Proverbs 27:3-13

3 A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty, but ¹a fool's provocation is heavier than both.

4 Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before ²jealousy?

5 ³Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

6 Faithful are ⁴the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

7 One who is full loathes ⁵honey, but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet.

8 Like ⁶a bird that strays from its nest is a man who strays from his home.

9 ⁷Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.^[a]

10 Do not forsake your friend and ⁸your father's friend, and do not go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity. ⁹Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away.

11 ¹⁰Be wise, ¹¹my son, and ¹²make my heart glad, that I may ¹³answer him who reproaches me.

12 ¹⁴The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but ¹⁵the simple go on and suffer for it.

13 ¹⁶Take a man's garment when he has put up security for a stranger, and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for an adulteress.^[b]

Proverbs 27:3-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 14

This chapter relates the sickness of Jeroboam's son, the application of his wife, at his instance, to the prophet Ahijah, in the child's favour, 1Ki 14:1-6, the prophecy of the prophet concerning the ruin of Jeroboam's house, and the death of the child, which came to pass, 1Ki 14:7-18, an account of the years of Jeroboam's reign, and also of Rehoboam's, 1Ki 14:19-21, and of the evil things done and suffered by the latter in his kingdom, and the calamities that came upon him for it, 1Ki 14:22-28 and the conclusion of his reign, 1Ki 14:29-31.

Cross References

• 1. [Proverbs 12:16; Proverbs 17:12]
• 2. Proverbs 6:34
• 3. [Proverbs 28:23]
• 4. Psalms 141:5
• 5. [Proverbs 25:16]
• 6. Proverbs 26:2
• 7. [Psalms 23:5]
• 8. See 1 Kings 12:6-8; 2 Chronicles 10:6-8
• 9. See Proverbs 17:17
• 10. Proverbs 6:6
• 11. Proverbs 10:1; Proverbs 23:15, 24
• 12. See Proverbs 29:3
• 13. Psalms 119:42; [Psalms 127:5]
• 14. Proverbs 22:3
• 15. See Proverbs 1:4
• 16. See Proverbs 20:16

Footnotes

• [a]. Or and so does the sweetness of a friend that comes from his earnest counsel
• [b]. Hebrew a foreign woman; a slight emendation yields (compare Vulgate; see also 20:16) foreigners