Better is the wickedness of a man than a pleasant woman, a woman who puts you to shame and disgrace.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 14. Better, and so forth That is, there is, commonly speaking, less danger to be apprehended to the soul from the churlishness, or injuries we receive from men, than from the flattering favours and familiarity of women. Challoner.—Josephus (c. Ap. ii.) attributes this sentence to Moses, and prefers the worst man to the best woman, as Euripides does in Clem. Strom. iv. Calmet.—But this is ridiculous.—Reproach. This explains what sort of good the woman aforesaid has done; she had fostered the passions of men, and brought them to shame, which all the malevolence of an enemy could not have done. Bible.—The company of women is therefore more dangerous. Calmet. 9. Worthington.