Better to Live in the Corner of the Housetop
17 He who loves pleasure will be a poor man. He who loves wine and oil won’t be rich. 18 The wicked is a ransom for the righteous, the treacherous for the upright. 19 It is better to dwell in a desert land, than with a contentious and fretful woman. 20 There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man swallows it up. 21 He who follows after righteousness and kindness finds life, righteousness, and honor. 22 A wise man scales the city of the mighty, and brings down the strength of its confidence. 23 Whoever guards his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles. 24 The proud and arrogant man—“Scoffer” is his name— he works in the arrogance of pride. 25 The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. 26 There are those who covet greedily all day long; but the righteous give and don’t withhold. 27 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination— how much more, when he brings it with a wicked mind! 28 A false witness will perish. A man who listens speaks to eternity. 29 A wicked man hardens his face; but as for the upright, he establishes his ways. 30 There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against Yahweh. 31 The horse is prepared for the day of battle; but victory is with Yahweh.
A man would rather sleep on the roof than share the house, and the chapter ends by preparing the horse and giving the victory elsewhere.
The domestic comparison appears twice in this chapter and once more later, which is more attention than the collection gives most subjects. It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop than to share a house with a contentious woman, and then better to dwell in a desert land, than with a contentious and fretful woman. Roofs in that country were flat and used for sleeping in hot weather, so the first is exposure and discomfort. The second is exile.
The sayings should be read for what they name. That is the specific misery of constant conflict in the place a person cannot leave. The book's final portrait of a household is of a woman whose husband trusts her completely and whose children rise up and call her blessed Proverbs 31:11 Proverbs 31:28. What is condemned here is not a woman but a home at war, described from the side of the man who wrote it down.
The run's economics are consistent and unromantic. He who loves pleasure will be a poor man. There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man swallows it up. The wise household has reserves; the foolish one consumes whatever arrives. And the sluggard is given the collection's grimmest line: The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. He is not described as wanting nothing. He wants, continuously. The wanting is what destroys him, because it is never attached to work.
One verse quietly rebukes the whole idea that force settles matters: A wise man scales the city of the mighty, and brings down the strength of its confidence. The book has already ranked self-control above taking a city Proverbs 16:32. Here wisdom takes the city.
And the chapter ends with a saying that holds preparation and dependence together without weakening either: The horse is prepared for the day of battle; but victory is with Yahweh. The horse is still prepared. Nothing here counsels doing less. What it refuses is the conclusion that the preparation is what decides the day.
settled What this mark means