A continual dripping on a very rainy day And a contentious woman are alike;
Parallel translations
- WEB A continual dropping on a rainy day and a contentious wife are alike:
- KJV A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.
- BSB A constant dripping on a rainy day and a contentious woman are alike—
- NASB A constant dripping on a day of steady rain And a contentious woman are alike;
- NLT A quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping on a rainy day.
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 quarrelsome wife is as wearing as a roof that constantly drips in a storm. It vividly portrays the daily misery of persistent strife in the home.
Overview
Linked with the next verse, this saying compares a contentious spouse to the steady, maddening drip of rain that gives no rest. The point is the cumulative toll of unending conflict on domestic peace. Scripture's remedy is the gospel pattern of marriage shaped by Christ's self-giving love, where peace replaces contention (Ephesians 5:25-33).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Prov 19:13A foolish son is the calamity of his father. A wife’s quarrels are a continual dripping.
- Prov 21:9It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than to share a house with a contentious woman.
- Prov 21:19It is better to dwell in a desert land, than with a contentious and fretful woman.
- Prov 25:24It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than to share a house with a contentious 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.
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 27:15 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.