Proverbs 21:19

It is better to live ¹  in a desert land ²  than with a quarrelsome and easily-provoked ³  woman.

Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife.

It is better to live in a desert land Than with a contentious and vexing woman.

It is better to live alone in the desert than with a crabby, complaining wife.

Better to live in a tent in the wild than with a cross and petulant spouse.

It is better to be living in a waste land, than with a bitter-tongued and angry woman.

It is better to live in a desert land than with a contentious and fretful wife.

Better to dwell in the wilderness, Than with a contentious and angry woman.

It is better to live ¹  in a desert land ²  than with a quarrelsome and easily-provoked ³  woman.

¹ tn The Hebrew form שֶׁבֶת (shevet) is the infinitive construct of יָשַׁב (yashav), functioning as the subject of the sentence.

² sn The verse makes the same point as 21:9 and 25:24; but “desert land” is substituted. It would be a place sparsely settled and quiet.

³ tn The Hebrew noun כַּעַס (ka’as) means “vexation; anger.” The woman is not only characterized by a quarrelsome spirit, but also anger – she is easily vexed (cf. NAB “vexatious”; NASB “vexing”; ASV, NRSV “fretful”). The translation “easily-provoked” conveys this idea well.