Proverbs 27
27
1Don’t boast about tomorrow;
for you don’t know what a day may bring.
2 Let another man praise you,
and not your own mouth;
a stranger, and not your own lips.
3 A stone is heavy,
and sand is a burden;
but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.
4 Wrath is cruel,
and anger is overwhelming;
but who is able to stand before jealousy?
5 Better is open rebuke
than hidden love.
6 The wounds of a friend are faithful,
although the kisses of an enemy are profuse.
7 A full soul loathes a honeycomb;
but to a hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet.
8 As a bird that wanders from her nest,
so is a man who wanders from his home.
9 Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart;
so does earnest counsel from a man’s friend.
10Don’t forsake your friend and your father’s friend.
Don’t go to your brother’s house in the day of your disaster.
A neighbour who is near is better than a distant brother.
11 Be wise, my son,
and bring joy to my heart,
then I can answer my tormentor.
12 A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge;
but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.
13 Take his garment when he puts up collateral for a stranger.
Hold it for a wayward woman!
14 He who blesses his neighbour with a loud voice early in the morning,
it will be taken as a curse by him.
15 A continual dropping on a rainy day
and a contentious wife are alike:
16restraining her is like restraining the wind,
or like grasping oil in his right hand.
17 Iron sharpens iron;
so a man sharpens his friend’s countenance.
18 Whoever tends the fig tree shall eat its fruit.
He who looks after his master shall be honoured.
19 Like water reflects a face,
so a man’s heart reflects the man.
20 Sheol # 27:20 Sheol is the place of the dead. and Abaddon are never satisfied;
and a man’s eyes are never satisfied.
21 The crucible is for silver,
and the furnace for gold;
but man is refined by his praise.
22Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with grain,
yet his foolishness will not be removed from him.
23 Know well the state of your flocks,
and pay attention to your herds,
24 for riches are not forever,
nor does the crown endure to all generations.
25 The hay is removed, and the new growth appears,
the grasses of the hills are gathered in.
26 The lambs are for your clothing,
and the goats are the price of a field.
27There will be plenty of goats’ milk for your food,
for your family’s food,
and for the nourishment of your servant girls.
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Proverbs 27
27
1Do not boast about tomorrow,
for you do not know what any day may bring forth.
2Let another praise you, not your own mouth;
a stranger, not your own lips.
3Stone is heavy, and sand a burden,
but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.#Sir 22:14–15.
4Anger is cruel, and wrath overwhelming,
but before jealousy who can stand?#Anger generally subsides with time but jealousy coolly calculates and plots revenge.
5#Verses 5 and 6 are concerned with true friendship. “Better than” sayings often declare one thing superior to another in view of some value, e.g., 15:17, vegetables are better than meat in view of a milieu of love. In v. 5, a rebuke is better than an act of affection in view of discipline that imparts wisdom. Better is an open rebuke
than a love that remains hidden.
6Trustworthy are the blows of a friend,
dangerous, the kisses of an enemy.#The present translation is conjectural. The meaning seems to be that a friend’s rebuke can be life-giving and an enemy’s kiss can be deadly (like the kiss of Judas in Mt 26:48).
7One who is full spurns honey;
but to the hungry, any bitter thing is sweet.
8Like a bird far from the nest
so is anyone far from home.#The bird symbolizes vulnerability as it flees before danger as in Is 10:14; 16:2; and Ps 11:1. For the importance of place in human life, see Jb 20:8–9. People are defined by their place, but, tragically, war, poverty, or illness can force them from it.
9Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart,
but by grief the soul is torn asunder.
10Do not give up your own friend and your father’s friend;
do not resort to the house of your kindred when trouble strikes.
Better a neighbor near than kin far away.#The adage is about the difference between friends and kin in a crisis. Two admonitions are grounded in one maxim (colon C). The same Hebrew word means both “one who is near” and “friend.” The whole proverb urges the reader to cultivate old family friends and neighbors and not to rely exclusively on kin in times of trouble, for kin may not be there for us.
11Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart,
so that I can answer whoever taunts me.#A father’s command to a son to be wise, another way of saying that sons or daughters bring joy or shame to their parents.
12The astute see an evil and hide;
the naive continue on and pay the penalty.#Prv 22:3.
13Take the garment of the one who became surety for a stranger;#Prv 20:16.
if for a foreign woman, exact the pledge!#See note on 20:16.
14Those who greet their neighbor with a loud voice#One interpretation takes the proverb as humorous and the other takes it as serious: (1) an overly loud and ill-timed greeting (lit., “blessing”) invites the response of a curse rather than a “blessing” (greeting); (2) the loud voice suggests hypocrisy in the greeting. in the early morning,
a curse can be laid to their charge.
15For a persistent leak on a rainy day
the match is a quarrelsome wife;#Prv 21:9; 25:24.
16Whoever would hide her hides a stormwind
and cannot tell north from south.
17Iron is sharpened by iron;
one person sharpens another.#Iron sharpens the “face” (panim = surface, edge) of iron, and a human being sharpens the “face” (panim = face, words) of another. Human beings learn from each other and grow in wisdom by conversing.
18Those who tend a fig tree eat its fruit;
so those attentive to their master will be honored.
19As face mirrors face in water,
so the heart reflects the person.
20Sheol and Abaddon can never be satisfied;#Prv 30:16; Eccl 4:8.
so the eyes of mortals can never be satisfied.#Sheol, the underworld abode of the dead, is personified as a force that is never satisfied and always desires more. Cf. Is 5:14 and Hos 13:14. The saying is applicable to modern consumerism.
21The crucible for silver, the furnace for gold,
so you must assay the praise you receive.
22Though you pound fools with a pestle,
their folly never leaves them.
23#A little treatise on farming in the form of admonitions. It proposes the advantages of field and flock over other forms of wealth. Herds are the most productive wealth, for their value does not diminish; they are a source of money, clothing, and food. The thought is conservative and traditional but the development is vivid and concrete. Take good care of your flocks,
give careful attention to your herds;
24For wealth does not last forever,
nor even a crown from age to age.
25When the grass comes up and the new growth appears,
and the mountain greens are gathered in,
26The lambs will provide you with clothing,
and the goats, the price of a field,
27And there will be ample goat’s milk for your food,
food for your house, sustenance for your maidens.
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