Proverbs 27:3-13

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

4 Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who is able to stand before jealousy?

5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

6 Well meant are the wounds a friend inflicts, but profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

7 The sated appetite spurns honey, but to a ravenous appetite even the bitter is sweet.

8 Like a bird that strays from its nest is one who strays from home.

9 Perfume and incense make the heart glad, but the soul is torn by trouble.

10 Do not forsake your friend or the friend of your parent; do not go to the house of your kindred in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is nearby than kindred who are far away.

11 Be wise, my child, and make my heart glad, so that I may answer whoever reproaches me.

12 The clever see danger and hide; but the simple go on, and suffer for it.

13 Take the garment of one who has given surety for a stranger; seize the pledge given as surety for foreigners.

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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Gk: Heb [the sweetness of a friend is better than one's own counsel]
• [b]. Vg and 20.16: Heb [for a foreign woman]