Proverbs 21:19

21:19 It is better to live ¹  in a desert land ² 

than with a quarrelsome and easily-provoked ³  woman.

Proverbs 27:15

27:15 A continual dripping on a rainy day

and a contentious wife ⁴  are alike. ⁵ 

Proverbs 25:24

25:24 It is better to live on a corner of the housetop

than in a house in company with a quarrelsome wife. ⁶ 

Proverbs 26:21

26:21 Like charcoal is to burning coals, and wood to fire,

so is a contentious person ⁷  to kindle strife. ⁸ 

Proverbs 23:29

23:29 Who has woe? ⁹  Who has sorrow?

Who has contentions? Who has complaints?

Who has wounds without cause? Who has dullness ¹⁰  of the eyes?

[21:19]  ¹ tn The Hebrew form שֶׁבֶת (shevet) is the infinitive construct of יָשַׁב (yashav), functioning as the subject of the sentence.

[21:19]  ² sn The verse makes the same point as 21:9 and 25:24; but “desert land” is substituted. It would be a place sparsely settled and quiet.

[21:19]  ³ tn The Hebrew noun כַּעַס (ka’as) means “vexation; anger.” The woman is not only characterized by a quarrelsome spirit, but also anger – she is easily vexed (cf. NAB “vexatious”; NASB “vexing”; ASV, NRSV “fretful”). The translation “easily-provoked” conveys this idea well.

[27:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “a wife of contentions” (an attributive genitive). Cf. NAB, NIV “a quarrelsome wife”; NLT “a nagging wife.”

[27:15]  ⁵ tn The form נִשְׁתָּוָה (nishtavah) is classified by BDB as a Nitpael perfect from the root שָׁוָה (shavah, “to be like; to resemble”; BDB 1001 s.v. I שָׁוָה). The form also has metathesis before the sibilant. The LXX interprets it as “Drops drive a man out of his house on a wintry day; so a railing woman also drives him out of his own house.”

[25:24]  ⁷ tn This proverb is identical with 21:9; see the notes there.

[26:21]  ¹⁰ sn Heb “a man of contentions”; NCV, NRSV, NLT “a quarrelsome person.” The expression focuses on the person who is contentious by nature. His quarreling is like piling fuel on a fire that would otherwise go out. This kind of person not only starts strife, but keeps it going.

[26:21]  ¹¹ tn The Pilpel infinitive construct לְחַרְחַר (lÿkharkhar) from חָרַר (kharar, “to be hot; to be scorched; to burn”) means “to kindle; to cause to flare up.”

[23:29]  ¹³ sn The eighteenth saying is about excessive drinking. The style changes here as the sage breaks into a vivid use of the imagination. It begins with a riddle describing the effects of drunkenness (v. 29) and gives the answer in v. 30; instructions follow in v. 31, with the consequences described in v. 32; the direct address continues in vv. 33 and 34; and the whole subject is concluded with the drunkard’s own words in v. 35 (M. E. Andrews, “Variety of Expression in Proverbs 23:29-35,” VT 28 [1978]: 102-3).

[23:29]  ¹⁴ sn The Hebrew word translated “dullness” describes darkness or dullness of the eyes due to intoxication, perhaps “redness” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NIV, NCV, NLT “bloodshot eyes.” NAB understands the situation differently: “black eyes.”