Proverbs 27:15
in Proverbs 27A constant dripping on a rainy day and a contentious woman are alike—
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
A continual dropping in a very rainy day And a contentious woman are alike:
KJV
A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.
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This verse in Proverbs 27
Commentary
4 notes on this verseJust as no house ever falls to the ground by a sudden collapse, but only when there is some flaw of long standing in the foundation, or when by long continued neglect of its inmates, what was at first only a little drip finds its way through, and so the protecting walls are by degrees ruined, and in consequence of long standing neglect the gap becomes larger, and breaks away, and in time the drenching storm and rain pours in like a river: for "by slothfulness a building is cast down, and through the weakness of hands the house shall drop through."
This site's exposition
A constant dripping on a rainy day
on Proverbs 27:15-16
"A constant dripping on a rainy day and a contentious woman are alike" repeats a comparison, the quarrelsome wife beside weather no roof keeps out. Verse 16 presses the figure further, since "restraining her is like holding back the wind or grasping oil with one’s right hand."
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
A continual dropping in a very rainy day,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Continual dropping - Here, as in the marginal reference, the flat, earthen roof of Eastern houses, always liable to cracks and leakage, supplies the groundwork of the similitude.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
He who blesses his friend Someone blesses his friend daily, and the blessing is converted into a curse, for people say about him that he is generous with his money and wealthy, and everyone comes and borrows from him, and the government provokes him to collect his money.
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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| דֶּ֣לֶף | delef | a dripping | H1812 → | |
| ט֭וֹרֵד | tored | continuous | H2956 → | |
| בְּי֣וֹם | beyom | on a day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| סַגְרִ֑יר | sagrir | persistent rain | H5464 → | |
| וְאֵ֥שֶׁת | veeshet | and a wife of | H802 → | 781 times |
| מִ֝דְיָנִ֗ים | midonim | contentions | H4079 → | 10 times |
| נִשְׁתָּוָֽה׃ | nishtavah | she is like | H7737 → | 21 times |
דֶּ֣לֶףa dripping
delefH1812 →
ט֭וֹרֵדcontinuous
toredH2956 →
בְּי֣וֹםon a day of
beyomH3117 →2304 times
סַגְרִ֑ירpersistent rain
sagrirH5464 →
וְאֵ֥שֶׁתand a wife of
veeshetH802 →781 times
מִ֝דְיָנִ֗יםcontentions
midonimH4079 →10 times
נִשְׁתָּוָֽה׃she is like
nishtavahH7737 →21 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 21:19Better to live in the desert than with a contentious and ill-tempered wife.
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 3 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 55:6–7
I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and find rest.
- Psalms 120:5–6
Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech, that I live among the tents of Kedar!
- Proverbs 21:9
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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 21:19
Better to live in the desert than with a contentious and ill-tempered wife.
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 27:15–16
A constant dripping on a rainy day and a contentious woman are alike—
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 19:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Cassian, CONFERENCE 6:17; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.