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Proverbs 27

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Humility and Self-Control 1–2

1
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. ​

The Dangers of Emotion and Envy 3–6

3
A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; But a fool’s vexation is heavier than they 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. ​

Contentment and the Value of True Friendship 7–10

7
The full soul loatheth a 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
Oil 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 neighbor that is near than a brother far off. ​

Prudence, Caution, and Domestic Strife 11–16

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; Butthe 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 foreign 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.

Mutual Refinement and Human Nature 17–22

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 regardeth his master shall be honored. ​
19
As in water faceanswerethto 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 refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold; And a man istriedby his praise.
22
Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with bruised grain, Yet will not his foolishness depart from him. ​

The Necessity of Diligence in Work 23–27

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 showeth 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
Andthere will begoats’ milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, And maintenance for thy maidens.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Proverbs 27

Verse 1

Boast not thyself of to morrow — 'Boast' is halal in its reflexive form, the verb that means 'praise' in v.2. 'What a day may bring forth' is literally what a day gives birth to (yalad). James takes up the same warning: 'ye know not what shall be on the morrow' (Jas 4:14), and the rich fool heard, 'this night thy soul shall be required of thee' (Luke 12:20).

Verse 2

Let another man praise thee — 'Praise' is halal, the verb rendered 'boast' in v.1. 'Another man' (zar) is an outsider and 'a stranger' (nokri) a foreigner: both name someone other than the speaker. Paul says it of Christ's approval: 'not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth' (2 Cor 10:18).

Verse 3

a fool's wrath is heavier — 'Fool' is evil, the word of 1:7, 'fools despise wisdom and instruction', and of v.22. 'Heavy' (kobed), 'weighty' (netel, a burden) and 'heavier' give one image: the fool's wrath (ka'as) is a load beside which stone and sand are light. 17:12 makes the same comparison with 'a bear robbed of her whelps'.

Verse 4

who is able to stand before envy? — Three words for anger lead up to it: chemah ('wrath', heat), aph ('anger', literally the nostril) and shetep ('outrageous'), a flood that overflows. Qinah, 'envy', is jealousy, as in 'jealousy is the rage of a man' (6:34). Pilate knew that 'for envy they had delivered him' (Matt 27:18).

Verse 5

Open rebuke is better than secret love — 'Open' is galah, uncovered, and 'secret' is satar, hidden, the verb of 'hideth himself' in v.12. Love that stays hidden does nothing for the one it loves. The law says 'thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour' (Lev 19:17), and Paul 'withstood' Peter 'to the face' (Gal 2:11).

Verse 6

Faithful are the wounds of a friend — 'Faithful' is aman, firm and reliable, the root of 'believe him not' in 26:25. 'Deceitful' is athar, whose root sense is abundant: the enemy's kisses are profuse. David asks for the first: 'Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness' (Ps 141:5). Judas gave the second (Luke 22:47–48).

Verse 7

The full soul loatheth an honeycomb — 'Loatheth' is bus, to tread underfoot, so the satisfied man tramples what is sweetest. 'Soul' is nephesh, here the appetite, in both halves. Hunger reverses the judgment. The prodigal 'would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat' (Luke 15:16).

Verse 8

a man that wandereth from his place — One verb, nadad, serves the bird and the man, and maqom, 'place', answers the bird's nest (qen). The bird away from its nest is the image Isaiah uses of Moab: 'as a wandering bird cast out of the nest' (Isa 16:2).

Verse 9

Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart — 'Perfume' is qetoret, incense, the word for the sweet incense of the sanctuary (Ex 30:7). 'Hearty counsel' is literally 'the counsel of the soul' (nephesh), advice from the friend's own self. 'Sweetness' (metheq) is the word of 16:21, 'the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning'.

Verse 10

better is a neighbour that is near — 'Friend' is rea, the word translated 'neighbour' in 'thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself' (Lev 19:18), and 'neighbour' here is shakhen, one who lives next door, set against 'a brother far off'. 18:24 gives the same weight to 'a friend that sticketh closer than a brother'.

Verse 12

A prudent man foreseeth the evil — Word for word 22:3. 'Hideth himself' is satar, the verb of 'secret' in v.5, and 'pass on' is abar (26:17). When hail was foretold, 'he that feared the word of the LORD' made his servants and cattle 'flee into the houses', and the one who 'regarded not' left them in the field (Ex 9:20–21).

Verse 13

Take his garment that is surety for a stranger — Word for word 20:16. The warning against becoming surety is given at length in 6:1–5 and 22:26–27, 'why should he take away thy bed from under thee?' 'Strange woman' is nokriyyah, a foreign woman, the feminine of 'stranger' (nokri) in v.2.

Verse 14

it shall be counted a curse to him — 'Blesseth' (barak) and 'curse' (qelalah) stand in one verse. The blessing is given with 'a loud voice' and 'rising early in the morning' (shakam), and on those terms it 'shall be counted' (chashab) a curse by the one who hears it.

Verse 15

A continual dropping in a very rainy day — 'Continual dropping' (delef) is found only here and in 19:13, 'the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping', and 'very rainy day' (sagrir) only here. 'Alike' is shavah, the verb of 26:4. 21:9, 21:19 and 25:24 prefer a housetop corner or the wilderness to such a house.

Verse 17

Iron sharpeneth iron — One verb, chadad, is used of the iron and of the man; elsewhere it is found only in Ezek 21:9–11 of the sword and in Hab 1:8. 'Countenance' is literally 'face' (panim), the word that returns in v.19, 'face answereth to face'.

Verse 18

he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured — Two verbs of keeping are used, natsar of the fig tree and shamar of the master. 'Honoured' is kabad, to be made weighty, the verb behind 'honour' (kabod) in 26:1. Paul argues the same from the vineyard: 'who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof?' (1 Cor 9:7).

Verse 19

face answereth to face — A face in water is returned as it is, and the second line says the same of the heart: it answers the heart of man to man. The psalm gives the ground, 'He fashioneth their hearts alike' (Ps 33:15). 'Face' is panim, the word of v.17.

Verse 20

Hell and destruction are never full — 'Hell' is sheol, the grave, so rendered in 30:16, where it is the first of the things 'never satisfied', and 'destruction' is abaddon, found six times (Job 26:6; 28:22; 31:12; Ps 88:11; Prov 15:11; here). The same verb, saba, gives 'full' and 'satisfied'. Eccl 1:8 says it of the eye, 'not satisfied with seeing'.

Verse 22

bray a fool in a mortar — 'Bray' (katash) and 'pestle' (eli) occur only here, and 'mortar' (maktesh) only here and Judg 15:19, where it is the 'hollow place' in the jaw. 'Fool' is evil (v.3) and 'foolishness' is ivveleth, the word of 26:4, 5, 11. Jeremiah describes the same people: 'thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved' (Jer 5:3).

Verse 23

the state of thy flocks — Literally 'know well the face of thy flocks' (panim), and 'look well' is 'set thy heart' (shith lev) on the herds. Scripture's shepherds do this: 'I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep' (John 10:14), and elders are told, 'Feed the flock of God which is among you' (1 Pet 5:2).

Verse 24

riches are not for ever — 'Riches' is chosen, stored wealth. 'Crown' is nezer, the royal diadem, the word for the 'holy crown' on the high priest's mitre in Ex 29:6. What is promised to endure is a throne: 'thy throne shall be established for ever' (2 Sam 7:16; Isa 9:7).