Proverbs 27:5-21

5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

6 Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.

7 One who is full loathes honey from the comb, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.

8 Like a bird that flees its nest is anyone who flees from home.

9 Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice.

10 Do not forsake your friend or a friend of your family, and do not go to your relative’s house when disaster strikes you— better a neighbor nearby than a relative far away.

11 Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart; then I can answer anyone who treats me with contempt.

12 The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.

13 Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger; hold it in pledge if it is done for an outsider.

14 If anyone loudly blesses their neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse.

15 A quarrelsome wife is like the dripping of a leaky roof in a rainstorm;

16 restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand.

17 As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

18 The one who guards a fig tree will eat its fruit, and whoever protects their master will be honored.

19 As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.^[a]

20 Death and Destruction^[b] are never satisfied, and neither are human eyes.

21 The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but people are tested by their praise.

Proverbs 27:5-21 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. Psalms 141:5; Proverbs 28:23
• 2. Isaiah 16:2
• 3. S Esther 2:12; S Psalms 45:8
• 4. S Proverbs 17:17; Proverbs 18:24
• 5. S Proverbs 10:1; S Proverbs 23:15-16
• 6. S Genesis 24:60
• 7. Proverbs 22:3
• 8. Proverbs 20:16
• 9. S Esther 1:18; Proverbs 19:13
• 10. 1 Corinthians 9:7
• 11. Luke 19:12-27
• 12. Proverbs 30:15-16; Habakkuk 2:5
• 13. Ecclesiastes 1:8; Ecclesiastes 6:7
• 14. S Proverbs 17:3

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "so others reflect your heart back to you"
• [b]. Hebrew "Abaddon"