_MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 27:1_ DIVINE PROPERTY I. A POSSESSION EXCLUSIVELY DIVINE. Both the distant and the immediate future belong to God alone; not only does He possess the exclusive control of what shall be in a hundred years to come, but to-morrow, and even the next hour and minute, are ex... [ Continue Reading ]
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 27:2_ SELF PRAISE I. MERIT WILL WIN THE PRAISE OF OTHERS. The light of the sun makes its existence felt by every man who is possessed of vision, and there are but few men who do not acknowledge that it is a good and pleasant thing. The perfume of the flowers cannot be h... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— PROVERBS 27:4. Delitzsch reads this verse “_The madness of anger and the overflowing of wrath, and before jealousy who keeps his place?_” _MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 27:3_ WRATH AND ENVY I. A MOST UNHAPPY COMBINATION. A fool and wrath. Wrath or displeasure is possible to every b... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— PROVERBS 27:5. SECRET LOVE. Zöckler and Hitzig understand this love to be that “_which from false consideration dissembles, and does not tell his friend of his faults when it should do so_.” Delitzsch thinks it refers to “_love which is confined to the heart alone, like a fire whic... [ Continue Reading ]
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 27:7_ WANT OF APPETITE I. THE VALUE WHICH MEN SET UPON THINGS DEPENDS UPON THEIR CONDITION AND CIRCUMSTANCES. When we look around upon our fellow-creatures, we can but remark the widely different estimates which different men place upon the same things, and also the dif... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— PROVERBS 27:8. PLACE, rather “_home_.” Proverbs 27:9. This verse is obscurely rendered in the English version. Delitzsch translates “_Oil and frankincense rejoice the heart, and the sweet discourse of a friend from counselling of soul_.” Ewald, Elster, Luther, etc., render “_The s... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— PROVERBS 27:5. SECRET LOVE. Zöckler and Hitzig understand this love to be that “_which from false consideration dissembles, and does not tell his friend of his faults when it should do so_.” Delitzsch thinks it refers to “_love which is confined to the heart alone, like a fire whic... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— PROVERBS 27:5. SECRET LOVE. Zöckler and Hitzig understand this love to be that “_which from false consideration dissembles, and does not tell his friend of his faults when it should do so_.” Delitzsch thinks it refers to “_love which is confined to the heart alone, like a fire whic... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— PROVERBS 27:17. Stuart and Noyes find here the idea of provocation. But most critics take the ordinary view. Miller translates “_Iron is welded by iron; so, for a man, the tie is the face of a friend_.” _MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 27:17_ A SOCIAL WHETSTONE I. THIS PROVERB MAY BE... [ Continue Reading ]
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 27:18_ THE REWARD OF SERVICE I. THE REWARD OF THE SERVANT OF NATURE. The fig-tree may here be taken as typical of all that the earth produces for the sustenance of man. God has ordained that man shall be a co-worker with Himself in making the earth fruitful. If He give... [ Continue Reading ]
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 27:19_ A CORRECT LIKENESS I. A MIRROR IN WHICH WE MAY SEE THE REFLECTION OF THE HEARTS OF OTHERS. All the knowledge that we have of our own personal appearance is gained by means of some reflecting surface. We can only look upon ourselves indirectly, and it is quite pos... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— PROVERBS 27:20. HELL AND DESTRUCTION, rather “_the world of the dead_.” EYES. Some understand the reference to be to the insatiableness of human passion. _MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 27:20_ INSATIABILITY I. A DESTRUCTIVE FORCE ALWAYS IN OPERATION. Ever since the earth closed over... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— PROVERBS 27:21. A MAN TO HIS PRAISE. Delitzsch understands the meaning to be that a man is valued according to the measure of public opinion. Ewald, Hitzig, and others, coincide with Zöckler’s rendering, “_A man according to his glorying_,” _i.e._, “One is judged according to the s... [ Continue Reading ]
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Proverbs 27:23_ MODEL FARMING These words were especially applicable to the Israelitish people in their early history, when every family lived upon its own domain and found all its simple wants supplied by the produce of the land and the cattle which fed upon it... [ Continue Reading ]