Brawling Women

Proverbs 21:9 

It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop,

than with a brawling woman in a wide house.

 

A "brawling woman" sounds like someone who had a few too

many barley pops at the local tavern and is giving out knuckle sandwiches.

The Lord isn't describing a Christian wife, is He?

If "brawling" doesn't indicate a bar fight, let's look into the meaning.

"Contentious" is the word chosen in New KJV translation.

 NIV  translated it "quarrelsome."

In the Bible Knowledge Commentary, it says a man would prefer

living on a corner of a housetop

"where one can at least have peace and quiet

rather than in a spacious home with an

argumentative, contentious wife.  

A wife who causes strife

makes a home unpleasant and undesirable."

Putting yourself in the picture yet? 

I am.

 

I guess the "corner of the house" has been replaced with

current sayings like

"being in the doghouse"

"sleeping on the couch"

"being in hot water"

but a wife's reputation to be cranky remains the same.

Yea, that's my husband on the corner of the house.

No, I wasn't being contentious (this time), he was putting up Christmas lights.

But, this picture makes me think about the Biblical admonitions.

Men fight with their fists, women fight with their tongues.

Pr. 19:13, "And the contentions of a wife are a continual dripping."

Pr. 27:15, "A continual dripping on a very rainy day

And a contentious woman are alike."

Pr. 21:19, "Better to dwell in the wilderness,

than with a contentious and angry woman."

Wow. 

The Lord really understands women, right?

He also understands men.

1 Peter 3:1-2

"Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands,

that even if some do not obey the word, they,

without a word,

 may be won by the conduct of their wives,

when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.

Did you read that middle line?

Without a word.

Without.

A.

Word.

Men don't like to be nagged.
You don't win when you nag.
Oh, and it's coupled with submission.

Does that mean you never have a say?

No.

Our husbands married us because they admire our faith and our brains.

They want those faith and brains in action.

Does that mean you'll always win?

No.

Do you want to, anyway? 

Didn't you marry him because of his faith and brains?

We can't have the dripping faucet kinda' action.

Or the kind of action that sends him to the

21st century variation of the "corner of the house."

The action where you wisely state your opinion,

allow him to state his opinion,

then pray,

especially if your opinions differ,
until you have an agreed upon course of action.

We "win" when we
walk in the Lord's will as a couple.

We need to keep our husbands off the roofs.

It's safer inside, anyway.

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Want to read more about husbands?

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What if Daddy is Wrong?

Daddy's Way is Funner