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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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Proverbs 27
27
1Boast not thyself of to-morrow, For thou knowest not what a day bringeth forth.
2Let another praise thee, and not thine own mouth, A stranger, and not thine own lips.
3A stone [is] heavy, and the sand [is] heavy, And the anger of a fool Is heavier than they both.
4Fury [is] fierce, and anger [is] overflowing, And who standeth before jealousy?
5Better [is] open reproof than hidden love.
6Faithful are the wounds of a lover, And abundant the kisses of an enemy.
7A satiated soul treadeth down a honeycomb, And [to] a hungry soul every bitter thing [is] sweet.
8As a bird wandering from her nest, So [is] a man wandering from his place.
9Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart, And the sweetness of one's friend — from counsel of the soul.
10Thine own friend, and the friend of thy father, forsake not, And the house of thy brother enter not In a day of thy calamity, Better [is] a near neighbour than a brother afar off.
11Be wise, my son, and rejoice my heart. And I return my reproacher a word.
12The prudent hath seen the evil, he is hidden, The simple have passed on, they are punished.
13Take his garment, when a stranger hath been surety, And for a strange woman pledge it.
14Whoso is saluting his friend with a loud voice, In the morning rising early, A light thing it is reckoned to him.
15A continual dropping in a day of rain, And a woman of contentions are alike,
16Whoso is hiding her hath hidden the wind, And the ointment of his right hand calleth out.
17Iron by iron is sharpened, And a man sharpens the face of his friend.
18The keeper of a fig-tree eateth its fruit, And the preserver of his master is honoured.
19As [in] water the face [is] to face, So the heart of man to man.
20Sheol and destruction are not satisfied, And the eyes of man are not satisfied.
21A refining pot [is] for silver, and a furnace for gold, And a man according to his praise.
22If thou dost beat the foolish in a mortar, Among washed things — with a pestle, His folly turneth not aside from off him.
23Know well the face of thy flock, Set thy heart to the droves,
24For riches [are] not to the age, Nor a crown to generation and generation.
25Revealed was the hay, and seen the tender grass, And gathered the herbs of mountains.
26Lambs [are] for thy clothing, And the price of the field [are] he-goats,
27And a sufficiency of goats' milk [is] for thy bread, For bread to thy house, and life to thy damsels!
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