John Gill Commentary Proverbs 21:19

"It is better to dwell in a desert land, Than with a contentious and fretful woman." — Proverbs 21:19 (ASV)

[It is] better to dwell in the wilderness Where persons live without shelter, and are not only exposed to storms and tempests, but to beasts of prey; where is want of the necessaries of life, and no society; where no "speech" is, as the word ^F5 for wilderness may signify; yet it is better to dwell in such a place, where no human voice is heard, than with a contentious and an angry woman ;

that is always brawling and scolding, ever in a quarrelsome and angry disposition, and provoking to anger all about her; (See Gill on Proverbs 21:9).

In a mystical sense, it is better to be with the church in the wilderness, (Revelation 12:14) ; than with the furious, bloodthirsty, and persecuting church of Rome, in all its worldly glory and splendour.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F5: (rbdm) "a" (rbd) loqui".