Proverbs 27:15 Commentary and Bible Study

We cannot find contentment in life unless we know what things steal it from us, and therefore Solomon shows us major causes of disquiet and sorrow so that we can avoid them. A similar thought is found in Proverbs 19:13. What a blessing it is when husband and wife can live together in peace and tranquillity. The loving and mutually tolerant relationship is the cause of deep happiness, and gives a strength which can face all manner of hardship in the outside world the home. But how terrible it is for a man to live with a woman who cannot restrain her tongue but must always be making the most out of every offence, or inventing offences when there are none! Her desire to be win every argument, to have every wrong immediately righted, her disproportionate concern for herself, and her failure to submit to her husband and to work for the union of the marriage as a greater good is like a sound of continual dripping. As drip relentlessly follows drip, so that the next is anticipated with nervous tension and comes with exaggerated sound, so the next outburst of the contentious woman falls on a hypersensitive ear. Instead of a sympathising and supportive voice which commits to standing beside her husband and facing the troubles together with combined strength, the contentious woman undermines peace and proves that love is absent. It doesn’t matter how gently she is treated, how patiently she is answered, there is something inside her heart that produces complaints out of thin air. This is extremely waring, and when the two live together in the same home, it is impossible to find a quiet corner of the house. The second verse describes the impossibility of restraining her. Two powerful images express this. It is like trying to restrain the wind. A child might think they could do this but they will soon learn that the wind is something greater than they are. If they put up a barrier against it, the wind simply goes round it or over it. It has the ability to find a way past every obstacle. Similar is the picture of trying to grasp fat or oil in the hand. As the grip tightens, the oil squeezes out through the cracks between the fingers and cannot he held properly. Trying to get hold of the spirit of a contentious woman is the same. No words are able to restrain her, for her contentious spirit generates a new argument at every turn. Only God can contain her, and he will do so with great force. How tragic that a gentle word is not able to do it, for we must deal gently with each other as far as it is possible.