Advanced Commentary

Texts -- Proverbs 25:8-28 (NET)

Context
25:8 Do not go out hastily to litigation , or what will you do afterward when your neighbor puts you to shame ? 25:9 When you argue a case with your neighbor , do not reveal the secret of another person, 25:10 lest the one who hears it put you to shame and your infamy will never go away . 25:11 Like apples of gold in settings of silver , so is a word skillfully spoken . 25:12 Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold , so is a wise reprover to the ear of the one who listens . 25:13 Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest , so is a faithful messenger to those who send him, for he refreshes the heart of his masters . 25:14 Like cloudy skies and wind that produce no rain , so is the one who boasts of a gift not given . 25:15 Through patience a ruler can be persuaded , and a soft tongue can break a bone . 25:16 When you find honey , eat only what is sufficient for you, lest you become stuffed with it and vomit it up . 25:17 Don’t set foot too frequently in your neighbor’s house , lest he become weary of you and hate you. 25:18 Like a club or a sword or a sharp arrow , so is the one who testifies against his neighbor as a false witness . 25:19 Like a bad tooth or a foot out of joint , so is confidence in an unfaithful person at the time of trouble . 25:20 Like one who takes off a garment on a cold day , or like vinegar poured on soda , so is one who sings songs to a heavy heart . 25:21 If your enemy is hungry , give him food to eat , and if he is thirsty , give him water to drink , 25:22 for you will heap coals of fire on his head , and the Lord will reward you. 25:23 The north wind brings forth rain , and a gossiping tongue brings forth an angry look . 25:24 It is better to live on a corner of the housetop than in a house in company with a quarrelsome wife . 25:25 Like cold water to a weary person , so is good news from a distant land . 25:26 Like a muddied spring and a polluted well , so is a righteous person who gives way before the wicked . 25:27 It is not good to eat too much honey , nor is it honorable for people to seek their own glory . 25:28 Like a city that is broken down and without a wall , so is a person who cannot control his temper .

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

  • Speaking

    [nave] SPEAKING. Evil Ex. 22:28; Job 19:18; Psa. 10:7, 8; Psa. 12:3, 4; Psa. 34:13; Psa. 35:21; Psa. 41:5-9; Psa. 52:2-4; Psa. 59:12; Psa. 64:2-5; Psa. 69:12, 26; Psa. 70:3; Psa. 102:8; Psa. 106:33; Psa. 119:23; Psa. 120:1-7; Psa...

  • SNOW

    [ebd] Common in Palestine in winter (Ps. 147:16). The snow on the tops of the Lebanon range is almost always within view throughout the whole year. The word is frequently used figuratively by the sacred writers (Job 24:19; Ps. 51:...
    [smith] This historical books of the Bible contain only two notices of snow actually falling -- (2 Samuel 23:20) 1Macc 13:22; but the allusions in the poetical books are so numerous that there can be no doubt as to its being an or...

  • Prudence

    [nave] PRUDENCE. Job 34:3, 4; Psa. 39:1; Psa. 112:5; Prov. 6:1, 2; Prov. 8:12; Prov. 11:13, 15, 29; Prov. 12:8, 23; Prov. 13:16; Prov. 14:8, 15, 16, 18; Prov. 15:5, 22; Prov. 16:20, 21; Prov. 17:2, 18; Prov. 18:15, 16; Prov. 19:2;...

  • PROVERBS, THE BOOK OF

    [isbe] PROVERBS, THE BOOK OF - prov'-erbz: I. THE BOOK'S ACCOUNT OF ITSELF 1. Title and Headings 2. Authorship or Literary Species? II. THE SUCCESSIVE COMPILATIONS 1. The Introductory Section 2. The Classic Nucleus 3. A Body of Sol...

  • PROVERBS, BOOK OF

    [smith] The title of this book in Hebrew is taken from its first word, mashal , which originally meant "a comparison." It is sometimes translated parable, sometimes proverb as here. The superscriptions which are affixed to several po...

  • Lawsuits

    [nave] LAWSUITS, to be avoided, Prov. 25:8-10; Matt. 5:25, 26; 1 Cor. 6:1-8. See: Arbitration; Compromise; Courts; Justice; Litigation.

  • LAW IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

    [isbe] LAW IN THE NEW TESTAMENT - lo The Term "Law" Austin's Definition of Law I. LAW IN THE GOSPELS 1. The Law in the Teaching of Christ (1) Authority of the Law Upheld in the Sermon on the Mount (a) Christ and Tradition (b) Sin o...

  • HEZEKIAH (2)

    [isbe] HEZEKIAH (2) - (chizqiyah, "Yahweh has strengthened"; also written chizqiyahu, "Yah has strengthened him"; Hezekias): One of the greatest of the kings of Judah; reigned (according to the most self-consistent chronology) from...

  • Fuller's soap

    [ebd] (Heb. borith mekabbeshim, i.e., "alkali of those treading cloth"). Mention is made (Prov. 25:20; Jer. 2:22) of nitre and also (Mal. 3:2) of soap (Heb. borith) used by the fuller in his operations. Nitre is found in Syria, an...

  • FIRE

    [isbe] FIRE - fir ('esh; pur): These are the common words for fire, occurring very frequently. 'Ur, "light" (Isa 24:15 the King James Version; compare the Revised Version (British and American); 31:9, and see FIRES), nur (Aramaic) ...

  • DEBATE

    [isbe] DEBATE - de-bat': This word is used only once in the Revised Version (British and American) (Prov 25:9). It evidently refers to the settling of a difficulty with a neighbor, and anticipates Mt 18:15. It argues for and shows ...

  • Compromise

    [nave] COMPROMISE. Before Litigation, Enjoined Prov. 25:8-10; Luke 12:58, 59 Matt. 5:25, 26. See: Arbitration; Justice; Court.

  • COLD

    [isbe] COLD - kold (qor; psuchros (adj.), psuchos (noun)): Palestine is essentially a land of sunshine and warmth. 1. Temperature in Palestine: The extreme cold of northern latitudes is unknown. January is the coldest month; but th...

  • BACKBITE

    [ebd] In Ps. 15:3, the rendering of a word which means to run about tattling, calumniating; in Prov. 25:23, secret talebearing or slandering; in Rom. 1:30 and 2 Cor. 12:20, evil-speaking, maliciously defaming the absent.
    [isbe] BACKBITE - bak'-bit raghal; doloo: To slander the absent, like a dog biting behind the back, where one cannot see; to go about as a talebearer. "He that backbiteth [Revised Version, slandereth] not with his tongue" (Ps 15:3)...

  • Arrows

    [ebd] At first made of reeds, and then of wood tipped with iron. Arrows are sometimes figuratively put for lightning (Deut. 32:23, 42; Ps. 7:13; 18:14; 144:6; Zech. 9:14). They were used in war as well as in the chase (Gen. 27:3; ...

  • Armour

    [ebd] is employed in the English Bible to denote military equipment, both offensive and defensive. (1.) The offensive weapons were different at different periods of history. The "rod of iron" (Ps. 2:9) is supposed to mean a mace o...

  • Adjudication at Law

    [nave] ADJUDICATION AT LAW. To Be Avoided Prov. 17:14; Prov. 20:3; Prov. 25:8-10; Matt. 5:25; Matt. 5:40 See: Litigation; Arbitration; Compromise; Courts; Justice.

  • ARMOR; ARMS

    [isbe] ARMOR; ARMS - ar'-mer, arms. I. ARMOR IN GENERAL--OLD TESTAMENT II. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT; POLYBIUS III. OFFENSIVE WEAPONS 1. Rod 2. Sling 3. Bow and Arrows 4. Spear--Javelin 5. Sword IV. DEFENSIVE WEAPONS 1. Shield 2. Helmet...

  • APPLE; APPLE-TREE

    [isbe] APPLE; APPLE-TREE - ap'-l ap'-l tre, (tappuach): A fruit tree and fruit mentioned chiefly in Cant, concerning the true nature of which there has been much dispute. Song 2:3 says: "As the apple-tree among the trees of the woo...

  • APPETITE

    [isbe] APPETITE - ap'-e-tit (chai, nephesh): This word occurs four times in Old Testament text and once in the King James Version margin. Once (Job 38:39) it is a translation of chai, "life"; "Canst thou .... satisfy the appetite (...

Arts

Questions

  • It is pleasing to God. He never forgets it. Christ set an example of it. And it is characteristic of Saints (II Cor. 9:7; Heb. 6:10; II Cor. 8:9; Ps. 112:9). This good quality should be exercised in the service of God towards...

Sermon Illustrations

Communication in Marriage

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • The high priest also wore this garment. It was his basic garment over which he put the ephod. It covered him completely so his natural nakedness did not appear (cf. Gen. 3:21).God may have intended the pomegranates and bells ...
  • "In the short pericope 13:7b-15a obedience was the stone on which Saul stumbled; here it is the rock that crushes him."147Chapter 15 records one of the battles Saul had with the Amalekites, Israel's enemy to the south (cf. 14...
  • As the three friends, Elihu believed God was acting perfectly justly in allowing Job to suffer and that Job was insolent to accuse God of being unjust (v. 10). He then reviewed God's character to illustrate His justice (vv. 1...
  • Proverbs claims to be a compendium of the wise sayings of several different individuals.4Solomon originated some of them (10:1-22:16 and chs. 25-29 definitely, and probably chs. 1-9 as well).5Unnamed wise men (sages) wrote ot...
  • The Book of Proverbs contains no history. It is purely didactic. It is a book of explicit instruction. Like the other Old Testament wisdom books, Job and Ecclesiastes, it does not contain references to Israel's laws, rituals,...
  • I. Discourses on wisdom chs. 1-9A. Introduction to the book 1:1-71. The title of the book 1:12. The purpose of the book 1:2-63. The thesis of the book 1:7B. Instruction for young people 1:8-7:271. Warning against consorting w...
  • Verse one introduces both the book as a whole and chapters 1-9 in particular. The Book of Proverbs is a collection of at least five separate groups of proverbs. There are those that Solomon spoke and or wrote (possibly chs. 1...
  • These proverbs are more difficult to group together under a general heading because there are fewer common ideas that tie them together.14:1 This verse makes better sense if for "house"we read "household."14:3 The antecedent ...
  • A third major section of the Book of Proverbs begins with 22:17. This is clear from several indicators. The proverbs lengthen out again from the typical one verse couplet that characterizes 10:1-26:16 (cf. chs. 1-9). The phra...
  • We return now to the proverbs of Solomon (cf. 1:1-22:16). Chapters 25-26 contain proverbs that are mainly comparisons. The key words in these chapters are "like . . . so."Chapter 27 is a mixture of comparative and antithetica...
  • 25:1 A group of scholars who served during King Hezekiah's reign (715-686 B.C.) added more of Solomon's 3,000 proverbs (1 Kings 4:32) to the former collection (1:1-22:16). These men lived about 250 years after Solomon. Solomo...
  • The analogies in chapter 25 dealt with both wise and foolish conduct, but those in chapter 26 deal mainly with fools and folly.26:2 If someone curses another person who does not deserve it, the curse will not be effective (cf...
  • Chapters 30 and 31 form a distinct section in Proverbs because neither Solomon (1:1-22:16; chs. 25-29) nor the unnamed sages (22:17-24:34) wrote them. Two other wise men whose names the text records did. Some expositors specu...
  • Some commentators have regarded only the first nine verses of this chapter as Lemuel's writing. One reason for this is that the Septuagint translators separated verses 1-9 from verse 10-31 by five chapters (chs. 25-29). Howev...
  • The quality of wisdom that Proverbs presents is much more than the ability to apply knowledge to various situations in life effectively. It also involves submission to the way of God that is the order of life God has revealed...
  • This is another section that contains one of Jeremiah's "confessions."Evidently there were several separate plots against the prophet's life (cf. 11:18-23; 12:1-6). People hated him because he brought bad news and called them...
  • This section of verses brings the main body of the Sermon to a climactic conclusion.7:7-8 In view of such hard opposition Jesus' disciples need to pray for God's help. He will always respond positively to their words, though ...
  • Paul now gave stronger commands (cf. v. 12). Not only the leaders but all the believers were responsible to minister to one another. Those who neglected their daily duties needed stirring up to action. Those who were timid or...
  • Having established the believer's basic adequacy through God's power in him and God's promises to him, Peter next reminded his readers of their responsibility to cultivate their own Christian growth. He did so to correct any ...
  • v. 10 The things the false teachers did not understand but reviled probably refer to aspects of God's revealed will that they chose to reject (cf. 1 Cor. 2:7-16)."Jude, like his brother James, denounces the sins of the tongue...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • He that hath no rule over his oven spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.'--Proverbs 25:28.THE text gives us a picture of a state of society when an unwalled city is no place for men to dwell in. In the...
Back to Commentary Page
Display Bible



Universal Search:

NET Only
Exact Search
Commentary
Study Dictionary
Word Study
Lexicon
Study Maps System
Sermon Illustrations
Expository
Arts
Resource
Daily Bible Reading
Training Video
Classic NET Bible
iPhone NET Bible
Mobile Bible
TIP #23: Navigate the Study Dictionary using word-wheel index or search box. [ALL]
created in 0.07 seconds
powered by
bible.org - YLSA