Proverbs 19:13
in Proverbs 19A foolish son is his father’s ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
A foolish son is the calamity of his father; And the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping.
KJV
A foolish son is the calamity of his father: and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping.
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This verse in Proverbs 19
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Calamity - The Hebrew word is plural (as in Psa 57:1; Psa 91:3), and seems to express the multiplied and manifold sorrow caused by the foolish son. Continual dropping - The irritating, unceasing, sound of the fall, drop after drop, of water through the chinks in the roof.
This site's exposition
A foolish son is his father’s ruin
on Proverbs 19:13-14
A foolish son is his father's ruin and a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping, the household's two griefs set side by side. Then the pairing turns: houses and wealth "are inherited from fathers," ordinary and expected, "but a prudent wife is from the LORD."
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
A foolish son is the calamity of his father,.... Or, "the calamities of his father" (q); he brings them to him.
Thus his sin is his punishment, and therefore is egregious folly. 25 Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware: and reprove one that hath understanding, and he will understand knowledge. The punishment of scorners will be a means of good to others.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The contentions of a wife are a continual dropping - The man who has got such a wife is like a tenant who has got a cottage with a bad roof through every part of which the rain either drops or pours. He can neither sit, stand work, nor sleep, without being exposed to these droppings. God help the man who is in such a case, with house or wife!
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
a constant dripping lit. a driving drip. [As] the dripping of the rain that falls in the house disturbs and drives out the inhabitants of the house, so are the quarrels of a bad wife.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
The King’s fury is like a lion’s roar [The fury of] the Holy One, blessed be He.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַוֹּ֣ת | havot | [is] destruction<s> | H1942 → | 16 times |
| לְ֭אָבִיו | leaviv | to father his | H1 → | 1212 times |
| בֵּ֣ן | ben | a son | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| כְּסִ֑יל | kesil | a fool | H3684 → | 70 times |
| וְדֶ֥לֶף | vedelef | and [are] a dripping | H1812 → | |
| טֹ֝רֵ֗ד | tored | continuous | H2956 → | |
| מִדְיְנֵ֥י | midyenei | [the] contentions of | H4079 → | 10 times |
| אִשָּֽׁה׃ | ʾishah | a wife | H802 → | 781 times |
הַוֹּ֣ת[is] destruction<s>
havotH1942 →16 times
לְ֭אָבִיוto father his
leavivH1 →1212 times
בֵּ֣ןa son
benH1121 →4930 times
כְּסִ֑ילa fool
kesilH3684 →70 times
וְדֶ֥לֶףand [are] a dripping
vedelefH1812 →
טֹ֝רֵ֗דcontinuous
toredH2956 →
מִדְיְנֵ֥י[the] contentions of
midyeneiH4079 →10 times
אִשָּֽׁה׃a wife
ʾishahH802 →781 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 21:9Better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.
it leads to
- Proverbs 21:19
Better to live in the desert than with a contentious and ill-tempered wife.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 27:15–16
A constant dripping on a rainy day and a contentious woman are alike—
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 25:24
Better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 12:4
A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but she who causes shame is like decay in his bones.
- Proverbs 17:1
Better a dry morsel in quietness than a house full of feasting with strife.
- Proverbs 21:19
Through
Proverbs 10:1The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.
it leads to
- Proverbs 23:15–16
My son, if your heart is wise, my own heart will indeed rejoice.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 1:1
These are the proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel,
- Proverbs 23:15–16
Through
Proverbs 27:15A constant dripping on a rainy day and a contentious woman are alike—
it leads to
- Proverbs 21:9
Better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 21:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.