A foolish son is the calamity of his father: and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping.
The contentions of a wife are a continual dropping - through the roof of a house. A man cannot escape from his wife, however contentious she may be. "Continual" - literally, pushing; i:e., one drop pushing on another continually. The Illyrian proverb was, 'He who hath a smoky house, a dropping roof, and a contentious wife, hath no need to go abroad for war; he has enough of it in his own home' (Poll Synopsis). How much need, therefore, marrying men have to use care and prayer in the choice of a good wife (cf. Proverbs 19:14; Proverbs 18:22).