At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)
It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman and in a wide house.
Proverbs 25:24
This is a form of reasoning that is very common in Proverbs, and it is particularly Hebraic way of helping us set our priorities. I will begin with the meaning of this particular proverb, illustrate how it works in this instance, and then expand it to other areas.
It would be better to live in a tiny hovel with a sweet woman than to live in a spacious mansion with a cantankerous woman. The form of the statement is that we should “rather this than that,” and the this and that are made up of two variables—in this case, a big or small dwelling, and a contentious woman and (implied) a non-contentious woman. A wide house is mentioned, a little attic corner is mentioned, and a brawling woman is mentioned.
So with these variables fixed, we find that we have four basic options.
1. A spacious house and a sweet woman;
2. A spacious house and a brawling woman;
3. A narrow corner and a sweet woman;
4. A narrow corner and a brawling woman.
Now this is basically a counterfactual thought experiment, and in that experiment it is crucial to stipulate something like “everything else being equal.” We are trying to sort out our priorities with regard to just a handful of things. We don’t want to complicate the math to a point where it is beyond our capacity even to consider. “What about if you have live in a narrow corner with a sweet woman, but you have crippling migraines every day and your only child is dying of leukemia?”
How does this principle apply to other areas? Take any two things that you are evaluating. Would you rather be rich and stupid, or wise and poor? Would you rather be beautiful and ungodly, or plain and godly? Would you rather be a satisfied cow or a dissatisfied man?
