Proverbs 19:13

13 A foolish son will ruin his father, and a quarreling wife is like dripping water.

Proverbs 19:13 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 19:13

A foolish son [is] the calamity of his father
Or, "the calamities of his father" ^F17; he brings them to him. A very great affliction he is, and which has many distresses and sorrows in it; as loss of reputation and credit in his family, which is sunk by his behaviour, instead of being supported and increased; loss of substance, through extravagance and riotous living, and the ruin of his soul and body by his wicked practices; see ( Proverbs 10:1 ) ; and the contentions of a wife [are] a continual dropping;
or like the dropping of rain, in a rainy day, into a house out of repair, and which is very uncomfortable to, the inhabitants of it; see ( Proverbs 27:15 ) . Such are the contentions of a peevish, ill natured, and brawling wife, who is always scolding; and which is a continual vexation to a man, and renders him very uneasy in life: such a continual dropping was Xantippe to Socrates, who teased him night and day with her brawls and contentions ^F18. A great unhappiness each of these must be!

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 (twwh) "calamitates", Vatablus; "aerumnae", Piscator, Michaelis; "causa aerumnarum", Junius & Tremellius.
F18 A. Gell. Noct. Attic. l. 1. c. 17.

Proverbs 19:13 In-Context

11 Smart people are patient; they will be honored if they ignore insults.

12 An angry king is like a roaring lion, but his kindness is like the dew on the grass.

13 A foolish son will ruin his father, and a quarreling wife is like dripping water.

14 Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a wise wife is a gift from the Lord.

15 Lazy people sleep a lot, and idle people will go hungry.