Proverbs 17:17-27

17 ¹A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

18 One who lacks sense gives a pledge and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor.

19 Whoever loves transgression loves strife; he who ²makes his door high seeks destruction.

20 ³A man of crooked heart does not discover good, and one with a dishonest tongue falls into calamity.

21 He who ⁴sires a fool gets himself sorrow, and the father of a fool has no joy.

22 ⁵A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit ⁶dries up the bones.

23 The wicked accepts ⁷a bribe in secret^[a] to ⁸pervert the ways of justice.

24 ⁹The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.

25 ¹⁰A foolish son is a grief to his father ¹¹and bitterness to ¹²her who bore him.

26 ¹³To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good, nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.

27 Whoever ¹⁴restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.

Proverbs 17:17-27 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 7

This chapter gives an account of some buildings of Solomon for himself, 1Ki 7:1-12; and of other things for the use of the temple; of two pillars of brass, 1Ki 7:13-22; of the molten sea, 1Ki 7:23-26; and of ten bases, and ten layers on them, 1Ki 7:27-39; with other utensils and ornaments, 1Ki 7:40-51.

Cross References

• 1. 17:17 ch. 18:24; 27:10; [Ruth 1:16; Job 6:14]
• 2. 17:19 [ch. 11:2; 29:23]
• 3. 17:20 [ch. 11:20]
• 4. 17:21 ch. 10:1; 19:13
• 5. 17:22 See ch. 15:13
• 6. 17:22 Ps. 22:15; [ch. 12:25]
• 7. 17:23 See ver. 8
• 8. 17:23 [Mic. 3:11; 7:3]
• 9. 17:24 [ch. 14:6; 15:14; Eccles. 2:14]; See Deut. 30:11-14
• 10. 17:25 [See ver. 21 above]
• 11. 17:25 ch. 10:1
• 12. 17:25 ch. 23:25
• 13. 17:26 [ver. 15]
• 14. 17:27 ch. 10:19; [James 1:19]

Footnotes

• [a] 17:23 Hebrew 'a bribe from the bosom'