Proverbs19chapter 19

"The contentions of a wife are a continual dropping" describes a specific misery. Roofs were beams and brush packed with clay, rolled flat with a stone roller after each rain. When the seal failed, water came through in a slow, endless drip that could not be ignored and could not be quickly fixed while the rain kept falling.

"He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again." Israelite law forbade charging a fellow Israelite interest and required cancelling debts in the seventh year, so lending to a poor neighbour was closer to charity than to business. This proverb says God takes the note.

"House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the LORD." Marriages were arranged between families, with a bride-price paid and a contract made. The proverb quietly admits that the one part of a young man's future his father could not negotiate was whether the marriage would be good.

"A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again" is a joke about a shared dish. Everyone ate with their hands from a common bowl in the middle. The picture is a man who cannot be bothered to finish the reach.