Pro 20:2 | NETfull | STEP | The king’s terrifying anger is like the roar of a lion; whoever provokes him sins against himself.

Proverbs 20:2

2 The king’s terrifying anger ^{▼▼ Heb “the terror of a king” (so ASV, NASB); The term “terror” is a metonymy of effect for cause: the anger of a king that causes terror among the people. The term “king” functions as a possessive genitive: “a king’s anger” (cf. NIV “A king’s wrath”; NLT “The king’s fury”).} is like the roar of a lion;
whoever provokes him ^{▼▼ The verb מִתְעַבְּרוֹ (mit’abb^ero) is problematic; in the MT the form is the Hitpael participle with a pronominal suffix, which is unusual, for the direct object of this verb usually takes a preposition first: “is angry with.” The LXX rendered it “angers [or, irritates].”} sins against himself. ^{▼▼ The expression “sins against himself” has been taken by some to mean “forfeits his life” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “endangers his life” (cf. NCV, NLT). That may be the implication of getting oneself in trouble with an angry king (cf. TEV “making him angry is suicide”).}