Proverbs 25:17
in Proverbs 25Seldom set foot in your neighbor’s house, lest he grow weary and hate you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Let thy foot be seldom in thy neighbor’s house, Lest he be weary of thee, and hate thee.
KJV
Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour’s house; lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee.
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This verse in Proverbs 25
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Hast thou found honey?
on Proverbs 25:16-17
Hast thou found honey, eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it turns a table proverb into a rule of moderation for anything good, since even honey sickens in excess. Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour's house, lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee applies the same principle to friendship, and Gill reads the pairing as one lesson given twice, the best things, sweetness and company alike, ruined by too much rather than too little.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Withdraw your foot from your neighbor's house, etc. Although you find the conversation or visitation of any neighbor sweeter than honey, it is better, nevertheless, that by coming less often, you make him always love your coming, than that you either stay with him too …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour's house,.... Not but that it is commendable to be neighbourly and friendly, or for one neighbour to visit another; but then it should not be very frequent; a man should not be always or often at his neighbour's house.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Withdraw thy foot - Another proverb will illustrate this: “Too much familiarity breeds contempt.”
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Let thy foot be seldom in the house of thy friend, etc. Though thy visits were sweet as honey, he may soon learn to loathe them.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֹקַ֣ר | hokar | make rare | H3365 → | |
| רַ֭גְלְךָ | raglekha | foot your | H7272 → | 247 times |
| מִבֵּ֣ית | mibeit | from [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| רֵעֶ֑ךָ | reekha | neighbor your | H7453 → | 188 times |
| פֶּן־ | pen- | lest | H6435 → | 133 times |
| יִ֝שְׂבָּעֲךָ֗ | yisbaakha | he should be surfeited with you | H7646 → | 97 times |
| וּשְׂנֵאֶֽךָ׃ | useneekha | and he will hate you | H8130 → | 146 times |
הֹקַ֣רmake rare
hokarH3365 →
רַ֭גְלְךָfoot your
raglekhaH7272 →247 times
מִבֵּ֣יתfrom [the] house of
mibeitH1004 →2046 times
רֵעֶ֑ךָneighbor your
reekhaH7453 →188 times
פֶּן־lest
pen-H6435 →133 times
יִ֝שְׂבָּעֲךָ֗he should be surfeited with you
yisbaakhaH7646 →97 times
וּשְׂנֵאֶֽךָ׃and he will hate you
useneekhaH8130 →146 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Romans 15:24I hope to see you on my way to Spain. And after I have enjoyed your company for a while, you can equip me for my journey.
it leads to
- Romans 15:28
So after I have completed this service and have safely delivered this bounty to them, I will set off to Spain by way of you.
- Romans 1:12
that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.
- Acts 15:3
Sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, recounting the conversion of the Gentiles and bringing great joy to all the brothers.
- Acts 19:21
After these things had happened, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must see Rome as…
- Acts 21:5
But when our time there had ended, we set out on our journey. All the disciples, with their wives and children, accompanied us out of the city and knelt down on the beach to…
- Romans 15:28
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.