Proverbs 17:14

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 beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.

Letteth out water, by cutting the bank of a river, in which case the water quickly widens the breach, and breaks in with irresistible violence and fury, and causeth great mischief and destruction. Leave off contention, before it be meddled with; avoid the occasions and prevent the beginnings of contention.

Proverbs 17:14 The beginning of strife [is as] when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.Ver. 14. The beginning of strife is as when one lets out water.] It is easier to stir strife than stint it. Lis litem generat; as water, it is of a spreading nature. Do therefore here as the Dutchmen do by their banks; they keep them with little cost and trouble, because they look narrowly to them, and make them up in time. If there be but the least breach, they stop it presently, otherwise the sea would soon flood them. “ Fertur in arva furens cumulo, camposque per omnes Cum stabulis armenta trahit.” - Virgil, Aeneid. The same may fitly be set forth also by a similitude from fire; which if quenched presently, little hurt is done; as if not, "Behold how great a wood a little fire kindleth," saith Saint James. If "fire break out but of a bramble, it will devour the cedars of Lebanon." Cover therefore the fire of contention, as William the Conqueror commanded the curfew bell. Therefore leave off contention before it be meddled with.] Antequam commisceatur. Stop or step back, before it come to further trouble. Satius est recurrere quam male currere, better retire than run on, in those ignoble quarrels especially, ubi et vincere inglorium est et atteri sordidum, wherein, whether he win or lose, he is sure to lose in his credit and comfort. We read of Francis I, king of France, that, consulting with his captains how to lead his army over the Alps into Italy, whether this way or that way, Amaril, his fool, sprang out of a corner, where he sat unseen, and bade them rather take care which way they should bring their army out of Italy again. It is easy for one to interest himself in quarrels, but hard to be disengaged from them when he is once in. Therefore principiis obsta, withstand the beginnings of these evils, and "study to be quiet." Milk quencheth wild fire. Oil, saith Luther, quencheth lime; so doth meekness strife.

(14) The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water.—The drops which ooze through a tiny hole in the bank of a reservoir soon swell into an unmanageable torrent; so from insignificant beginnings arise feuds which cannot be appeased. Solomon constructed large pools (Ecclesiastes 2:6) beyond Bethlehem, and is supposed to have brought the water from these by an aqueduct into Jerusalem. Before it be meddled with.—The same expression is used at Proverbs 18:1; Proverbs 20:3. It probably means before (men) show their teeth, a metaphor from an angry dog.

Verse 14. The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water] As soon as the smallest breach is made in the dike or dam, the water begins to press from all parts towards the breach; the resistance becomes too great to be successfully opposed, so that dikes and all are speedily swept away. Such is the beginning of contentions, quarrels, lawsuits, &c. Leave off contention, before it be meddled with.] As you see what an altercation must lead to, therefore do not begin it. Before it be mingled together, התגלע hithgalla, before the spirits of the contending parties come into conflict - are joined together in battle, and begin to deal out mutual reflections and reproaches. When you see that the dispute is likely to take this turn, leave it off immediately.

14. 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 (Ecclesiastes 2:6). “aggeribus ruptis cum spumeus amnis Exiit, oppositasque evicit gurgite moles, Fertur in arva furens cumulo, camposque per omnes Cum stabulis armenta trahit.”—Virg. Aen. ii. 496–499. be meddled with] The Heb. word occurs only here and in Proverbs 18:1, Proverbs 20:3, in which places the rendering of A.V. is: be meddled with, intermeddleth with, will be meddling. We must, however, render, there be quarrelling, R.V. or, it waxeth warm, Gesen.

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 reservoir.

14. Strife — Discord, contention. As when one letteth out — Better, as a breaking forth of, water. There may, at first, be but a small leak, but, unrepressed, it will widen and spread until it become difficult to control.