Proverbs 21:9

It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house. (IT IS) BETTER TO DWELL IN A CORNER OF THE HOUSE-TOP (THOUGH EXPOSED THERE TO WIND, RAIN, HEAT, AND COLD), THAN WITH A BRAWLING WOMAN (A WOMAN OF CONTENTIONS) IN A WIDE HOUSE (a house of community: i:e., a house shared with her). The flat roofs in Eastern houses are often used as places of retreat for meditation and prayer ()....

Verse Proverbs 21:9. _IN A CORNER OF THE HOUSETOP_] A shed raised on the _flat_ _roof_: - _a wide house_; בית חבר beith chaber, "a house of fellowship;" what we should call a _lodging-house_, or a _house_ _occupied by several families_. This was usual in the _East_, as well as in the _West_. Some think a _house of festivity_ is meant: hence my old MS. Bible has, _the hous and feste_....

A WIDE HOUSE - literally, “a house of companionship,” i. e., a house shared with her. The flat roof of an Eastern house was often used for retirement by day, or in summer for sleep by night. The corner of such a roof was exposed to all changes of weather, and the point of the proverb lies in the thought that all winds and storms which a man might meet with there are more endurable than the tempest within....

EXPOSITION PROVERBS 21:1 THE KING'S HEART IS IN THE HAND OF THE LORD, AS THE RIVERS OF WATER. We are to think of the little channels used for irrigation. As these are altogether under the gardener's control, so the heart of the king, who might seem to have no superior, is directed by God. HE TURNETH IT WHITHERSOEVER HE WILL. By hidden influences and providential arrangements God disposes the monarch to order his government so as to carry out his designs, to spread around joy and plenty. The system of irrigation signified in this passage is still to be seen in Eastern lands. "Flower beds and gardens of herbs are always made at a little lower level than the surrounding ground, and are divided into small squares, a slight edging of earth banking the whole round on each side. Water is then let in, and floods the entire sur

[IT IS] BETTER TO DWELL IN A CORNER OF THE HOUSETOP,.... The roofs of houses in Judea were that, encompassed with battlements, whither persons might retire for solitude, and sit in safety: and it is better to be in a corner of such a roof alone, and be exposed to scorching heat, to blustering winds, to thunder storms and showers of rain, THAN WITH A BRAWLING WOMAN IN A WIDE HOUSE; large and spacious, full of rooms, fit for a numerous family: or, "an house of society" u; where many families might dwell and live sociably with each other; or a house where a man, his wife and family, might dwell together, and have communion with each other; it is opposed to the corner of the housetop, and the solitariness of it; as the scolding of the brawling woman, or "a woman of contentions" w, who is always noisy and quarrelsome, her violent passions, her storming language, and thundering voice, are to...

CHAPTER 21 PERSONAL INSTRUCTIONS AS TO LIFE AND CONDUCT In the proverbs of this chapter the Lord is mentioned five times. “The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will” Proverbs 21:1). The rivers of water are “water-courses,” the irrigation system known to the ancients, opening and shutting sluices directed the flow of the waters. Thus the Lord governs the king's heart as He directs the affairs of men. The Lord pondereth the hearts Proverbs 21:2). The same truth is stated in Proverbs 16:2; self-justification suits the natural man but the Lord testeth all hearts. How well it is to remember in all our conduct, that truth, so comforting to the believer, expr

PROVERBS 21:1. WATERCOURSES: not the natural brooks and wadys of Palestine, but the artificial irrigation canals of Egypt or Babylonia, which could be diverted in any direction at will. Proverbs 21:4. Apparently two unconnected lines belonging to different couplets. A connexion can be established only by forced exegesis. The Heb. is lit. lofty of look and arrogant of heart, the tillage of the wicked is sin. RV lamp for tillage depends on a different pointing, but does not improve the sense. Proverbs 21:6. Lit. The getting of treasures by a lying tongue (is) a driven breath, seekers of death. RV clearly inserts more than the text warrants to make sense of...

BETTER. See note on Proverbs 8:11....

_in a corner of the housetop_ The LXX. render ἐπὶ γωνίας ὑπαίθρου, with no better hiding-place from the storms of heaven than the narrow corner in which the parapet walls of the flat roof meet (Deuteronomy 22:8). _a wide house_ Lit. A HOUSE OF SOCIETY. This may mean, _a house shared in common with her_, R.V. marg., but it is better to understand it of a house large enough for the society of many people assembling there. Comp. Acts 12:12....

CHAPTER 21 TEXT Proverbs 21:1-10 1. The king's heart is in the hand of Jehovah as the water courses: He turneth it whithersoever he will. 2. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes; But Jehovah weigheth the hearts. 3. To do righteousness and justice Is more acceptable to Jehovah than sacrifice. 4. A high look, and a proud heart, Even the lamp of the wicked, is sin. 5. The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; But every one that is hasty hasteth only to want. 6. The getting of treasures by a lying tongue Is a vapor driven to and fro by them that seek death. 7. The violence of the wicked shall sweep them away, Because they refuse to do justice. 8. The way of him that is laden with guilt is exceeding crooked; But as for t