Proverbs 25:17

17 Don't go to your neighbor's house too often; too much of you will make him hate you.

Proverbs 25:17 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 25:17

Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour's house
Not but that it is commendable to be neighbourly and friendly, or for one neighbour to visit another; but then it should not be very frequent; a man should not be always or often at his neighbour's house. So the words may be rendered, "make thy foot precious" or "rare at thy neighbour's house" ^F13; be seldom there; lest he be weary of thee, and [so] hate thee;
or, "lest he be sated with thee" ^F14; filled with thy company to a loathing of it, as the stomach with eating too much honey, and so his friendship be turned into hatred.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F13 (rqx) "rarum fac", Montanus, Vatablus, Gejerus, Michaelis, Cocceius; Heb. "praetiosum fac", Piscator.
F14 (Kebvy Np) "ne forte satictur tui", Schultens; so Montanus; "saturatus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Proverbs 25:17 In-Context

15 With patience you can convince a ruler, and a gentle word can get through to the hard-headed.

16 If you find honey, don't eat too much, or it will make you throw up.

17 Don't go to your neighbor's house too often; too much of you will make him hate you.

18 When you lie about your neighbors, it hurts them as much as a club, a sword, or a sharp arrow.

19 Trusting unfaithful people when you are in trouble is like eating with a broken tooth or walking with a crippled foot.