Proverbs 27:9-19

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

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.^[b]

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

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

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

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

15 An endless dripping on a rainy day and a nagging wife are alike.^[h]

16 The one who controls her controls the wind and grasps oil with his right hand.

17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.^[i]

18 Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and whoever looks after his master will be honored.

19 As the water reflects the face, so the heart reflects the person.

Proverbs 27:9-19 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]. LXX reads heart, but the soul is torn up by affliction
• [b]. Pr 17:17
• [c]. Pr 10:1; 23:24-25; 29:3
• [d]. Pr 22:3
• [e]. A debtor's outer garment held as collateral; Dt 24:12-13; Am 2:8
• [f]. Lit a foreign woman
• [g]. Pr 6:1-5; 11:15; 20:16
• [h]. Pr 19:13
• [i]. Lit and a man sharpens his friend's face