The King’s Heart
Proverbs 21:19
In 11 translations
- BSB
- Better to live in the desert than with a contentious and ill-tempered wife.
- KJV
- It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman.in…: Heb. in the land of the desert
- WEB
- It is better to dwell in a desert land, than with a contentious and fretful woman.
- ASV
- It is better to dwell in a desert land, Than with a contentious and fretful woman.
- LSV
- Better to dwell in a wilderness land, || Than [with] a woman of contentions and anger.
- YLT
- Better to dwell in a wilderness land, Than [with] a woman of contentions and anger.
- DBY
- It is better to dwell in a desert land. than with a contentious and irritable woman.
- DRC
- It is better to dwell in a wilderness, than with a quarrelsome and passionate woman.
- GNV
- It is better to dwell in the wildernesse, then with a contentious and angry woman.
- JPS
- It is better to dwell in a desert land, than with a contentious and fretful woman.
- LXXE
- It is better to dwell in a wilderness than with a quarrelsome and talkative and passionate woman.
Word by word Hebrew · tap a word
Words in brackets are English the glossers added; the Hebrew has no word for them, and they can carry a choice of tense or meaning.
Where the editions differ
Editions are published forms of the Hebrew and Greek texts. Meet the editions and sources →
- Written (Ketiv): מְדוֹנִים (“contentions”). Read aloud (Qere): מִדְיָנִ֣ים (“contentions”) — the form shown in the word-by-word reader.
Spelling, punctuation and minor wording (1)
- Leningrad Codex reads מִדְוָנִ֣ים; read aloud (Qere) reads מִדְיָנִ֣ים (“contentions”).
Edition differences: STEP Bible, based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0). Names and codes expanded; consecutive words grouped. Comparisons follow the editions used by the source; see version details.
Original-language editions
- WLC
- ט֗וֹב שֶׁ֥בֶת בְּאֶֽרֶץ־מִדְבָּ֑ר מֵאֵ֖שֶׁת מדונים וָכָֽעַס׃Read aloud as (qere): מִדְיָנִ֣ים
- LXX-Br
- Κρεῖσσον οἰκεῖν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, ἢ μετὰ γυναικὸς μαχίμου καὶ γλωσσώδους καὶ καὶ ὀργίλου.
In the reference works topics that cite this verse
From public-domain Bible dictionaries and topical indexes (1884–1915).
Cross-references most cited first
- Proverbs 21:9Better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.
- Psalms 55:6–7I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and find rest. How far away I would flee! In the wilderness I would remain. Selah
- Psalms 120:5–6Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech, that I live among the tents of Kedar! Too long have I dwelt among those who hate peace.
- Jeremiah 9:2If only I had a traveler’s lodge in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and depart from them, for they are all adulterers, a crowd of faithless people.
From the OpenBible.info cross-reference set (votes from readers; not every link is a quotation or allusion).