A foolish child is a calamity to a father; a quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping.
Parallel translations
- WEB A foolish son is the calamity of his father. A wife’s quarrels are a continual dripping.
- KJV A foolish son is the calamity of his father: and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping.
- BSB A foolish son is his father’s ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping.
- NKJV A foolish son is the ruin of his father, And the contentions of a wife are a continual dripping.
- NASB A foolish son is destruction to his father, And the quarrels of a wife are a constant dripping.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A foolish child and a quarrelsome spouse bring constant misery. Folly and strife within the home wear a person down.
Overview
This proverb pairs two domestic burdens: a foolish son who is a 'calamity' and a contentious wife whose quarrels are like a maddening, ceaseless dripping. It vividly portrays how folly and strife at home erode peace. The imagery, not meant as an attack on women generally, warns against contentiousness in any relationship and commends the wisdom and gentleness that make a household a place of peace.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Prov 27:15A continual dropping on a rainy day and a contentious wife are alike:
- Prov 21:9It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than to share a house with a contentious woman.
- Prov 25:24It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than to share a house with a contentious woman.
- Prov 10:1The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a glad father; but a foolish son brings grief to his mother.
- Prov 17:25A foolish son brings grief to his father, and bitterness to her who bore him.
- Prov 17:21He who becomes the father of a fool grieves. The father of a fool has no joy.
- Prov 21:19It is better to dwell in a desert land, than with a contentious and fretful woman.
- Job 14:19The waters wear the stones. The torrents of it wash away the dust of the earth. So you destroy the hope of man.
- 2 Sam 13:1–18After this, Absalom the son of David had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her.
- Prov 15:20A wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish man despises his mother.
- Eccl 2:18–19I hated all my labor in which I labored under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 19:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.