The Ill-Tempered Wife

We all have a day when things just don't go the way we had planned.  Sometimes the schedule just doesn't flow as we had hope and other days unexpected "extras" occur and sometimes we just wake up perturbed for no other reason than we woke up on the wrong side of the bed.  I am impressed by how many times Solomon mentions the quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife.  He mentions her more often than he guides the reader to obey and respect their mothers.  If we read Proverbs 21 there are two mentions in this chapter alone of the ill-tempered wife.  "Better to live on the corner of a roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife."  (vs. 9)  "Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife." (vs. 19)

This leads me to wonder if Solomon had some challenges with one or several of the wives or concubines he kept.  I am convinced that he repeats this several times throughout the book because it was as predominant challenge in his own home life. Perhaps one day I will count the times it is written but for now I will just generalize.  I would venture to say that even Solomon in all his wisdom was no match for an ill-tempered wife. It is our job as women to make our homes a place of peace, refuge and comfort.  I know that it's not always possible and I realize that there are homes where that is a seemingly impossible task because of other members in the home who are perhaps abusive or ill-tempered for their own reasons, but the wife is structured to keep the home productive and happy.

So lets try to overstep the image of a nagging, quarrelsome or ill-tempered wife and make our homes more comfortable than the corner of a roof and more satisfying than a desert!