Pro 22:24 | KingComments | STEP | The son is again warned about wrong company ( ), this time about a man who is “[given] to anger” and is “hot-tempered” ( ). The issue here is not a necessary association, but a friendly one. At work or at school, we do have to associate with such people. We cannot escape that form of association. But we can stay away from those hot-tempered people in our private life. “A man [given] to anger” is literally “a master of anger”. “A hot-tempered man” shows the same character. gives the motivation for . The saying “bad company corrupts good morals” ( ) applies here. Earlier, the father has talked about what dealing with different people does to his son ( ). More than superficial intercourse with someone changes a person. If they are good persons, you change for the better. If they are bad persons, you change for the worse. Hot-tempered people ignite in anger at the slightest thing. If they feel wronged by even the slightest thing, they loudly express their displeasure. You can adopt this hot-temperedness just like that. Through your dealings with hot-tempered people, you become accustomed to their hot-temperedness. You dull in your feelings of rejection of these bad traits and begin to accept and even understand them. As a result, you draw a snare on yourself. That is, you unconsciously begin to behave the same way, quickly coming to words and/or actions that are sinful and deserve punishment.

‏ Proverbs 22:24

Bad Company Corrupts Good Morals

The son is again warned about wrong company (Pro 1:10-19), this time about a man who is “[given] to anger” and is “hot-tempered” (Pro 22:24). The issue here is not a necessary association, but a friendly one. At work or at school, we do have to associate with such people. We cannot escape that form of association. But we can stay away from those hot-tempered people in our private life. “A man [given] to anger” is literally “a master of anger”. “A hot-tempered man” shows the same character.

Pro 22:25 gives the motivation for Pro 22:24. The saying “bad company corrupts good morals” (1Cor 15:33) applies here. Earlier, the father has talked about what dealing with different people does to his son (Pro 13:20). More than superficial intercourse with someone changes a person. If they are good persons, you change for the better. If they are bad persons, you change for the worse.

Hot-tempered people ignite in anger at the slightest thing. If they feel wronged by even the slightest thing, they loudly express their displeasure. You can adopt this hot-temperedness just like that. Through your dealings with hot-tempered people, you become accustomed to their hot-temperedness. You dull in your feelings of rejection of these bad traits and begin to accept and even understand them.

As a result, you draw a snare on yourself. That is, you unconsciously begin to behave the same way, quickly coming to words and/or actions that are sinful and deserve punishment.