Proverbs 27:17
As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
BSB
ASV
Iron sharpeneth iron; So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
KJV
Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
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.
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.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
1 Samuel 23:16And Saul’s son Jonathan came to David in Horesh and strengthened his hand in God,
leads to
Strengthen the limp hands and steady the feeble knees!
Therefore strengthen your limp hands and weak knees.
Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands.
You therefore, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.
Through
Hebrews 10:24And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds.
leads to
Therefore encourage and build one another up, just as you are already doing.
Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth.
Continue in brotherly love.