Pro 19:13 | KingComments | STEP | “A foolish son” and “the contentions of a wife” are two problems that cause chaos in a family ( ). “A foolish son” deprives his father of all pleasure by his licentiousness, laziness, self-conceitedness, pride, willful attitude. The word “destruction” is plural, indicating that such a son inflicts grief upon grief upon his father. He is a chain of destructions for his father, under which, of course, his mother will also suffer. A wife who quarrels does the same thing as the son, for she too by her quarrels makes the house uninhabitable. The house that should be an oasis of peace is full of envy and strife. One quarrel follows another, just as drops of water follow each other steadily, always going on and on. When it starts dripping through the roof, you don’t know where the leak is. As long as the leak is not found and then plugged, the water does its rotting work in the hidden. This is how it is sometimes with a wife’s quarreling. You neither know where it comes from nor how to solve it. It may be that in this case it is known where the quarreling is coming from, and that is the son’s behavior. When a son, or a child, behaves outrageously, it can be a divisive factor in the marriage. This happens when the wife starts blaming her husband (in practice, it can be the other way around). Fortunately, it can also be the case that the worry for a child makes husband and wife a closer unity. This will be so if they continually bring the child to the Lord in prayer as a common concern. Obtaining “house and property” is a matter of inheritance ( ). An inheritance passes from father to son. It is a consequence of being a member of a particular family. It is very different with obtaining “a prudent wife”. There is no family relationship there. When someone obtains “a prudent wife”, it is a special gift from God. The contrast is, on the one hand, wealth that can be acquired from a father and, on the other hand, a prudent wife which is a gift from the LORD. “Laziness” is another cause that brings misery on others and not just on the lazy person himself ( ). This proverb is meant to deter laziness. Laziness means a person is completely inactive. “A deep sleep” (cf. ) is a state of unconsciousness. Time passes without the lazy person having the slightest awareness of it. He who is lazy wastes time necessary to take care of himself and his family. The family in which the husband and father does not provide safety due to laziness because he does not provide income is a miserable family. There is hunger, but there is nothing to satisfy the hunger with. A lazy person is a poor steward of a precious gift from God: time. Laziness is the coffin of a living.

‏ Proverbs 19:13

Domestic Misery and Domestic Happiness

“A foolish son” and “the contentions of a wife” are two problems that cause chaos in a family (Pro 19:13). “A foolish son” deprives his father of all pleasure by his licentiousness, laziness, self-conceitedness, pride, willful attitude. The word “destruction” is plural, indicating that such a son inflicts grief upon grief upon his father. He is a chain of destructions for his father, under which, of course, his mother will also suffer.

A wife who quarrels does the same thing as the son, for she too by her quarrels makes the house uninhabitable. The house that should be an oasis of peace is full of envy and strife. One quarrel follows another, just as drops of water follow each other steadily, always going on and on. When it starts dripping through the roof, you don’t know where the leak is. As long as the leak is not found and then plugged, the water does its rotting work in the hidden. This is how it is sometimes with a wife’s quarreling. You neither know where it comes from nor how to solve it.

It may be that in this case it is known where the quarreling is coming from, and that is the son’s behavior. When a son, or a child, behaves outrageously, it can be a divisive factor in the marriage. This happens when the wife starts blaming her husband (in practice, it can be the other way around). Fortunately, it can also be the case that the worry for a child makes husband and wife a closer unity. This will be so if they continually bring the child to the Lord in prayer as a common concern.

Obtaining “house and property” is a matter of inheritance (Pro 19:14). An inheritance passes from father to son. It is a consequence of being a member of a particular family. It is very different with obtaining “a prudent wife”. There is no family relationship there. When someone obtains “a prudent wife”, it is a special gift from God. The contrast is, on the one hand, wealth that can be acquired from a father and, on the other hand, a prudent wife which is a gift from the LORD.

“Laziness” is another cause that brings misery on others and not just on the lazy person himself (Pro 19:15). This proverb is meant to deter laziness. Laziness means a person is completely inactive. “A deep sleep” (cf. Gen 2:21) is a state of unconsciousness. Time passes without the lazy person having the slightest awareness of it.

He who is lazy wastes time necessary to take care of himself and his family. The family in which the husband and father does not provide safety due to laziness because he does not provide income is a miserable family. There is hunger, but there is nothing to satisfy the hunger with. A lazy person is a poor steward of a precious gift from God: time. Laziness is the coffin of a living.