Proverbs 19:12 (BSB)

A king’s rage is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.

From Proverbs 19. Also in the ESV.

Commentary on Proverbs 19:12

• Matthew Henry (Presbyterian), Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on Proverbs 19:12: This is to the same purport with what we had Pro 16:14, Pro 16:15, and the design of it is, 1. To make kings wise and considerate in dispensing their frowns and smiles. They are not like those of common persons; their frowns are very terrible and their smiles very comfortable, and therefore it concerns them to be very careful that they never frighten a...
• John Gill (Reformed Baptist), Exposition of the Old and New Testaments on Proverbs 19:12: The king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion,.... Which is very terrible when hungry, and is after its prey, and has got it. Kings, especially tyrannical ones, are compared to lions; as Nebuchadnezzar by Jeremiah, Jer 4:17; and Nero by the Apostle Paul, Ti2 4:7; and the rage of such is very dreadful, as Ahasuerus's was to Haman. Jarchi interprets the king, of the holy blessed God.
• Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (Reformed), Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible on Proverbs 19:12: (Compare Pro 16:14-15; Pro 20:2). A motive to submission to lawful authority.
• Keil & Delitzsch (Lutheran), Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament on Proverbs 19:12: Pro 19:12 12 A murmuring as of a lion is the wrath of the king, And as dew on plants is his favour. Line 1 is a variation of Pro 20:2; line 2a of Pro 16:15. זעף is not the being irritated against another, but generally ill-humour, fretfulness, bad humour; the murmuring or growling in which this state of mind expresses itself is compared to...