WAIT… THAT’S IN THE BIBLE? — DAY 20

A lighthearted look at some of the wonderfully unexpected things you discover when you actually read your Bible, context still matters!

“A quarrelsome wife is like the dripping of a leaky roof in a rainstorm; restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand.”
Proverbs 27:15–16

Apparently saying:

“Constant arguing is exhausting.”

wasn’t quite descriptive enough for Proverbs.

No.

Instead, we’re given the picture of lying in bed during a rainstorm listening to:

DRIP…

DRIP…

DRIP…

DRIP…

ALL. NIGHT. LONG.

And just when you think the imagery couldn’t get any more dramatic, Proverbs basically adds:

“Oh, you want to stop it?”

Sure.

Just go outside and…

CATCH THE WIND.

Or perhaps try:

GRABBING A HANDFUL OF OIL.

Good luck with that.

Imagine an ancient husband standing under his leaking roof with a bucket.

Someone asks:

“Have you tried fixing it?”

Him:

“THE ROOF OR THE ARGUMENT?”

Context still matters!

Proverbs is using deliberately vivid imagery to describe how exhausting and destructive persistent quarrelling can become within a household.

The point isn’t that women are the problem or that husbands should mock their wives.

Scripture repeatedly warns all of us about quarrelling, anger, foolish speech and unnecessary conflict.

The humour is in just how dramatically Proverbs paints the picture:

A dripping roof.

The wind you can’t catch.

Oil slipping through your fingers.

Basically:

“THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE EASY.”

And underneath the humour is some genuinely useful wisdom:

Constant conflict eventually wears everyone down. Peace is worth protecting.

But still…

Three thousand years later, apparently two sounds remain particularly difficult to sleep through:

DRIP… DRIP… DRIP…

and…

“AND ANOTHER THING!”

Some things really are timeless.