The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.
The beginning of strife (is as) when one letteth out water - as when, in a dam or mound raised to oppose a flood or the sea, there is ever so small an aperture, the water passing through is sure to make it larger and larger, until with one mighty volume of water the whole embankment is swept away.
Therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with - leave off, instead of eagerly discussing most minute offences, and devising means of retaliation, with a pertinacious determination to conquer. 'It is easier to abstain from a contest than to withdraw from it' (Seneca). Oppose beginnings. 'The mother of mischief is no bigger than a midge's wing.' Strife is compared to the two most merciless elements, fire and water.