Proverbs 24:27

Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house. PREPARE THY WORK WITHOUT, AND MAKE IT FIT FOR THYSELF IN THE FIELD; AND AFTERWARD BUILD THINE HOUSE. Necessary things are to take precedency of those which are for ornament and elegance. Be content with a cottage, and labour strenuously in the field at agriculture, until you have made the necessary money for building a more commodious and elegant house (Piscator, Gejer, etc.); or, until you have made money enough to marry, and beget and support children. So 'build a house' is used, ; ; (Rabbi Salomon). I prefer taking it simply, First collect your materials, and make your preparations, and count the cost, and...

Verse Proverbs 24:27. _PREPARE THY WORK WITHOUT_] Do nothing without a _plan_. In _winter_ prepare seed, implements, tackle, geers, c., for _seed-time and harvest_....

i. e., Get an estate into good order before erecting a house on it. To “build a house” may, however, be equivalent (compare Exodus 1:21; Deuteronomy 25:9; Ruth 4:11) to “founding a family;” and the words a warning against a hasty and imprudent marriage. The young man is taught to cultivate his land before he has to bear the burdens of a family. Further, in a spiritual sense, the “field” may be the man’s outer common work, the “house” the dwelling-place of his higher life. He must do the former faithfully in order to attain the latter. Neglect in one is fatal to the other. Compare Luke 16:10....

EXPOSITION PROVERBS 24:1 We return here to the more usual form, the tetrastich. BE NOT THOU ENVIOUS AGAINST EVIL MEN (see on Proverbs 23:17, where a similar warning is given, and comp. Proverbs 23:19 below). "Men of wickedness," wholly given over to evil. NEITHER DESIRE TO BE WITH THEM. Their company is pollution, and association with them makes you a partner in their sinful doings. The Septuagint prefaces the paragraph with the personal address, υἱέ_ _"son." PROVERBS 24:2 For their heart studie

PREPARE THY WORK WITHOUT,.... As Solomon did for the building of the temple; timber and stones were prepared, hewed, squared, and fitted for the building before brought thither, 1 Kings 5:18; or diligently attend to thy business without doors, whatever it is, that thou mayest provide for thyself and family the necessaries and conveniences of life, which are in the first place to be sought after; AND MAKE IT FIT FOR THYSELF IN THE FIELD; let nothing be wanting in managing the affairs of husbandry, in tilling the land, in ploughing and sowing, and reaping, and gathering in the increase, that there may be a sufficiency for the support of the family; AND AFTERWARDS BUILD THINE HOUSE; when, though the blessing of God upon thy diligence and industry, thou art become rich, or however hast such a competent substance as to be able to build a good house, and furn

CHAPTER 24 INSTRUCTIONS CONTINUED In the final instructions of this chapter we find first a description of the evil men. Their heart studieth destruction; their lips talk mischief. This theme is repeatedly referred to in this chapter. In Proverbs 24:15 the evil man is addressed not to lay wait for the righteous and not to spoil his resting place. The Lord takes care of the righteous; he may be overcome by misfortunes seven times, yet will he rise again. Different it is with the wicked when he falls into mischief. Yet there must be no rejoicing over the fall of the enemy, nor gladness when he stumbled. This displeaseth the Lord. Still higher is the command of the New Testament, “Love your enemies; ... recompense no man evil for evil; ... overcome evil with good.” There is to be no fretting because of evil men nor envy ...

SECOND DIVISION, PROVERBS 24:23. This section constitutes the second division of the Sayings of the Wise, as Proverbs 24:23 a indicates. It contains a short collection of sayings varying in form and character, resembling in the main those of Proverbs 22:17 to Proverbs 24:22. The greater part (Proverbs 24:30) is a vivid description of the effects of slothfulness, which may be compared with the passage on the drunkard in Proverbs 23:29

_thy work_ viz. the work required for building thy house. Follow the course pursued in the erection of the Temple, 1 Kings 6:7. Comp. 1 Chronicles 28:2, _I had made ready_(the same Heb. word as is here rendered _prepare) for the building_. Such _preparing_and _making ready_includes mental as well as material preparation, prudent "counting the cost," as well as careful selection of materials. When this is understood, the proverb which has been obscured by supposing it to mean, "first till thy field and then build thy house," or, "first make provision for a family and then found one," is plain and forcible, and lends itself readily to moral and spiritual applications....

PREPARE THY WORK WITHOUT, &C.— He must begin to labour in his field, and perform the works without doors, before he builds his house: he must have wherewith to subsist, before he thinks of a commodious lodging: he must deliberate long, and reflect much, before he begins to build; but there must be no deliberation in point of sowing or tilling the ground: _AEdificare diu cogitare oportet,_ (says Cato, de Re Rustic. cap. 3:) _conferere cogitate non oportet, sed facere oportet._ Our Saviour in the Gospel, Luke 14:28 requires him who thinks of building a tower to sit down first, and reckon with himself whether he has wherewith to go through with his undertaking, for fear of leaving his work imperfect, after having laid the foundations. In the moral sense, it is easy to make the application of this field, which must be cultivated before the building of a house, to the exercise of solid

TEXT Proverbs 24:23-34 23. These also are sayings of the wise. To have respect of persons in judgment is not good. 24. He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous, Peoples shall curse him, nations shall abhor him; 25. But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, And a good blessing shall come upon them. 26. He kisseth the lips Who giveth a right answer. 27. Prepare thy work without, And make it ready for thee in the field; And afterwards build thy house. 28. Be not a witness against thy neighbor without cause; And deceive not with thy lips. 29. Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me; I will render to the man according to his work. 30. I went by the field of the sluggard, And by the vineyard of the man void of unders