The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.
My Notes
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Gill's Exposition
The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water,.... As when a man makes a little hole in the bank of a river, or cuts a small passage in it, to let the water into an adjoining field; by the…
Barnes' Notes
The figure is taken from the great tank or reservoir upon which Eastern cities often depended for their supply of water. The beginning of strife is compared to the first crack in the mound of such a…
Matthew Henry
Here is, 1. The danger that there is in the beginning of strife. One hot word, one peevish reflection, one angry demand, one spiteful contradiction, begets another, and that a third, and so on, till…
Cambridge Bible
letteth out water by making ever so small a hole or fissure in a dam, or in the bank of a reservoir, such as Solomon himself constructed (Ecc 2:6).
"aggeribus ruptis cum spumeus amnis
Exiit,…
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