Bible Strands
Proverbs 21:9
Better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The text addresses the reader with practical wisdom, positioned between a contrast of upright and crooked conduct and a warning about the wicked man’s insatiable craving.
The words — The verse hinges on טוֹב (tov, "good") and מִדְיָנִים (midyanim, "contentions"), framing a literal choice between dwelling on a roof corner and sharing a house amid strife.
The thread — The identical rooftop-versus-contentious-wife comparison appears in Proverbs 25:24, while the theme of fleeing a quarrelsome wife runs through Proverbs 21:19.
Why it lands — The text states that physical isolation is preferable to domestic strife, requiring the reader to value peace over shared comfort without romanticizing the choice.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 19:13 A foolish son is his father’s ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping.
- Proverbs 21:19 Better to live in the desert than with a contentious and ill-tempered wife.
- Proverbs 25:24 Better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.
- Proverbs 27:15 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 15:17 Better a dish of vegetables where there is love than a fattened ox with hatred.