Proverbs 14:1 Commentary and Bible Study

Neither the building nor the destruction of the house is intended literally, as would have been apparent to all in that culture where it was the men who handled bricks and mortar, but for this reason the proverb is all the more powerful. The two women in the proverb accomplish the building up and the tearing down of their houses without touching a trowel. The wise woman has a highly significant effect upon her house, for she builds the household and makes it to be a home, a place of peace and happiness, of kindness and hospitality, of order and productivity, and above all, a place where God is honoured. If the Lord is honoured then he builds the house, and without his building, nothing of any lasting value can be achieved. The wise woman therefore brings up her children in the fear of the Lord; she honours her husband and promotes his interests, remaining faithful to him. She makes many arrangements and considers many needs, and makes the home a base from which all members of the family operate with strength, and does not allow it to be undermined by disagreement, quarrels, or dissolute behaviour.But why should any tear down their own house? The foolish woman does not fully appreciate the destructiveness of her behaviour, or the harm that she brings on her family. She selfishly pursues her own interests at the expense of her husband and her children instead of seeing herself as a helpmeet. She reacts to provocation and hits back instead of absorbing minor wrongdoings, for she does not have peace uppermost in her heart. She behaves as if she is in competition with her husband and not as one who submits to him, according to God’s order in this brief life. She dominates her children and does not allow them to develop their own distinctive individual personalities, or else she does the opposite and gives them undue freedom to explore evils which they should be guarded from. When she does discipline them, it is not done carefully with self-control, but as an expression of her irritation. Yet by her conduct she harms herself also, for she too should derive much good from the peace of the family. But self-destructiveness is blind and sets itself above every good thing.