Proverbs 25:24-26
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
24 It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop
than in a mansion with a quarrelsome wife.[a](A)
25 Cool water to one faint from thirst
is good news from a far country.
26 A trampled fountain or a polluted spring—[b]
a just person fallen before the wicked.
Footnotes
- 25:24 A humorous saying about domestic unhappiness: better to live alone outdoors than indoors with an angry spouse. Prv 21:9 is identical and 21:19 is similar in thought.
- 25:26 “Spring” is a common metaphor for source. The righteous should be a source of life for others. When they fail, it is as if a spring became foul and its water undrinkable. It is not clear whether the righteous person yielded to a scoundrel out of cowardice or was simply defeated by evil. The latter seems more likely, for other proverbs say the just person will never “fall” (lit., “be moved,” 10:30; 12:3). The fall, even temporary, of a righteous person is a loss of life for others.
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