Proverbs27chapter 27

Proverbs 27:1

“He that says, "When I am dying I will be baptized, lest I should sin and defile my baptism," is ignorant of God and forgetful of his own nature. For "do not delay to turn to the Lord, for you do not know what the next day will bring forth." Baptize also your infants, and bring them up in the nurture and admonition of God. For he says, "Suffer the little children to come to me, and forbid them not." .”

Proverbs 27:1

“Boast not thyself of to-morrow - See note on Jas 4:13, etc. Do not depend on any future moment for spiritual good which at present thou needest, and God is willing to give, and without which, should death surprise thee, thou must be eternally lost; such as repentance, faith in Christ, the pardon of sin, the witness of the Holy Spirit, and complete renovation of soul. Be incessant in thy application to God for these blessings. My old MS. Bible translates thus: Ne glorie thou into the morewenning.”

Proverbs 27:2

“No one crowns himself, and that person is justly ridiculed who devises praises for himself, for it is written, "Let your neighbor praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips." Though hypocrites may be able possibly to remain undetected and thus to seize the honors that people bestow, yet God knows your hearts. The judge cannot be deceived.… He knows who steals by fraud the honor which another truly deserves.”

Proverbs 27:2

“Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth,.... Men should do those things which are praiseworthy; and should do them openly, that they may be seen and praised for them: for it is honourable to have such a character as Demetrius had, who had a good report of all men; and as the brother had, whose praise in the Gospel was in all the churches.”

Proverbs 27:3

“A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty,.... As was the stone which was at the well's mouth, where Laban's flocks were watered, which could not be rolled away till all the shepherds were gathered together, Gen 29:2; and like the burdensome stone Jerusalem is compared to Zec 12:3; and as that at the sepulchre of Christ, rolled away by the angel, Mat 28:”

Proverbs 27:3

“Compare Ecclus. 22:15; a like comparison between the heaviest material burdens and the more intolerable load of unreasoning passion.”

Proverbs 27:4

“Anger holds no mercy, etc. This is not said of all anger, for of a most mild and modest man it is written that he went out from Pharaoh in great anger (Exod. X). But he speaks of the anger of a fool, which he …”

Proverbs 27:5

“It is surely clear that concealing sin contributes to the death of the sick person, "for the sting of death is sin," says the Scripture, and also, "Open rebukes are better than hidden love." Let no one, therefore, conceal a sin in behalf of another, lest fratricide take the place of fraternal charity.”

Proverbs 27:5

“Secret love - Better, love that is hidden; i. e., love which never shows itself in this one way of rebuking faults. Rebuke, whether from friend or foe, is better than such love.”

Proverbs 27:6

“Rebukes are good, and often better than a silent friendship. Even if a friend thinks himself hurt, still rebuke him; and if the bitterness of the correction wounds his mind, still rebuke him and fear not. "The wounds of a friend are better than the kisses of flatterers." Rebuke, then, your erring friend; forsake not an innocent one. For friendship ought to be steadfast and to rest firm in true affection.”

Proverbs 27:6

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend,.... That is, friendly reproofs; which, though they may be severe, at least thought so, and may grieve and wound, and cause pain and uneasiness for the present, yet, proceeding from a spirit of love, faithfulness, and integrity, and designed for the good of the person reproved, ought to be kindly received; see Psa 141:5; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful; flow from a deceitful heart, and not to be confided in, as the kisses of Joab and Judas.”

Proverbs 27:6

“Deceitful - Better, abundant. Very lavish is the enemy of the kisses that cover perfidy, but lavish of them only. His courtesy goes no deeper.”

Proverbs 27:7

“The soul sated will trample upon the honeycomb, etc. The soul of the rich, who have their consolation and are told by the Lord, Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger (Luke VI), spurns the sweetness of the heavenly kingdom when preached; …”

Proverbs 27:7

“The full soul loatheth an honeycomb,.... Or "tramples upon" it (a), as the word signifies, and most versions render it, expressive of contempt and abhorrence; and suits will the situation of the honeycomb, which was usually in trees and rocks in Palestine: and so might drop from thence, and be trampled upon by passengers; and especially such as are here described, whose appetites have been sated with dainties, and their stomachs heave at the most delicious food.”

Proverbs 27:8

Is a bird that wandereth from her nest - Leaving her own brood, places of retreat, and feeding-ground behind, and going into strange countries, where she is exposed to every kind of danger. So is the man who leaves his family connections and country, and goes into strange parts to find employment, better his circumstances, make a fortune, etc. I have seen multitudes of such wanderers from their place come to great misery and wretchedness. God’s general advice is, “Do good, and dwell in the land; and verily thou shalt be fed.”

Proverbs 27:9

“Ointment and perfume - Anointing the head and various parts of the body with aromatic oil is frequent in the East, and fumigating the beards of the guests at the conclusion of an entertainment is almost universal; as is also sprinkling rose-water, and water highly ordoriferous. Two of the curious vessels which are used for this purpose are now before me; they hold some quarts each, and are beautifully inlaid with silver in the form of sprigs, leaves, etc.”

Proverbs 27:10

“Solomon says, "Better is a neighbor that is near than a brother far off." For this reason a person generally trusts himself to the good will of a friend rather than to the ties of relationship to his brother. So far does good will prevail that it often goes beyond the pledges given by nature.”

Proverbs 27:10

“Thine own friend, and thy father's friend forsake not,.... Who have been long tried and proved, and found faithful; these should be kept to and valued, and not new ones sought; which to do is oftentimes of bad consequence. Solomon valued his father's friend Hiram, and kept up friendship with him; but Rehoboam his son forsook the counsel of the old men his father's friends and counsellors, and followed the young mien his new friends, and thereby lost ten tribes at once.”

Proverbs 27:11

“The voice of the teacher to his true disciple. He pleads with him that the uprightness of the scholar will be the truest answer to all attacks on the character or teaching of the master.”

Proverbs 27:13

“Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman. See Gill on Pro 20:16, where the same proverb is, and is expressed in the same words as here.”

Proverbs 27:14

“He that blesseth his friend - He who makes loud and public protestations of acknowledgments to his friend for favors received, subjects his sincerity to suspicion; and remember the Italian proverb elsewhere quoted: - “He who praises you more than he was wont to do, has either deceived you, or is about to do it.” Extravagant public professions are little to be regarded.”

Proverbs 27:15

Just as no house ever falls to the ground by a sudden collapse, but only when there is some flaw of long standing in the foundation, or when by long continued neglect of its inmates, what was at first only a little drip finds its way through, and so the protecting walls are by degrees ruined, and in consequence of long standing neglect the gap becomes larger, and breaks away, and in time the drenching storm and rain pours in like a river: for "by slothfulness a building is cast down, and through the weakness of hands the house shall drop through."

Proverbs 27:15

“Continual dropping - Here, as in the marginal reference, the flat, earthen roof of Eastern houses, always liable to cracks and leakage, supplies the groundwork of the similitude.”

Proverbs 27:16

“Whosoever hideth her hideth the wind - You may as well attempt to repress the blowing of the wind, as the tongue of a scold; and to conceal this unfortunate propensity of a wife is as impossible as to hush the storm, and prevent its sound from being heard. The ointment of his right hand - You can no more conceal such a woman’s conduct, than you can the smell of the aromatic oil with which your hand has been anointed. The Hebrew is very obscure, and is variously translated.”

Proverbs 27:17

“Iron sharpeneth iron,.... A sword or knife made of iron is sharpened by it; so butchers sharpen their knives; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend; by conversation with him; thus learned men sharpen one another's minds, and excite each other to learned studies; Christians sharpen one another's graces, or stir up each other to the exercise of them, and the gifts which are bestowed on them, and to love and to good works.”

Proverbs 27:17

“The proverb expresses the gain of mutual counsel as found in clear, well-defined thoughts. Two minds, thus acting on each other, become more acute. This is better than to see in “sharpening” the idea of provoking, and the point of the maxim in the fact that the quarrels of those who have been friends are bitter in proportion to their previous intimacy.”

Proverbs 27:18

“Waiteth - literally, “keepeth,” “observeth.” As the fig tree requires constant care but yields abundant crops, so the ministrations of a faithful servant will not be without their due reward. Compare 2Ti 2:6.”

Proverbs 27:18

“IN Solomon's day, every man sat under his own vine and fig tree and there was peace throughout the whole country. Then, God's Law about dividing out the land among the people, so that every man had his own plot, was rightly observed and each one had a fig tree of his own, to which he gave his personal attention. And, in due time, having waited upon the fig tree and kept it, he ate the fruit thereof.”

Proverbs 27:19

“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. Others see in the reference to the reflection in the water the thought that we judge of others by ourselves, find them faithful or the reverse, as we ourselves are.”

Proverbs 27:20

“Hell and destruction are never full,.... The grave, as the word used often signifies; and which may be called "destruction", because bodies laid in it are soon corrupted and destroyed; and though bodies are cast into it and devoured by it, it is ready for more; it is one of the four things which never have enough.”

Proverbs 27:20

“Hell and destruction are never full - How hideous must the soul of a covetous man be, when God compares it to hell and perdition! The eyes of man are never satisfied - As the grave can never be filled up with bodies, nor perdition with souls; so the restless desire, the lust of power, riches, and splendor, is never satisfied. Out of this ever unsatisfied desire spring all the changing fashions, the varied amusements, and the endless modes of getting money, prevalent in every age, and in every country.”

Proverbs 27:21

“So is ... - Better, So let a man be to his praise, let him purify it from all the alloy of flattery and baseness with which it is too probably mixed up.”

Proverbs 27:22

“Though thou shouldest bray a fool - Leaving all other conjectures, of which commentators are full, I would propose, that this is a metaphor taken from pounding metallic ores in very large mortars, such as are still common in the East, in order that, when subjected to the action of the fire, the metal may be the more easily separated from the ore. However you may try, by precept or example, or both, to instruct a stupid man, your labor is lost; his foolishness cannot be separated from him.”

Proverbs 27:23

“It is not fitting to address simply to all who have believed in Christ instruction upon all points, for it is written, "With knowledge learn the souls of your flock." For the way is very different by which we establish in the paths of truth one who has but just now become a disciple, from one more confirmed in mind and able to understand what is the height and depth, and what the length and breadth. In the former, use simple teaching, in which there is nothing profound or difficult to understand.”

Proverbs 27:23

“The verses 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. Pro 27:23 The state - literally, face. The verse is an illustration of Joh 10:3, Joh 10:14. Pro 27:24 Riches - The money which men may steal, or waste, is contrasted with the land of which the owner is not so easily deprived.”

Proverbs 27:24

“For riches are not for ever - All other kinds of property are very transitory. Money and the highest civil honors are but for a short season. Flocks and herds, properly attended to, may be multiplied and continued from generation to generation. The crown itself is not naturally so permanent.”

Proverbs 27:25

“The hay appeareth - Take care that this be timeously mown, carefully dried and safely ricked or housed. And when the tender grass and the proper herbs appear in the mountains in the spring, then send forth the lambs, the young of the flock, that they may get suitable pasturage, without too much impoverishing the home fields; for by the sale of the lambs and goats, the price of the field is paid - all the landlord’s demands are discharged.”

Proverbs 27:26

“The lambs are for thy clothing,.... This is another argument, exciting to diligence in the pastoral calling, taken from the profit arising from it: the wool of the lambs, or rather "sheep", as many versions render it; of it cloth is made, and of that garments to be worn, to keep decent, warm, and comfortable; see Job 31:20; and the goats are the price of thy field: these, being brought up and sold, furnish the husbandman with money to purchase more fields to feed his cattle on.”

Proverbs 27:27

“Goats’ milk enough for thy food - ללחמך lelachmecha, “to thy bread;” for they ate the bread and supped the milk to assist mastication, and help deglutition. And it seems that bread, with goats’ milk, was the general article of food for the master and his family; and for the servant maids who assisted in the household work, and performed the operations required in the dairy. The reader who wishes to see these maxims detailed and illustrated at large, may consult the writers De Re Rustica, where he will find much curious information.”