This proverb illustrates the terrible damage that sin can do to a marriage. God made the woman to be a suitable helper for the man (Genesis 2:18). Husband and wife are meant to live together as “one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). But in this proverb, we see how the opposite can happen, how a man can start avoiding his wife, preferring to stay on the roof of their house.
According to this proverb, it is better for a man to live like this than to live with a wife who is quarrelsome, who is always criticizing him, complaining against him, and finding reasons to fight with him. How many men have lived in this kind of marriage? More importantly, we should ask, What causes a wife to behave like this? At the deepest level, such a wife does not recognize the God-ordained headship of her husband (Ephesians 5:22–24). She rebels against it, making his task of leadership difficult and unpleasant for him.
This is still no reason for a husband to divorce from his wife or to stop loving her (Ephesians 5:25–29). Yet, as this proverb emphasizes, it has the power to cause lifelong distress and sadness for the husband (or for the wife, if she is the one living with a quarrelsome husband).
9 It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.