Era 6 · The First KingsProverbs
Proverbs 27: Iron Sharpeneth Iron
Tomorrow, faithful wounds, a neighbour near, and knowing the state of your flocks
"Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth" (27:1–2).
"Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful" (27:5–6).
"Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend" (27:17).
"Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds. For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation?" (27:23–24).
Flocks and herds
Sheep and goats were the wealth of Judah's hill and steppe country. Wool for clothing, goat-hair for tents, milk, cheese and meat; a herd could be sold to buy a field (v. 26). The closing poem (vv. 23–27) contrasts the fragile wealth of money and crowns with the renewable wealth of a well-kept flock and pasture. Some read it also as advice to a king to know his people; first it is practical husbandry.
| Verse | The saying | Form | What to notice |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27:1 | Boast not thyself of to morrow | Instruction | James 4:13–14 develops it |
| 27:2 | Let another man praise thee | Synonymous | Self-praise |
| 27:3 | A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty | Comparison | A fool's provocation heavier still |
| 27:4 | Wrath is cruel… but who is able to stand before envy? | A fortiori | Jealousy worse than anger |
| 27:5 | Open rebuke is better than secret love | Comparative | Love that never speaks up is useless |
| 27:6 | Faithful are the wounds of a friend | Antithetic | The enemy's kisses are "profuse" (or deceitful); compare Judas (Matthew 26:49) |
| 27:7 | The full soul loatheth an honeycomb | Antithetic | Hunger makes the bitter sweet |
| 27:8 | As a bird that wandereth from her nest | Comparison | A man far from home is vulnerable |
| 27:9 | Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart | Comparison | So does a friend's sincere counsel |
| 27:10 | Better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off | Instruction + comparative | Old family friendships; practical help nearby |
| 27:11 | My son, be wise, and make my heart glad | Instruction | A son's wisdom answers the father's critics |
| 27:12 | A prudent man foreseeth the evil | Antithetic | = 22:3 |
| 27:13 | Take his garment that is surety for a stranger | Instruction | = 20:16 |
| 27:14 | He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early | Narrative saying | Untimely, excessive greeting becomes a curse: tact |
| 27:15 | A continual dropping in a very rainy day | Comparison | Compare 19:13 |
| 27:16 | Whosoever hideth her hideth the wind | Comparison | Hebrew obscure: as impossible as holding wind or oil |
| 27:17 | Iron sharpeneth iron | Comparison | Mutual formation; see research |
| 27:18 | Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof | Comparison | Faithful service is rewarded |
| 27:19 | As in water face answereth to face | Comparison | The heart reflects the person, or one heart reflects another |
| 27:20 | Hell and destruction are never full | Comparison | Sheol and Abaddon, and human eyes, never satisfied; compare Ecclesiastes 1:8 |
| 27:21 | As the fining pot for silver… so is a man to his praise | Comparison | Praise tests a person; 17:3a repeated |
| 27:22 | Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar | Comparison | Folly cannot be pounded out |
| 27:23 | Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks | Instruction | Begins the farming poem |
| 27:24 | For riches are not for ever | Instruction | Even crowns pass |
| 27:25 | The hay appeareth, and the tender grass sheweth itself | Instruction | The cycle of pasture |
| 27:26 | The lambs are for thy clothing | Instruction | Goats buy a field |
| 27:27 | Thou shalt have goats' milk enough for thy food | Instruction | Sufficient for household and servants |
27:17 "iron sharpeneth iron"
Iron tools were sharpened on stone or against harder iron; the image is of friction that improves both. "Sharpeneth the countenance (face) of his friend": either brightens and enlivens, or sharpens his character. It describes friendship that challenges as well as supports; it is not a general endorsement of conflict. Iron became common in Judah in the Iron Age II (10th–6th centuries BC).
27:1 and James
"Boast not thyself of to morrow" is developed in James 4:13–16 ("ye know not what shall be on the morrow… For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will"). Proverbs makes the same point as 16:9 and 19:21: plans are human, outcomes are God's.
27:14 and contextual ethics
A loud blessing early in the morning, outwardly good, "shall be counted a curse": good words at the wrong time or volume become offensive. The saying is a small lesson in the book's main method: the right act depends on the situation.
What the evidence shows
- Proverbs 27:12 and 27:13 repeat 22:3 and 20:16.Source: The site's library: Westminster Leningrad Codex, KJV, Clementine Vulgate, Giguet's French of the Greek
- Proverbs 27:16 is textually obscure.Source: M. V. Fox, Proverbs 10–31 (Anchor Yale Bible 18B, 2009)
- James 4:13–16 develops Proverbs 27:1.
Continue the journey
Connected elsewhere in ScriptureJacob's Ladder and His FamilyGenesis 31:38–40: Jacob's watchfulness over Laban's flocks.More from this lesson
Why this matters to the rest of Scripture
- Jacob's watchfulness over Laban's flocks.
- "If the Lord will."
- A deceitful kiss.
- "The eye is not satisfied with seeing."