21:9

This is a “better than” proverb with an apparently bad situation in the first line. This situation is better than a worse situation in the second line.

9a Better to live on a corner of the roof

9b than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

In this proverb, the reader has to figure out why it is better “to live on a corner of a roof.” He can determine this from the implied contrast with “a quarrelsome wife.” The implied information is:

9a It is better to live ⌊alone in a small space⌋ on a corner of a roof ⌊and yet have peace and quiet⌋

9b than to share a ⌊comfortable⌋ house with a quarrelsome wife.

In most languages, it will not be necessary to make all the implied contrasts explicit.

Other proverbs with this pattern are 21:19 and 25:24. Compare this proverb with four-part “better than” proverbs such as 12:9. Those proverbs have an explicit contrast in each line.

21:9a

Better to live on a corner of the roof: This phrase refers to living for an extended period of time outside one’s own house, on a corner of the flat roof. In Palestine, it was common for people to sleep on the roof during certain seasons of the year. Some people also built small guest rooms or storage sheds on their rooftops.

We do not know whether this phrase refers to a small room of this sort or to living on the bare roof. The point is that the man’s living situation is lonely and uncomfortable. But it is better than the situation in the second line. When he is outside on the roof, at least he has peace and quiet.

Some other ways to translate this line are:

• Keep the cultural context of a flat roof. For example:

It’s better to stay outside on the roof of your house (Contemporary English Version)

• If the idea of staying on a roof makes the proverb difficult to understand, substitute a similar living situation. For example:

It’s better to live alone in the corner of an attic (New Living Translation (2004))

For either of these options, consider adding a footnote if it will help your readers understand the cultural context. For example:

What it says in Hebrew is: on the corner of the roof. In the country of the Israelites, houses had flat roofs. Sometimes people built a small room there.