Charles Ellicott Commentary Proverbs 17:14

"The beginning of strife is [as] when one letteth out water: Therefore leave off contention, before there is quarrelling." — Proverbs 17:14 (ASV)

The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water. —The drops which ooze through a tiny hole in the bank of a reservoir soon swell into an unmanageable torrent; so from insignificant beginnings arise feuds which cannot be appeased. Solomon constructed large pools (Ecclesiastes 2:6) beyond Bethlehem, and is supposed to have brought the water from these by an aqueduct into Jerusalem.

Before it be meddled with.— The same expression is used at Proverbs 18:1; Proverbs 20:3. It probably means before (men) show their teeth, a metaphor from an angry dog.