Proverbs 27
Butler1. BOAST not thyself of to-morrow; For thou knowest not what a day may bring forth
2. Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; A stranger, and not thine own lips.
3. A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; But a fool’s vexation is heavier than them both.
4. Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming: But who is able to stand before jealousy?
5. Better is open rebuke Than love that is hidden.
6. Faithful are the wounds of a friend: But the kisses of an enemy are profuse.
7. The full soul loatheth an honeycomb: But to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
8. As a bird that wandereth from her nest, So is a man that wandereth from his place.
9. Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: So doth the sweetness of a man’s friend that cometh of hearty counsel.
10. Thine own friend, and thy father’s friend, forsake not; And go not to thy brother’s house in the day of thy calamity:
Better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off.
11. My son, be wise, and make my heart glad,
That I may answer him that reproacheth me.
12. A prudent man seeth the evil, and hideth himself:
But the simple pass on, and suffer for it.
13. Take his garment that is surety for a stranger;
And hold him in pledge that is surety for a strange woman.
14. He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning,
It shall be counted a curse to him.
15. A continual dropping in a very rainy day
And a contentious woman are alike:
16. He that would restrain her restraineth the wind,
And his right hand encountereth oil.
17. Iron sharpeneth iron;
So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
18. Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof;
And he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured.
1. Is this proverb “boast” is the expressive word. Do not proudly assume that to-morrow is your own, so that you may claim and use it as you will with no recognition of God as the great Owner and really the Giver to mortals of all their earthly days. If even to-morrow—only one day onward—is not our own, how much less the days that lie still more remote in the future. The Apostle James (4: 13-16) seems to have had this proverb in mind, “Go to now, ye that say, To-day or to-morrow we will go into such a city,” etc. “But now ye rejoice in your boastings,” etc., these boastings being manifested in their plans for the future, which left out all thought of God and assumed to have an absolute control of future days and circumstances as their own. H. C.
Boast not thyself of to-morrow, much less of many days or years to come. This does not forbid preparing for to-morrow, but presuming upon to-morrow. We must not promise ourselves the continuance of our lives and comforts till to-morrow, but speak of it with submission to the will of God, and as those who with good reason are kept at uncertainty about it. H.—A day. Every day is a little life; and our whole life is but a day repeated. Those, therefore, that dare lose a day are dan-
19. As in water face answereth to face, So the heart of man to man.
20. Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; And the eyes of man are never satisfied.
21. The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold,
And a man is tried by his praise.
22. Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar with a pestle among bruised corn,
Yet will not his foolishness depart from him.
23. Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks,
And look well to thy herds:
24. For riches are not for ever;
And doth the crown endure unto all generations?
25. The hay is carried, and the tender grass sheweth itself,
And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in.
26. The lambs are for thy clothing,
And the goats are the price of the field:
27. And there will be goats’ milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household;
And maintenance for thy maidens.
gerously prodigal; those that dare misspend it, desperate. Bishop H.
We are largely indebted to the unexpectedness of events for all that makes life worth living. This unexpectedness adds immeasurably to our happiness, both by what it saves us from and by what it bestows. It is no fiction that the severest trials and heaviest sorrows are more grievous in the anticipation than in the endurance. The cup, when it is put to our lips, is mingled for us with reliefs, consolations, hopes. And as to positive enjoyment, it is very certain that we derive more happiness from imagination than from experience. The vision, when realized, has lost its roseate hue, its silver lining, its fringes of gold. We borrow from the future much more than it will ever pay. So, too, the uncertainty of the future is a needed and perpetual stimulus in all healthful activity and enterprise. Were our lives mapped out before us, how tame would life be, how circumscribed its endeavors, how crippled its energies! The certain, the inevitable—how passively should we wait its treasured goods, how sullenly submit to its privations and calamities! A. P. Peabody.
2. Self-praise is specially liable to fail of its object. As a general rule it is better for one’s reputation to forego praise altogether than to attempt to furnish it for one’s self—the reason of which is not far to seek. H. C.—Praise not thy work, but let thy work praise thee; for deeds, not words, make each man’s memory stable. If what thou doest is good, its good all men will see. Musk by its smell is known, not by its label. Suadi.
Even when we are working for God, there is a constant temptation to do good things to be seen of men, or to hear the pleasant voice of human praise. It requires a very careful watch over the heart to keep self out. Anon.—Whenever men delight to talk of themselves, it is to be suspected that pride and vanity direct them to the choice of the subject, though it may appear perhaps in the disguise of meekness and humility. The rule of prudence and the rule of virtue are coincident, that the less we talk of ourselves the better; it is a nice theme, and few enter on it who come off clear either of folly or sin. Bishop Sherlock.
It would be impossible to trace this Proteus passion of vanity through its innumerable forms—habits of depreciating others to gratify ourselves secretly by the contrast; self-complacent thoughts and imaginations; the general effort for display; the traps laid for praise, and concealed often under an affected humility; the whispering voice within commending all we do, and elating us even in silence and solitude with an exhilarating sense of our own merit. J. J.
Since virtuous actions have their own trumpets, and without any noise from thyself will have their resound abroad, busy not thy best member in the encomium of thyself. Praise is a debt we owe unto the virtues of others, and due unto our own from all whom malice hath not made mutes or envy struck dumb. Fall not, however into the common prevaricating way of self-commendation and boasting by denoting the imperfections of others. He who discommendeth others obliquely commendeth himself. He who whispers their infirmities proclaims his own exemption from them, and consequently says, I am not as this publican whom I talk of. Open ostentation and loud vainglory is more tolerable than this obliquity, as but consisting of a personal piece of folly, not complicated with uncharitableness. Superfluously we seek a precarious applause abroad; every good man hath his plaudite within himself, and though his tongue be silent is not without loud cymbals in his breast. Conscience will become his panegyrist and never forget to crown and extol him unto himself. Browne.
Let another praise. There are frequent occasions when an encouraging word would be of more real value than the richest material gift. Some persons are far too much afraid of the effect of a little generous and well-timed praise. They would keep all their flowers in an ice-house. Letting in a little sunshine upon them at times would not be amiss. How lavish was the wise and large-hearted Paul with his words of commendation, whenever they could be honestly spoken or written! A. Thomson.—Judicious praise is both right and useful. There are families in which it would do a world of good. There are faithful wives whose fidelity their husbands appreciate, but they neglect to tell them so. There are children who, if not better, would be happier if their parents cheered them now and then with a hearty “well done.” There are excellent ministers who would preach better and be better pastors if their people were more like the lord in the parable. Many of us may learn a lesson that we greatly need from the Divine words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” Interior.—There is comfort and help through sincere and hearty praise which comes from one who knows us through and through, and who is still able to delight in us because of what we want to be. There is comfort and help through intelligent and discriminating praise which shows a sympathetic appreciation of our best endeavors idealward. There is only discomfort to any true man or woman in any other praise than this. And here is a distinction which should be in our minds in all giving or receiving of praise. S. S. T.
4. Both wrath and anger are fraught with evil which is hard to be borne, but much worse still is the passion of jealousy. M. S.—I take the word to mean jealousy, in the specific form which this author portrays so vividly (6:34, 35). When either party to the marriage bond becomes jealous of the other, and the warmest and most sacred sensibilities known to the human heart are outraged, who can stand before their fury? H. C.
5,6. Let him that reproves do it with words of meekness and commiseration. Let the reprehension come not as a dark shot at the offender’s person, but at his fault. Let a man reprehend so that it may appear that he wishes that he had no cause to reprehend. South.—The friend who conceals not my faults, warns me kindly, reproves me affectionately, when I have not performed my duty, he is my friend, however little he may appear so. Again, if a man praises and lauds me, never reproves me, overlooks my faults and forgives them before I have repented, he is my enemy, however much he may appear my friend. Herder.—True friendship necessarily requires patience; for there is no man in whom I shall not mislike somewhat, and who shall not as justly mislike somewhat in me. My friend’s faults, therefore, if little, I will swallow and digest; if great, I will smother them; however, I will wink at them to others; but lovingly notify them to himself. Bishop H.
6. The point of comparison here is that of wounds on the one hand by a friend, and kisses on the other by a secret enemy. A friend, open and ingenuous, admonishes and reproves for our good; but an enemy bestows nothing but kisses often repeated, that he may render his victim unsuspicious and unguarded, and so strike the surer blow. M. S.
7. The special instance covers the general law that indulgence in pleasure of any kind brings on satiety and weariness, that self-restraint multiplies the sources of enjoyment. E. H. P.—“The crime of sense is avenged by sense which wears with time;” for it has been well remarked that the terrific punishment attached to the habitual indulgence of the senses is, that the incitements to enjoyment increase in proportion as the power of enjoyment fades. Experience at last forbids even the hope of enjoyment; the sin of the intoxicated soul is loathed, detested, abhorred; yet it is done. The irritated sense, like an avenging fury, goads on with a restlessness of craving, and compels a reiteration of the guilt though it has ceased to charm. F. W. R.
9. As oil, pleasantly scented, and perfume are grateful to the sense of smell, so is the sweetness of friendship, manifested by affectionate hearty counsels. Good advice, such as manifestly comes up from the depths of a loving heart, is the sweetness of friendship, corresponding to the fragrance of sweet odors. H. C.—There is as much difference between the counsel that a friend giveth, and that a man giveth himself, as there is between the counsel of a friend and of a flatterer; for there is no such flatterer as is a man’s self, and there is no such remedy against flattery of a man’s self as the liberty of a friend. Bacon.
Friendship hath the skill and observation of the best physician; the diligence and vigilance of the best nurse; and the tenderness and patience of the best mother. Clarendon.—The communicating of a man’s self to his friend works two contrary effects, for it redoubleth joys, and cutteth griefs in halfs; for there is no man that imparteth his joys to his friend, but he joyeth the more, and no man that imparteth his griefs to his friend, but he grieveth the less. Bacon.
We can converse frequently with nothing, but it is insensibly assimilating us to its own predominant quality. Men are apt to be changed for the better or worse, according to the conditions of them with whom they daily converse; the election therefore of our companions is one of the weightiest actions of our lives, our future good or hurt dependeth so much upon it. It is an excellent speech of Chrysostom: If men, good or bad, be joined together in a special band of society, they either quickly part or usually become alike. Swinnock.
A Christian should always be giving good or taking good, and that company is not for him that will neither give nor take this. What should a merchant do where there is no buying or selling? Gurnall.—Birds of a feather will flock together. Servants of the same Lord, if faithful, will join with their fellows, and not with the servants of His enemy. A Christian, before his conversion, walks in company with men of the world; but when the Spirit changes his disposition, he quickly changes his companions, and delights only in the “saints that are on earth.” Swinnock.
The pleasures resulting from the mutual attachment of kindred spirits are by no means confined to the moments of personal intercourse; they diffuse their odors, though more faintly, through the seasons of absence, refreshing and exhilarating the mind by the remembrance of the past and the anticipation of the future. It is a treasure possessed when it is not employed; a reserve of strength, ready to be called into action when most needed; a fountain of sweets, to which we may continually repair, whose waters are inexhaustible. R. Hall.—If the converse of one friend, at one interview, gives comfort and strengthens our hearts, what may not be expected from the continual supports, daily visits, and powerful love of the Saviour of sinners, the covenanted Friend of believers! T. Scott.—In pure amity there is a threefold union: a union of resemblance, that is the principle of it; likeness causes love: a union of affection, that is its essence; it is said of Jonathan, that incomparable friend, “his soul was knit with the soul of David, and he loved him as his own soul;” the union of conversation, that is requisite to the satisfaction of love. What an entertainment of love and joy is there in the presence and discourses of dear friends! their mutual aspects, like a chain composed of spirits luminous and active, draw and fasten their souls to one another; the felicity of love consists in their conversation. Now in heaven, whatever is pleasant in friendship is in perfection; and whatever is distasteful by men’s folly and weakness is abolished. With what excellent discourses do they entertain one another? Certainly in heaven the blessed with overflowing affections recount the Divine benefits; the admirable methods whereby the life of grace was begun preserved and carried on amid temptations; the continual succession of mercies in the time of their hopes, and the consummation of all in the time of their enjoyment. Bates.
10. Sentiment: “Only long-tried friends are to be trusted, above all in a calamitous time. Even the ties of consanguinity are not always to be relied on.” M. S.—Friends and friendship are choice possessions; and better, says Solomon, with terse brevity, in the day of calamity, is a neighbor that is near than a brother that is far off. No man can be called poor who has loyal hearts to love him. No man can be called rich, if he have not so borne himself in his commerce with his kind, that he has drawn around him a cordon of the tender, the steadfast, the devoted, and the unselfish, of those who have touched his hand and heard his voice. Anon.
11. The key to the last clause lies in the fact that society holds the father in a great measure responsible for the morals of his son, and therefore if he has not done his parental duty will reproach him for his neglect and failure. Hence Solomon says, Remember, my son, that my good name as well as yours is at stake, pending upon the life you live; therefore be wise; so shall my heart be glad and your wisdom shall save me from reproach.
14. These manifestations are excessive and therefore suspicious; unnatural, and therefore the fruit, not of true friendship, but of some sinister purpose.
15,16. Flat roofs, mud-covered, thoroughly saturated in a day of great rain, leaking like a sieve, with not the cleanest of water, are the nearest like things to a quarrelsome woman—an irrepressible scold. Whoever for the honor of the house would hide her wrath, might as well hide the wind or the odors of perfumed oil which no skill can bind but which will proclaim itself. H. C.—A man cannot hide the wind, or clasp it in his hands. If he takes an unguent in his right hand, the odor betrays him, or it slips out. So in like manner, the
“contentious woman” is one whose faults it is impossible either to hide or check.
17. The proverb, as commonly understood, expresses the gain of mutual counsel as found in clear, well-defined thoughts. Two minds, thus acting on each other, become more acute. E. H. P.
The particulars in which this similitude lies seem to be the following: sameness of nature, iron with iron; mutual action by the friction of the one piece of iron on the other piece of iron; the result of this application of the two similar substances one to the other—the imparting of a finer polish and a sharper edge. To this is compared the effect of friendly social intercourse: “So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” Iron with iron; man with man. Iron with iron; man—in the intercourse, the exchange, and in the mutual friction and operation of mind upon mind—with man, and the result the improvement of both. God appointed the social principle for the purpose here stated: for sharpening, not for blunting and dissipating; for the improvement, not for the deterioration, of the mind; for edification, not for destruction. Let us see from this the importance of well-formed friendship. He whom we admit into our friendship we admit into the formation of our character. J. Duncan.
Friendship is healthful and sovereign for the understanding, as it is for the affections; for friendship maketh indeed a fair day in the affections from storms and tempests, but it maketh daylight in the understanding, out of darkness and confusion of thoughts. Whosoever hath his mind fraught with many thoughts, his wits and understanding do clarify and break up, in the communicating and discoursing with another; he tosseth his thoughts more easily; he marshalleth them more orderly; he seeth how they look when they are turned into words; finally, he waxeth wiser than himself; and that more by an hour’s discourse than by a day’s meditation. Bacon.
- “Keeping the fig-tree” is not merely to own and possess, but to cultivate diligently; to take due care of. Correspondingly, the servant who devotes himself to his duty to his master will be held in honor and rewarded. H. C.
19. Here the simplest and most natural meaning is also the truest. As we see our own face when we look on the mirror-like surface of the water, so in every heart of man we may see our own likeness. In spite of all diversities we come upon the common human nature in which we all alike share. E. H. P.—In the East, the cheap and simple mirror used by the poor is the surface of water in a vessel. As the image reflected from such a surface represents the object, e.g., your own face, so does your own heart represent the universal heart of man, and you may look into it to study and learn all human nature. H. C.—When the heart warms and expands toward others, going out to them with feelings of kindness and sympathy, the same emotions are elicited, quickened into life, and reflected back on ourselves. G. Coombe.
20. Sheol and death stand here for the grave personified to represent the great law of human mortality from which none are exempted. The grave is never sated—is never so full as to be satisfied without more victims. So the eyes of men never see so much that they care to see no more. H. C.—Hades, the world of the dead, and destruction (death, the destroying power, personified) have been at all times and in all countries thought of as all-devouring, insatiable (compare 30:16). Yet one thing, the teacher tells us, is more so, the lust of the eye, the restless craving which grows with what it feeds on (Eccl. 1:8). E. H. P.
21. A fining-pot will disclose the true silver, and the furnace the true gold; and so a man’s praise will disclose his true character. Praise is apt to puff up men and make them self-conceited. If it does or does not produce this effect, it will in either alternative make their true character known. “It is a fining-pot.” M. S.
—The choice lies between these two constructions: As the crucible tries silver, so a man should try the praises he gets; or the praise he gets will try him. The man in either case corresponds to the crucible; but whether considered in relation to praise as acting or as acted upon is the question. As to the facts of human nature, the former is what ought to be—the latter, what is. Neither sense is bad. H. C.
22. Another of those stringent sarcasms with which fools are assailed, in this book above all others in the Bible. Sentiment: “No chastisement, however severe, will cure a fool of his folly.” Such is the obstinacy of the men who are here characterized by the appellation of fools. M. S.
23-27. The verses are closely connected and form one continuous counsel. Taken literally, they sing the praises of the earlier patriarchal life, with its flocks and herds, and tillage of the ground, as compared with the commerce of a later time, with money as its chief or only wealth. E. H. P.—“If you look well to your farm, it will yield whatever you may want for food, or clothing, or even for the purchase of more land. It will, in a word, make you truly rich." M. S.
A beautiful commendation of husbandry. Give very careful attention to your flocks and herds, for wealth sought by other means is treacherous; often transient; even crowns are not wont to pass down in long unbroken line from generation to generation. Here is also rich beauty as well as utility. The hay is taken off; then springs up the after-math, young, tender, and green; the vegetable growths of the hills are gathered in for the winter. The lambs furnish wool and skins for your clothing; goats are so profitable that you may rely on their price for the purchase of fields; so shall your supplies of food be ample for all your household. An employment which combines such varied pleasure and beauty with so much security against failure, and such supply for man’s chief wants of food and clothing, may be commended wisely. The glory of Solomon’s kingdom was its agricultural wealth. H. C.
It is the beautiful characteristic of industry that, instead of taking us away from God and things eternal, it takes us directly toward Him, and puts us waiting on the seasons, the soil, the mechanical powers, which are but the faithful bosom of God Himself; and there we hang, year by year, watching for our supplies and the nutriment that feeds our bodies. Our very industry is a kind of physical prayer, and the business itself of our busy life is to watch the gates of blessing He opens upon us. His smile feeds us, and His goodness ever before us leads us to repentance. His scheme of Providence also is adjusted so as to open windows on us continually, in this earthly house of our tabernacle, through which the building of God, not made with hands, may be the better discovered. H. B.
24. Since “riches are not forever,” yea, since they must be left very soon, nor is there any certainty of keeping them any time; that one day may consume them, one night may dispossess us of them and our life together with them, there can be no reason why we should be so solicitous about them; no account given of our setting so high a rate upon them. For who would much regard the having custody of a rich treasure for a day or two, then to be stripped of all, and left bare? To be to-day invested in large domains and to-morrow to be dispossessed of them? Yet this is our case; whatever we call ours, we are but guardians thereof for a few days. This consideration, therefore, may serve to repress or moderate in us all covetous desires, proud conceits, vain confidences and satisfactions in respect to worldly wealth. Barrow.—Heaps of silver and gold may intercept the rich man’s sight of death, but they can neither intercept death’s sight of the rich man, nor prevent his forcing the feeble entrenchments in which he may attempt to hide himself. Saurin.