New Life Bible
A brother who has been hurt in his spirit is harder to be won than a strong city, and arguing is like the iron gates of a king's house.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
A brother helped by a brother is as a strong and high city; and is as strong as a well-founded palace.
English Revised Version
A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and such contentions are like the bars of a castle.
Berean Standard Bible
An offended brother is harder to win than a fortified city, and disputes are like the bars of a castle.
New Revised Standard
An ally offended is stronger than a city; such quarreling is like the bars of a castle.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
A brother estranged, is worse than a strong city, - and, contentions, are as the bar of a citadel.
Douay-Rheims Bible
A brother that is helped by his brother, is like a strong city: and judgments are like the bars of cities.
Lexham English Bible
A brother who is offended is worse than a city of strength, and quarrels are like the bars of a fortification.
English Standard Version
A brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city, and quarreling is like the bars of a castle.
New American Standard Bible
A brother who is offended is harder to be won than a strong city, And quarrels are like the bars of a citadel.
New Century Version
A brother who has been insulted is harder to win back than a walled city, and arguments separate people like the barred gates of a palace.
Good News Translation
Help your relatives and they will protect you like a strong city wall, but if you quarrel with them, they will close their doors to you.
Christian Standard Bible®
An offended brother is harder to reach than a fortified city, and quarrels are like the bars of a fortress.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
A brother that is helpid of a brothir, is as a stidfast citee; and domes ben as the barris of citees.
Revised Standard Version
A brother helped is like a strong city, but quarreling is like the bars of a castle.
Young's Literal Translation
A brother transgressed against is as a strong city, And contentions as the bar of a palace.

Contextual Overview

19 An offended friend is harder to win back than a fortified city. Arguments separate friends like a gate locked with bars.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

brother: Proverbs 6:19, Genesis 4:5-8, Genesis 27:41-45, Genesis 32:6-11, Genesis 37:3-5, Genesis 37:11, Genesis 37:18-27, 2 Samuel 13:22, 2 Samuel 13:28, 1 Kings 2:23-25, 1 Kings 12:16, 2 Chronicles 13:17, Acts 15:39

than: Proverbs 16:32

Reciprocal: Genesis 32:11 - Deliver Judges 12:6 - there fell Judges 20:48 - smote them 1 Samuel 17:28 - Eliab's anger 2 Samuel 19:43 - the words Acts 7:26 - ye are 1 Peter 3:1 - won

Cross-References

Genesis 18:2
He looked up and noticed three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran to meet them and welcomed them, bowing low to the ground.
Genesis 18:4
Rest in the shade of this tree while water is brought to wash your feet.
Genesis 18:5
And since you've honored your servant with this visit, let me prepare some food to refresh you before you continue on your journey." "All right," they said. "Do as you have said."
Genesis 18:6
So Abraham ran back to the tent and said to Sarah, "Hurry! Get three large measures of your best flour, knead it into dough, and bake some bread."
Genesis 18:7
Then Abraham ran out to the herd and chose a tender calf and gave it to his servant, who quickly prepared it.
Genesis 18:9
"Where is Sarah, your wife?" the visitors asked. "She's inside the tent," Abraham replied.
Genesis 18:10
Then one of them said, "I will return to you about this time next year, and your wife, Sarah, will have a son!" Sarah was listening to this conversation from the tent.
Genesis 18:19
I have singled him out so that he will direct his sons and their families to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. Then I will do for Abraham all that I have promised."
Genesis 18:20
So the Lord told Abraham, "I have heard a great outcry from Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sin is so flagrant.
Genesis 18:21
I am going down to see if their actions are as wicked as I have heard. If not, I want to know."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

A brother offended [is harder to be won] than a strong city,.... A fortified city may sooner be taken by an enemy, than one brother offended can be reconciled to another; their resentments against each other are keener than against another person that has offended them; and their love being turned into hatred, it is more bitter; and it is more difficult to compose differences between brethren than between enemies; wherefore such should take care that they fall not out by the way: this is true of brethren in a natural sense; as the cases of Abel and Cain, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brethren, Amnon and Absalom, and others, show; and of brethren in a spiritual sense, as Paul and Barnabas, Luther and Calvin, and others;

and [their] contentions [are] like the bars of a castle: which cannot be easily broken or cut asunder: so contentions, especially those among brethren, are with great difficulty made to cease, and their differences composed; they will stand it out against one another as long as a strong city, or a barred castle, against an enemy.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The meaning of the first clause is obtained in the King James Version by the insertion of the words in italics, and it seems on the whole to be the best. The Septuagint and Vulgate give an entirely different rendering, based, apparently, upon a different text.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Proverbs 18:19. A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city — Almost all the versions agree in the following reading: "A brother assisted by a brother, is like a fortified city; and their decisions are like the bars of a city." Coverdale is both plain and terse: "The unitie of brethren is stronger then a castell, and they that holde together are like the barre of a palace." The fable of the dying father, his sons, and the bundle of faggots, illustrates this proverb. Unity among brethren makes them invincible; small things grow great by concord. If we take the words according to the common version, we see them express what, alas! we know to be too generally true: that when brothers fall out, it is with extreme difficulty that they can be reconciled. And fraternal enmities are generally strong and inveterate.


 
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