Proverbs 21:9
in Proverbs 21Better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, Than with a contentious woman in a wide house.
KJV
It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house.
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This verse in Proverbs 21
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
A wide house - literally, “a house of companionship,” i. e., a house shared with her. The flat roof of an Eastern house was often used for retirement by day, or in summer for sleep by night. The corner of such a roof was exposed to all changes of weather, and the point of the proverb lies in the thought that all winds and storms which a man might meet with there are more endurable than the tempest within.
This site's exposition
The way of a guilty man is crooked
on Proverbs 21:8-10
"The way of a guilty man is crooked, but the conduct of the innocent is upright," the chapter's division. The soul of the wicked man "craves evil," the appetite language used of the fortune seeker, and his neighbor finds no favor with him.
This site's exposition
on a corner of the roof
The flat roof of an Eastern house served for rest and sleep in summer, Albert Barnes explains, and its corner lay open to every storm. Barnes reads the wide house as a house shared with a quarrelsome wife. Living outside is better than the tempest within.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
It is better to sit in a corner of the housetop, etc. It is so true that it is better to sit in the corner of the housetop, that is, in the secret height of a more continent life, than with a wicked woman in …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop,....
21 He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honour. What it is to make religion our business; it is to follow after righteousness and mercy, not to content ourselves with easy performances, but to do our duty with the utmost care and pains, as those that are pressing forward and in fear of coming short.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
In a corner of the housetop - A shed raised on the flat roof - a wide house; בית חבר beith chaber, “a house of fellowship;” what we should call a lodging-house, or a house occupied by several families. This was usual in the East, as well as in the West. Some think a house of festivity is meant: hence my old MS. Bible has, the hous and feste.
The words behind it
9 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 |
| לָשֶׁ֥בֶת | lashevet | to dwell | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| פִּנַּת־ | pinat- | a corner of | H6438 → | 29 times |
| גָּ֑ג | gag | a roof | H1406 → | |
| מֵאֵ֥שֶׁת | meeshet | more than a woman of | H802 → | 781 times |
| מִ֝דְיָנִ֗ים | midyanim | contentions | H4079 → | 10 times |
| וּבֵ֥ית | uveit | and a house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| חָֽבֶר׃ | chaver | association | H2269 → |
ט֗וֹב[is] good
tovH2896 →538 times
לָשֶׁ֥בֶתto dwell
lashevetH3427 →1079 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
פִּנַּת־a corner of
pinat-H6438 →29 times
גָּ֑גa roof
gagH1406 →
מֵאֵ֥שֶׁתmore than a woman of
meeshetH802 →781 times
מִ֝דְיָנִ֗יםcontentions
midyanimH4079 →10 times
וּבֵ֥יתand a house of
uveitH1004 →2046 times
חָֽבֶר׃association
chaverH2269 →
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 12:4A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but she who causes shame is like decay in his bones.
it leads to
- Proverbs 31:10–25
A wife of noble character, who can find? She is far more precious than rubies.
- Proverbs 14:30
A tranquil heart is life to the body, but envy rots the bones.
- Proverbs 14:1
Every wise woman builds her house, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.
- Proverbs 19:13–14
A foolish son is his father’s ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping.
- 1 Corinthians 11:11
In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.
- Proverbs 31:10–25
Through
Proverbs 19:13A foolish son is his father’s ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping.
it leads to
- Proverbs 27:15
A constant dripping on a rainy day and a contentious woman are alike—
- Proverbs 27:15
Through
Proverbs 21:19Better to live in the desert than with a contentious and ill-tempered wife.
it leads to
- Psalms 55:6–7
I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and find rest.
- Psalms 55:6–7
Through
Proverbs 25:24Better 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.
- Proverbs 21:19
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); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; 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.