Proverbs 21:19 Commentary and Bible Study

Again, as in verse 9 of this chapter, Solomon brings this picture of the contentious wife. So unpleasant is her company that her husband flees from her and is ready to suffer all manner of inconvenience and discomfort rather than dwell with her. She ought to be a help meet for him and to support him in all the affairs of life, but instead she wears him down with her constant griping. She does not know how to build a home and is like a dog at a bone over every little item of disagreement. The degree to which the husband wishes to get away from her is strengthened in this verse over verse 9. There he was content to seek a corner of the housetop to find peace and quiet, but now he realises this is not enough and he must get out of the house. He must even go an live in a remote place, deprived of company and even the normal conveniences of life to get away from her.Again, this is to be treated as an illustration. In this case the husband is assumed to be a believer and the wife an unbeliever, but it might be the other way round. The company of the wicked is so distasteful to the righteous that they would rather face unreasonable hardship than try to enjoy the comforts that go with the world’s company. Fellowship with the world is not worth having if it means bearing with ungodliness, malice, spite, and anger. Some love contention and watch with fascination when a quarrel breaks out, but the child of God loves peace and hates to see people hurting each other. The righteous are ready to wait in the wilderness until God judges the wicked and gives the earth as an inheritance to the meek.