Proverbs 21:19
in Proverbs 21Better to live in the desert than with a contentious and ill-tempered wife.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
It is better to dwell in a desert land, Than with a contentious and fretful woman.
KJV
It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman.
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This verse in Proverbs 21
Commentary
4 notes on this verse"It is better to dwell in the wilderness than with a contentious and an angry woman." You wives, therefore, demonstrate your piety by your modesty and meekness to all outside the church, whether they are women or men, in order to their conversion and improvement in the faith. And since we have warned you and instructed you briefly, whom we do esteem our sisters, daughters and members, as being wise yourselves, persevere all your lives in a blameless course of life.
This site's exposition
Better to live in the desert
on Proverbs 21:19-20
Better to live in the desert than with a contentious and ill-tempered wife restates the judgment of verse 9 in a harsher key. Precious treasures and oil are "in the dwelling of the wise," but a foolish man consumes them, turning from marriage back to money.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"It is better to dwell in the wilderness than with a contentious and an angry woman." You wives, therefore, demonstrate your piety by your modesty and meekness to all outside the church, whether they are women or men, in order to their conversion and improvement …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
It is better to dwell in the wilderness,.... Where persons live without shelter, and are not only exposed to storms and tempests, but to beasts of prey; where is want of the necessaries of life, and no society; where no "speech" is, as the word (e) for wilderness may signify; yet it is better to dwell in such a place, where no human voice is heard, than with a contentious and an angry woman; that is always brawling and scolding, ever in a quarrelsome and angry disposition, and provoking to anger all about her; See Gill on Pro 21:
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ט֗וֹב | tov | [is] good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| שֶׁ֥בֶת | shevet | to dwell | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בְּאֶֽרֶץ־ | beeretz- | in a land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| מִדְבָּ֑ר | midbar | wilderness | H4057 → | |
| מֵאֵ֖שֶׁת | meeshet | more than a woman of | H802 → | 781 times |
| מִדְיָנִ֣ים | medonim | contentions | H4079 → | 10 times |
| וָכָֽעַס׃ | vakhaas | and anger | H3708 → | 25 times |
ט֗וֹב[is] good
tovH2896 →538 times
שֶׁ֥בֶתto dwell
shevetH3427 →1079 times
בְּאֶֽרֶץ־in a land of
beeretz-H776 →2504 times
מִדְבָּ֑רwilderness
midbarH4057 →
מֵאֵ֖שֶׁתmore than a woman of
meeshetH802 →781 times
מִדְיָנִ֣יםcontentions
medonimH4079 →10 times
וָכָֽעַס׃and anger
vakhaasH3708 →25 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 19:13
A foolish son is his father’s ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping.
- Proverbs 25:24
Better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.
- Proverbs 27:15–16
A constant dripping on a rainy day and a contentious woman are alike—
- 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 19:13
Through
Jeremiah 9:2If only I had a traveler’s lodge in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and depart from them, for they are all adulterers, a crowd of faithless people.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 23:10
For the land is full of adulterers—because of the curse, the land mourns and the pastures of the wilderness have dried up—their course is evil and their power is misused.
- Jeremiah 5:7–8
“Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery and assembled at the houses of prostitutes.
- Hosea 4:2
Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another.
- Jeremiah 23:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Apostolic Constitutions, CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES; 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 Nilus of Sinai, CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 1:3.10.