Ecclesiastes 7:9

The Message

Don’t be quick to fly off the handle. Anger boomerangs. You can spot a fool by the lumps on his head.

Cross References

Genesis 4:8

Cain had words with his brother. They were out in the field; Cain came at Abel his brother and killed him.

2 Samuel 13:28

Absalom prepared a banquet fit for a king. Then he instructed his servants, “Look sharp, now. When Amnon is well into the sauce and feeling no pain, and I give the order ‘Strike Amnon,’ kill him. And don’t be afraid—I’m the one giving the command. Courage! You can do it!”

2 Samuel 13:32

Just then, Jonadab, his brother Shimeah’s son, stepped up. “My master must not think that all the young men, the king’s sons, are dead. Only Amnon is dead. This happened because of Absalom’s outrage since the day that Amnon violated his sister Tamar. So my master, the king, mustn’t make things worse than they are, thinking that all your sons are dead. Only Amnon is dead.”

2 Samuel 19:43

The men of Israel shot back, “We have ten shares in the king to your one. Besides we’re the firstborn—so why are we having to play second fiddle? It was our idea to bring him back.” But the men of Judah took a harder line than the men of Israel.

Proverbs 14:17

The hotheaded do things they’ll later regret; the coldhearted get the cold shoulder.

Proverbs 14:29

Slowness to anger makes for deep understanding; a quick-tempered person stockpiles stupidity.

Proverbs 16:32

Moderation is better than muscle, self-control better than political power.

Proverbs 25:8

Don’t jump to conclusions—there may be a perfectly good explanation for what you just saw.

Ecclesiastes 7:10

Don’t always be asking, “Where are the good old days?” Wise folks don’t ask questions like that.

Jonah 4:3

“So, God, if you won’t kill them, kill me! I’m better off dead!”

Jonah 4:9

Then God said to Jonah, “What right do you have to get angry about this shade tree?” Jonah said, “Plenty of right. It’s made me angry enough to die!”

Mark 6:24

She went back to her mother and said, “What should I ask for?” “Ask for the head of John the Baptizer.”

James 1:19

Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God’s righteousness doesn’t grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.