Proverbs 27:4-14

4 Fury is cruel, and anger is a flood, but who can withstand jealousy?

5 Better an open reprimand than concealed love.

6 The wounds of a friend are trustworthy, but the kisses of an enemy are excessive.^{[a] [b]}

7 A person who is full tramples on a honeycomb, but to a hungry person, any bitter thing is sweet.

8 A man wandering from his home is like a bird wandering from its nest.

9 Oil and incense bring joy to the heart, and the sweetness of a friend is better than self-counsel.^[c]

10 Don't abandon your friend or your father's friend, and don't go to your brother's house in your time of calamity; better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.^[d]

11 Be wise, my son, and bring my heart joy, so that I can answer anyone who taunts me.^[e]

12 The sensible see danger and take cover; the foolish keep going and are punished.^[f]

13 Take his garment,^[g] for he has put up security for a stranger; get collateral if it is for foreigners.^{[h] [i]}

14 If one blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be counted as a curse to him.

Proverbs 27:4-14 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]. Others emend the text to read deceitful.
• [b]. Pr 26:28; 28:23; 29:5
• [c]. LXX reads heart, but the soul is torn up by affliction
• [d]. Pr 17:17
• [e]. Pr 10:1; 23:24-25; 29:3
• [f]. Pr 22:3
• [g]. A debtor's outer garment held as collateral; Dt 24:12-13; Am 2:8
• [h]. Lit a foreign woman
• [i]. Pr 6:1-5; 11:15; 20:16