complete verse (Proverbs 21:9)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 21:9:

  • Kupsabiny: “It is good to live in an old/deserted house,
    rather than to live with a quarrelsome wife/woman.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “It is better to live alone
    in one corner of a terraced roof
    than to live in a house with a bickering wife.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “(It is) better to live on the top roof of a house than to stay/live inside the house with a quarrelsome wife.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “It-is-better still to stay outside a house than to reside-with a quarrelsome and characteristically-grumbling spouse.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “It is better to live in the corner of an attic/housetop by yourself
    than to live inside the house with a wife who is always nagging.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Proverbs 21:9

This is the first of two “better . . . than” sayings in chapter 21, which are quite similar; the other is verse 19. Each of these has the same theme: the quarrelsome wife. This verse is repeated at 25.24.

“It is better to live in a corner of the housetop”: The term “live” suggests staying all the time or for a long time, not just for a while. The rendering “in . . . the housetop” gives the wrong meaning, as the Hebrew preposition has the sense of “on” or “upon.” The position referred to here is definitely outside the house, “outside on the roof” (Contemporary English Version). “Housetop” renders the normal Hebrew word for the roof of a house. Since houses in Old Testament Israel mostly had flat roofs, we can imagine “a corner of the housetop” being at or near the corner of the rectangular flat roof. The precise position is not the point of the saying, of course; it is somewhere that may not be very comfortable but is away from the situation of unbearable matrimonial conflict. In places where flat roofs are unknown, translators have two possible courses of action. In some languages the element of humor in imagining the husband perched on a sloping roof actually brings out the point of the saying very well. Otherwise a more general rendering, such as “outside” or “out in the open,” may be satisfactory. In some cultures it may be appropriate to refer to a small building used for animals or for storing crops.

“Than in a house shared with a contentious woman”: The Hebrew of this line is literally “than a woman of contention and a house of company.” The sense of the last part of this is clearly “sharing a house with. . ..” In Hebrew, as in many other languages, “woman” can mean either “woman” or “wife”; in this context “wife” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, and others) seems more appropriate in English. A “contentious” person (the term is used of both men and women in Proverbs) is someone who causes strife or is “quarrelsome” (New International Version, Scott). In relation to a wife, the natural expression in modern English is “a nagging wife” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible), and other languages may have their own similar expressions. Where there is no single term like “quarrelsome,” a longer expression may be required; for example, “. . . this beats staying inside the house with a wife who talks crossly and talks too much.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 21:9

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.