15 A contentious woman is like a roof leaking in a storm; 16 Holding back is like holding back the wind or holding oil in your hand.
Together these two verses complete a word of wisdom. It is the fifth and last time that "a quarrelsome woman" is mentioned in Proverbs.
Twenty-six times in the book we read that it's a message from father to son: male language. Except for the last chapter: a message from King Lemuel's mother. Mom always has the last word!
Then dad says, "A quarrelsome wife is like a leaky roof in a storm." I don't think the boy needed any further explanation as to what that meant, I don't think we do either!
Then the father adds, "Holding it is like holding back the wind or holding oil in your hand." This oil would be olive oil and the son would know its properties very well.
Our proverb uses two similes for this "quarrelsome woman." Of course mom could have used something similar to describe husbands!
But I think the real message of this proverb is not expressed. Why did this guy marry such a grumpy woman in the first place?
I don't think I met this lady and said "She's mean, I think I'll marry her!" I bet she wasn't like that when they got married! So what happened?
Here at Helping Up Mission the boys love this line! But I like making the same point with them.
Although there are the usual answers, one guy always gets it: "She became like that when she was married to him!"
Although we have no basis for this saying, we can understand how it happens. A big reason I deal with this "fighting woman" is because of my behavior over the years!
So we no longer have to wonder why he behaves the way he does! And we also know what we can do to change that!