Proverbs 27:17-27

27:17 As ¹  iron sharpens ²  iron,

so a person ³  sharpens his friend. ⁴ 

27:18 The one who tends a fig tree ⁵  will eat its fruit, ⁶ 

and whoever takes care of ⁷  his master will be honored.

27:19 As in water the face is reflected as a face, ⁸ 

so a person’s heart ⁹  reflects the person.

27:20 As ¹⁰  Death and Destruction are never satisfied, ¹¹ 

so the eyes of a person ¹²  are never satisfied. ¹³ 

27:21 As the crucible is for silver and the furnace is for gold, ¹⁴ 

so a person ¹⁵  is proved ¹⁶  by the praise he receives. ¹⁷ 

27:22 If you should pound ¹⁸  the fool in the mortar

among the grain ¹⁹  with the pestle,

his foolishness would not depart from him. ²⁰ 

27:23 Pay careful attention to ²¹  the condition of your flocks, ²² 

give careful attention ²³  to your herds,

27:24 for riches do not last ²⁴  forever,

nor does a crown last ²⁵  from generation to generation.

27:25 When the hay is removed and new grass appears,

and the grass from the hills is gathered in,

27:26 the lambs will be for your clothing,

and the goats will be for the price of a field. ²⁶ 

27:27 And there will be enough goat’s milk for your food, ²⁷ 

for the food of your household,

and for the sustenance ²⁸  of your servant girls.

[27:17]  ¹ tn The term “as” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation to clarify the comparison.

[27:17]  ² tn BDB classifies the verb in the first colon as a Qal apocopated jussive of I חָדָה (khadah, “to grow sharp”; BDB 292 s.v.), and the verb in the second half of the verse (יַחַד, yakhad) as a Hiphil apocopated jussive. The difference would be: “let iron by means of iron grow sharp, and let a man sharpen the countenance of his friend.” But it makes more sense to take them both as Hiphil forms, the first being in pause. Other suggestions have been put forward for the meaning of the word, but the verb “sharpens” fits the context the best, and is followed by most English versions. The verb may be a shortened form of the imperfect rather than a jussive.

[27:17]  ³ tn Heb “and a man,” although the context does not indicate this should be limited to males only.

[27:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “sharpens the face of his friend.” The use of the word “face” (cf. KJV, ASV “countenance”) would here emphasize that it is the personality or character that is being sharpened. Constructive criticism sharpens character. Use of the wits in interaction that makes two people sharp as a razor (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 615); another example, from the Talmud, is that of two students sharpening each other in the study of the Torah (b. Ta’anit 7a).

[27:18]  ⁵ sn Tending fig trees requires closer attention than other plants; so the point here would be the diligent care that is required.

[27:18]  ⁶ sn The principle is established in the first line with the emblem: Those who faithfully serve will be rewarded in kind. The second half of the proverb makes the point from this illustration.

[27:18]  ⁷ sn The Hebrew participle translated “takes care of” (שֹׁמֵר, shomer) describes a careful watching over or looking after, a meticulous service, anticipating the needs and safeguarding the charge. Such a servant need not worry about his efforts going unrecognized and unrewarded (e.g., Prov 22:29; 2 Tim 2:6, 15).

[27:19]  ⁸ tn The verse is somewhat cryptic and so has prompted many readings. The first line in the MT has “As water the face to the face.” The simplest and most probable interpretation is that clear water gives a reflection of the face (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). One creative but unconvincing suggestion is that of L. Kopf, who suggests the idea is “water of face” (a construct) and that it means shame or modesty, i.e., a face is not really human without shame, and a man without a heart is not human (“Arabische Etymologien und Parallelen zum Bibelwörterbuch,” VT 9 [1959]: 260-61).

[27:19]  ⁹ tn The second line has “so the heart of a man to a man” (cf. KJV, ASV). The present translation (along with many English versions) supplies “reflects” as a verb in the second line to emphasize the parallelism.

[27:20]  ¹⁰ tn The term “as” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation in light of the analogy.

[27:20]  ¹¹ sn Countless generations of people have gone into the world below; yet “death” is never satisfied – it always takes more. The line personifies Death and Destruction. It forms the emblem in the parallelism.

[27:20]  ¹² tn Heb “eyes of a man.” This expression refers to the desires – what the individual looks longingly on. Ecclesiastes Rabbah 1:34 (one of the rabbinic Midrashim) says, “No man dies and has one-half of what he wanted.”

[27:20]  ¹³ tc The LXX contains a scribal addition: “He who fixes his eye is an abomination to the Lord, and the uninstructed do not restrain their tongues.” This is unlikely to be original.

[27:21]  ¹⁴ sn Once again this proverb uses emblematic parallelism. The crucible and the furnace are used to refine and thus reveal the pure metals. The analogy is that praise will reveal the person because others will examine and evaluate what an individual has done in order to make the public acclamation.

[27:21]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and a man,” but the context does not indicate this is limited only to males.

[27:21]  ¹⁶ tn The verb “is proved” was supplied in the translation in view of the analogy. Many English versions supply “tested” for the same reason.

[27:21]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “by [the] praise of him.” The pronominal suffix is an objective genitive, meaning “the praise about him” (= “the praise he receives”). Some commentators would take the suffix as a subjective genitive, meaning “the praise he gives”; this would mean people stand revealed by what they praise (D. Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 168). That does not seem to work as well with the emblem of the first line which indicates being tested. The LXX adds a couplet: “The heart of the transgressor seeks evil; but the upright heart seeks knowledge.”

[27:22]  ¹⁸ tn The verb means “to pound” in a mortar with a pestle (cf. NRSV “Crush”; NLT “grind”). The imperfect is in a conditional clause, an unreal, hypothetical condition to make the point.

[27:22]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew term רִיפוֹת (rifot) refers to some kind of grain spread out to dry and then pounded. It may refer to barley groats (coarsely ground barley), but others have suggested the term means “cheeses” (BDB 937 s.v.). Most English versions have “grain” without being more specific; NAB “grits.”

[27:22]  ²⁰ tn The LXX contains this paraphrase: “If you scourge a fool in the assembly, dishonoring him, you would not remove his folly.” This removes the imagery of mortar and pestle from the verse. Using the analogy of pounding something in a mortar, the proverb is saying even if a fool was pounded or pulverized, meaning severe physical punishment, his folly would not leave him – it is too ingrained in his nature.

[27:23]  ²¹ tn The sentence uses the infinitive absolute and the imperfect from יָדַע (yada’, “to know”). The imperfect here has been given the obligatory nuance, “you must know,” and that has to be intensified with the infinitive.

[27:23]  ²² tn Heb “the faces of your flock.”

[27:23]  ²³ tn The idiom is “place [it on] your heart” or “take to heart.” Cf. NLT “put your heart into.”

[27:24]  ²⁴ tn Heb “riches are not forever” (so KJV, NASB); TEV “wealth is not permanent.” The term “last” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[27:24]  ²⁵ tn The conjunction and the particle indicate that the same nuance continues here in the second colon, and so “last” has been supplied here as well.

[27:26]  ²⁶ sn Verse 25 is the protasis and v. 26 the apodosis. The two verses say that when the harvest is taken in, then the grass will grow, and they can sell and use their livestock. The lambs will provide clothing, and the goats when sold will pay for land.

[27:27]  ²⁷ sn This part of the proverb shows the proper interplay between human labor and divine provision. It teaches people to take care of what they have because it will not last forever.

[27:27]  ²⁸ tn Heb “life”; KJV, NAB “maintenance”; NRSV “nourishment.”