Proverbs 11:29 - Exposition

He that troubleth his own house; he that annoys and worries his family and household by niggardliness, bad management, and captious ill temper. So the Son of Sirach writes ( Ecclesiastes 4:1-16 :30), "Be not as a lion in thy house, nor frantic ( φαντασιοκοπῶν , 'suspicious') among thy servants." Septuagint, "he who has no friendly intercourse ( ὁ μὴ συμπεριφερόμενος ) with his own house." Shall inherit the wind; he will be the loser in the end; no one will lend him a helping hand, and his affairs will fall to ruin. The fool —the man who acts thus foolishly—shall be servant to the wise of heart; to the man who administers his household matters in a better and more orderly manner (see on Proverbs 12:24 ). It is implied that the troubler of his own house shall be reduced to such extremity as to have to apply for relief to the wise of heart. The other side of the question is given by the Son of Sirach: "Unto the servant that is wise shall they that are free do service" (Ec10:25). The prodigal in the parable prayed his father to make him one of his hired servants ( Luke 15:19 ).