It is better to dwell in the wilderness,.... Where persons live without shelter, and are not only exposed to storms and tempests, but to beasts of prey; where is want of the necessaries of life, and no society; where no "speech" is, as the word (e) for wilderness may signify; yet it is better to dwell in such a place, where no human voice is heard, than with a contentious and an angry woman; that is always brawling and scolding, ever in a quarrelsome and angry disposition, and provoking to anger all about her; See Gill on Pro 21:9. In a mystical sense, it is better to be with the church in the wilderness, Rev 12:14; than with the furious, bloodthirsty, and persecuting church of Rome, in all its worldly glory and splendour. (e) "a" "loqui".