[ 1 minutes to read ]

A foolish son is the calamity of his father: and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping.
– Proverbs 19:13

[P]roverbs begins with Solomon’s fatherly admonitions to his son to forsake the way of folly and embrace the way of wisdom. The first nine chapters teach us a father should make every effort to bring up his son in the way of wisdom, but, ultimately, the son must choose to refuse folly and pursue wisdom. When a son chooses folly, it is a grief, heaviness, and sorrow to his father (Proverbs 17:21, 25). Here it is a calamity, which is a ruin. The man who has foolish children is robbed of joy.

The word for contentions means brawling, or strife. A woman who is querulous and quarrelsome is like an incessant dripping that must drive a man mad (Proverbs 27:15). No one can live with constant complaining, criticizing, and nagging and also have joy or peace of mind in life. The Proverbs mention other conditions that are better to live with (Proverbs 21:9, 19). Having either condition, or both, makes life a misery.

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