Proverbs 27 explained: Friends, Pride and Steady Work

Pride and heavy emotions (vv. 1-4)

No one knows what tomorrow brings, so bragging about it is foolish, and praise counts for more when someone else gives it. A fool's provocation weighs more than stone or sand, and jealousy, which lingers and plots, is harder to withstand than a sudden burst of anger.

Honest friends and home (vv. 5-10)

A friend's painful honesty can be trusted more than an enemy's many kisses, which here stand for flattery. Good advice is as pleasing as perfume, and a nearby neighbor or old family friend may help more in a crisis than a relative far away.

Cautions and annoyances (vv. 11-16)

Sensible people avoid dangers that careless people walk into, and anyone who guarantees an outsider's debt is so risky that a lender should take their cloak as security. A loud blessing shouted at dawn sounds so overdone it is heard as a curse, and constant quarreling at home, described from a husband's point of view, is like a roof leaking all through a rainy day.

Sharpening and reflecting (vv. 17-19)

People sharpen each other the way one iron blade sharpens another, and faithful work, like guarding a fig tree or a master, brings its reward. Verse 19 is very brief in Hebrew, roughly 'as water, face to face, so the heart of a person to a person,' and scholars are unsure whether it means your heart reveals who you are or that you can see yourself in other people.

Never satisfied, tested by praise (vv. 20-22)

Human wanting is as endless as death and the grave, and praise tests a person the way fire tests silver and gold. Even grinding a fool like grain in a stone bowl will not remove their folly.

Tend your flocks (vv. 23-27)

Money and even royal power can disappear, so pay attention to what actually sustains you, which in that world meant sheep and goats. With steady care through the seasons, lambs give wool, goats can be sold to buy land, and their milk feeds the whole household.

Key verse: Proverbs 27:17

Something to think about

Who has told you something hard that turned out to be true, and how did you take it at the time?