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Proverbs 19:13

19:12 The king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion; but his favour is as dew upon the grass.
A foolish son is the calamity of his father: and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping.

KJV

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A foolish son is the calamity of his father. A wife’s quarrels are a continual dripping.

A foolish son is the calamity of his father: and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping.

A foolish son is the calamity of his father: and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping.

19:14 House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the LORD.

What does Proverbs 19:13 mean?

Proverbs 19:13 is a verse in the book of Proverbs, in the Old Testament. In the original Hebrew, key words include כְּסִיל (kᵉçîyl), בֵּן (bên), הַוָּה (havvâh). It connects to 10 cross-referenced passages elsewhere in Scripture.

Hebrew interlinear

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A
foolishכְּסִילkᵉçîyl/kes-eel'/H3684properly, fat, i.e. (figuratively) stupid or silly
sonבֵּןbên/bane/H1121a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
is
the
calamityהַוָּהhavvâh/hav-vaw'/H1942by implication, of falling); desire; also ruin
of
his
father:אָבʼâb/awb/H1father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote application
and
the
contentionsמִדְיָןmidyân/mid-yawn'/H4079{a contest or quarrel}
of
a
wifeאִשָּׁהʼishshâh/ish-shaw'/H802a woman
are
a
continualטָרַדṭârad/taw-rad'/H2956to drive on; figuratively, to follow close
dropping.דֶּלֶףdeleph/deh'-lef/H1812a dripping

Commentary on Proverbs 19:13

HENRY_FULL · Proverbs 19:13
It is an instance of the vanity of the world that we are liable to the greatest grief in those things wherein we promise ourselves the greatest comfort. It is as it proves. What greater temporal comfort can a man have than a good wife and good children? Yet, 1. A foolish son is a great affliction, and may make a man wish a thousand times he had been written childless. A son that will apply himself to no study or business, that will take no advice, that lives a lewd, loose, rakish life, and spends what he has extravagantly, games it away and wastes it in the excess of riot, or that is proud, foppish, and conceited, such a one is the grief of his father, because he is the disgrace, and is likely to be the ruin, of his family. He hates all his labour, when he sees to whom he must leave the fruit of it. 2. A cross peevish wife is as great an affliction: Her contentions are continual; every day, and every hour in the day, she finds some occasion to make herself and those about her uneasy. Those that are accustomed to chide never want something or other to chide at; but it is a continual dropping, that is, a continual vexation, as it is to have a house so much out of repair that it rains in and a man cannot lie dry in it. That man has an uncomfortable life, and has need of a great deal of wisdom and grace to enable him to bear his affliction and do his duty, who has a sot for his son and a scold for his wife. 14 House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the Lord .

Cross-references

Related passages from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

2 Samuel 7:14

I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:

1 Chronicles 28:9

And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

2 Chronicles 7:17

And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments;

Proverbs 4:2

For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.

Proverbs 28:4

They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them.

Jeremiah 9:13

And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;

Ezekiel 18:9

Hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 18:17

That hath taken off his hand from the poor, that hath not received usury nor increase, hath executed my judgments, hath walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live.

Ezekiel 20:19

I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them;

Luke 1:6

And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

Topics

StrifeWifeWomenYoung Men

Verses like this

Other verses that share key original-language words with Proverbs 19:13.

Proverbs 27:15

A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.

Genesis 10:21

Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born.

Genesis 11:29

And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.

Genesis 2:24

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Genesis 3:16

Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. to thy: or, subject to thy husband

Genesis 4:17

And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. Enoch: Heb. Chanoch

Genesis 4:25

And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. Seth: Heb. Sheth: that is Appointed, or, Put

Genesis 6:18

But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.

Frequently asked questions

What does Proverbs 19:13 say?

Proverbs 19:13 (King James Version) reads: "A foolish son is the calamity of his father: and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping."

Is Proverbs 19:13 in the Old or New Testament?

Proverbs 19:13 is in the Old Testament of the Bible, in the book of Proverbs.

Reflect

As you read Proverbs 19:13, what is one truth here you can carry into today?

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