Proverbs 21:9

“[It is] better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, etc.] The roofs of houses in Judea were that, encompassed with battlements, whither persons might retire for solitude, and sit in safety: and it is better to be in a corner of such a roof alone, and be exposed to scorching heat, to blustering winds, to thunder storms and showers of rain, than with a brawling woman in a wide house; large and spacious, full of rooms, fit for a numerous family: or, “an house of society”f575; where many families might dwell and live sociably with each other; or a house where a man, his wife and family, might dwell together, and have communion with each other; it is opposed to the corner of the housetop, and…”

“corner--a turret or arbor on the roof. brawling--or contentious. wide house--literally, "house of fellowship," large enough for several families.”

“A wide house - literally, “a house of companionship,” i. e., a house shared with her. The flat roof of an Eastern house was often used for retirement by day, or in summer for sleep by night. The corner of such a roof was exposed to all changes of weather, and the point of the proverb lies in the thought that all winds and storms which a man might meet with there are more endurable than the tempest within. return to 'Top of Page'”

“21:9 // 25:24 A marriage that looks good on the outside (in a lovely home) is unrewarding if it is filled with quarrels (see also 21:19; 25:24; 27:15-17; cp. 11:22; 12:4b).”

“better: Pro 21:19, Pro 12:4, Pro 19:13, Pro 25:24, Pro 27:15, Pro 27:16 brawling woman in a wide house: Heb. woman of contentions in a house of society, Pro 15:17, Pro 17:1 Proverbs 21:10”

“The group now following extends to Pro 21:18, where a new one begins with a variation of its initial verse. 9 Better to sit on the pinnacle of a house-roof, Than a contentious wife and a house in common. We have neither to supplement the second line: than with a contentious wife... (Symmachus, Theodotion, Jerome, Luther), nor: than that one have a contentious...; but the meaning is, that sitting on the roof-top better befits one, does better than a quarrelsome wife and a common house (rightly the Targ. and Venet.), i.e., in a common house; for the connecting together of the wife and the house by vav is a Semitic hendiadys, a juxtaposition of two ideas which our language would place in a…”