Proverbs 27:9-19

9 Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart, And the sweetness of one's friend -- from counsel of the soul.

10 Thine own friend, and the friend of thy father, forsake not, And the house of thy brother enter not In a day of thy calamity, Better [is] a near neighbour than a brother afar off.

11 Be wise, my son, and rejoice my heart. And I return my reproacher a word.

12 The prudent hath seen the evil, he is hidden, The simple have passed on, they are punished.

13 Take his garment, when a stranger hath been surety, And for a strange woman pledge it.

14 Whoso is saluting his friend with a loud voice, In the morning rising early, A light thing it is reckoned to him.

15 A continual dropping in a day of rain, And a woman of contentions are alike,

16 Whoso is hiding her hath hidden the wind, And the ointment of his right hand calleth out.

17 Iron by iron is sharpened, And a man sharpens the face of his friend.

18 The keeper of a fig-tree eateth its fruit, And the preserver of his master is honoured.

19 As [in] water the face [is] to face, So the heart of man to man.

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.