Proverbs 27:15-16...Contentious Women

"A continual dripping on a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike; whoever restrains her restrains the wind. And grasps oil with his right hand." (Prov. 27:15-16)

DISCLAIMER #1: I've got to be careful here because a woman might read this and get offended. Girls, trust me, this isn't personal. I don't have any women in mind when I write this. All I'm doing is explaining a passage of God's word.

DISCLAIMER #2: Furthermore, I'm married and so someone might interpret this article to be a rant about my wife. Let me assure you that I am not talking about my wife here. I am married to a wonderful woman who loves and supports me. I think the world of her.

Okay, now that I've cleared those things up, let's take a look at the passage itself.

First of all, let's understand the description of a "continual dripping on a very rainy day." Have you ever lived in an old house where the roof leaked? I know I have, and it's always frustrating when a storm comes through and you've got to rush about placing cans and buckets under every leak so as to keep your floors from getting wet. But for the most part, we have decent roofs and so most of us don't have to deal with leaky roofs. Back in Solomon's day, however, I imagine they were more accustomed to leaky roofs. Their shingle-system wasn't quite as advanced, I wouldn't imagine. Furthermore, the average Jew had dirt floors. So you can imagine what it would have been like back then. The roof would probably leak in several different places and the dirt floors would turn to mud. Pretty aggrevating, eh?

That's what a contentious woman is like. A woman who is contentious is argumentative, petty and difficult to be around. She's always finding something to complain about. She's uneasy and unsettled, making those around her miserable.

Adam Clarke says, "The man who has got such a wife is like a tenant who has got a cottage with a bad roof through every part of which the rain either drops or pours. He can neither sit, stand work, nor sleep, without being exposed to these droppings. God help the man who is in such a case, with house or wife!" Matthew Henry, another famous commentator, says, "It is a grievance that there is no avoiding, for it is like a continual dropping in a very rainy day. The contentions of a neighbour may be like a sharp shower, troublesome for the time, yet, while it lasts, one may take shelter; but the contentions of a wife are like a constant soaking rain, for which there is no remedy but patience."

So women, I'm going to put it to you.

Are you a contentious wife? Or are you like the virtuous wife of Proverbs 31 who is a blessing to her husband? When your husband comes home from work, do you continually drip complaints and grievances? Do you bother him with things that don't matter and cause him stress? If so, then stop! Now, I'm not saying that you can't talk to your husband about things that are bothering you, nor is that Solomon's point here. So please don't draw that conclusion from this lesson. But don't be a difficult, contentious, brawling, controversial woman.

I'm not a woman, so I can't say too much more here. Perhaps some of you woman might leave some advice and ideas below. But this is certainly something we need to think about, as Solomon says much about contentious women in the book of Proverbs.