Do not forsake your friend and your father's friend,
and do not go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity.
Better is a neighbour who is near
than a brother who is far away.
Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad,
that I may answer him who reproaches me.
The prudent sees danger and hides himself,
but the simple go on and suffer for it.
Take a man's garment when he has put up security for a stranger,
and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for an adulteress.[b]
Whoever blesses his neighbour with a loud voice,
rising early in the morning,
will be counted as cursing.
A continual dripping on a rainy day
and a quarrelsome wife are alike;
to restrain her is to restrain the wind
or to grasp oil in one's right hand.
Iron sharpens iron,
and one man sharpens another.Proverbs 27:10-17
The question that arises in 10 is whether a contrast is being made between a close friend who is all compassion (the sort of person we would instinctively turn to in time of trouble) and a brother who is lacking in the milk of human kindness, or a simple statement that the worth of tested family friends is equivalent to that of a brother. Either way, there is valuable truth here. The thought in 11 is the same as that in 10:1 -'a wise son rnaketh a glad father'. If we apply the verse as the voice of God speaking to his sons by faith in Christ Jesus, it becomes very illuminating. It is wonderful to think that it is in our power to gladden the heart of God by the way we live (cf Job 1/2). 12 repeats 22:3 (see Note for Wed. 16th January), while 13 practically repeats 20:16. Lack of tact, or sensibility, is what is in view in 14, and the emphasis is similar to that in 25:20 (see Note for Friday 8th January). 15 and 16 echo 19:13 and 21:9, 19. The graphic metaphor in 16 means that in a - contentious woman one is dealing with someone as unsteady as the wind and as slippery as oil. It is impossible to tie such a person down (Kidner). What is a man to do, then? Well, nothing can be done if he has married such an one. This propensity would have needed to be discovered before marriage! The message, then, is, 'If you see this, give her a wide berth. Any relationship entered into against your better judgment is sure to come to grief. Don't deceive yourself into believing she will change later.' Far better to have a relationship where there can be a profitable exchange of thought and ideas, such as is indicated in 17. Some people act like catalysts on others, and this is as true within the marriage bond as in friendship in general.