CHAPTER XXVII _To-morrow is uncertain. Self-praise forbidden. Anger and envy._ _Reproof from a friend. Want makes us feel the value of a_ _supply. A good neighbour. Beware of suretyship. Suspicious_ _praise. The quarrelsome woman. One friend helps another. Man_ _insatiable. The incorrigible foo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 27:2. _LET ANOTHER MAN PRAISE THEE, AND NOT THINE OWN MOUTH_] We have a similar proverb, which illustrates this: "Self-praise is no commendation.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 27:4. _WHO_ IS _ABLE TO STAND BEFORE ENVY?_] The rabbins have a curious story on this subject, and it has been formed by the moderns into a fable. There were two persons, one _covetous_ and the other _envious_, to whom a certain person promised to grant whatever they should ask; but _... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 27:5. _OPEN REBUKE_ IS _BETTER THAN SECRET LOVE._] _Plutarch_ gives an account of a man who, aiming a blow at his enemy's life, cut open an imposthume, which by a salutary discharge saved his life, that was sinking under a disease for which a remedy could not be found. _Partial frien... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 27:8. _AS A BIRD THAT WANDERETH FROM HER NEST_] Leaving her own brood, places of retreat, and feeding-ground behind, and going into strange countries, where she is exposed to every kind of danger. So is the man who leaves his family connections and country, and goes into strange parts... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 27:9. _OINTMENT AND PERFUME_] Anointing the head and various parts of the body with aromatic oil is frequent in the East, and fumigating the beards of the guests at the conclusion of an entertainment is almost universal; as is also sprinkling rose-water, and water highly ordoriferous.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 27:10. _THINE OWN FRIEND_] A well and long tried friend is invaluable. Him that has been a friend to thy _family_ never _forget_, and never _neglect_. And, in the time of adversity, rather apply to such a one, than go to thy nearest relative, who keeps himself at a distance.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 27:12. _A PRUDENT_ MAN _FORESEETH THE EVIL_] The very same as Proverbs 22:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 27:13. _TAKE HIS GARMENT_] The same as Proverbs 20:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 27:14. _HE THAT BLESSETH HIS FRIEND_] He who makes loud and public protestations of acknowledgments to his friend for favours received, subjects his _sincerity_ to suspicion; and remember the Italian proverb elsewhere quoted:-"He who praises you more than he was wont to do, has either... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 27:15. _A CONTINUAL DROPPING_] See Proverbs 19:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 27:16. _WHOSOEVER HIDETH HER HIDETH THE WIND_] You may as well attempt to repress the blowing of the wind, as the tongue of a scold; and to conceal this unfortunate propensity of a wife is as impossible as to hush the storm, and prevent its sound from being heard. _THE OINTMENT OF HI... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 27:17. _IRON SHARPENETH IRON_] As _hard iron_, viz., _steel_, will bring a knife to a better edge when it is properly _whetted_ _against_ it: so one friend may be the means of _exciting_ another to _reflect_, dive deeply into, and illustrate a subject, without which _whetting_ or _exc... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 27:19. _AS IN WATER FACE_ ANSWERETH _TO FACE_] All men's hearts are pretty nearly alike; water is not more like to water, than one heart is to another. Or, as a man sees his face perfectly reflected by the water, when looking into it; so the wise and penetrating man sees generally wha... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 27:20. _HELL AND DESTRUCTION ARE NEVER FULL_] How hideous must the soul of a covetous man be, when God compares it to _hell and_ _perdition_! _THE EYES OF MAN ARE NEVER SATISFIED._] As the _grave_ can never be filled up with _bodies_, nor _perdition_ with _souls_; so the restless des... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 27:21. _AS THE FINING POT FOR SILVER_] As silver and gold are tried by the art of the refiner, so is a man's heart by the praise he receives. If he _feel_ it not, he _deserves_ it; if he be _puffed up_ by it, he is _worthless_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 27:22. _THOUGH THOU SHOULDEST BRAY A FOOL_] Leaving all other conjectures, of which commentators are full, I would propose, that this is a metaphor taken from _pounding metallic ores_ in very large mortars, such as are still common in the East, in order that, when subjected to the act... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 27:23. _THE STATE OF THY FLOCKS_] The directions to the end of the chapter refer chiefly to _pastoral_ and _agricultural_ affairs. Do not trust thy flocks to the shepherd merely; number them thyself; look into their condition; see how they are tended; and when, and with what, and in w... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 27:24. _FOR RICHES_ ARE _NOT FOR EVER_] All other kinds of property are very transitory. Money and the highest civil honours are but for a short season. Flocks and herds, properly attended to, may be multiplied and continued from generation to generation. The _crown_ itself is not nat... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 27:25. _THE HAY APPEARETH_] Take care that this be timeously _mown_, carefully dried, and safely ricked or housed. And when the _tender grass_ and the proper herbs _appear_ in _the mountains_ in the spring, then send forth the _lambs_, the young of the flock, that they may get suitabl... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 27:26. _THE LAMBS_ ARE _FOR THY CLOTHING_] So many _fleeces_ are given in some places as _rent_ to the landlord.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 27:27. _GOATS' MILK ENOUGH FOR THY FOOD_] ללחמך _lelachmecha_, "to thy bread;" for they ate the _bread_ and _supped the milk_ to assist mastication, and help deglutition. And it seems that _bread_, with _goats' milk_, was the general article of food for the _master_ and his _family_;... [ Continue Reading ]