1883 Haydock Douay Rheims Bible

Presents commentary in a tabular format for ease of reading.Click to learn more.





Proverbs 27:1 Boast not for to-morrow, for thou knowest not what the day to come may bring forth.
Proverbs 27:2 Let another praise thee, and not thy own mouth: a stranger, and not thy own lips.

Lips. All hate affectation and vanity, John 5:51.
Proverbs 27:3 *A stone is heavy, and sand weighty: but the anger of a fool is heavier than them both.

Ecclesiasticus 22:18. 		Both. He is insupportable to himself and to others, Ecclesiasticus 22:17.
Proverbs 27:4 Anger hath no mercy: nor fury, when it breaketh forth: and who can bear the violence of one provoked?

And who. Septuagint, "but envy (zeal) beareth nothing." The more we yield to the envious, the more he is offended at our good behaviour.
Proverbs 27:5 Open rebuke is better than hidden love.

Love. Which can be of no service to us, while reproof may cause us to amend.
Proverbs 27:6 Better are the wounds of a friend, than the deceitful kisses of an enemy.

Enemy. Joab slew Amasa, while he kissed him, 2 Kings 20:9., and Matthew 26:48. True friendship is not attentive to outward appearances.
Proverbs 27:7 *A soul that is full shall tread upon the honeycomb: and a soul that is hungry shall take even bitter for sweet.

Job 6:7.
Proverbs 27:8 As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that leaveth his place.

Place, or vocation, like the prodigal son, Luke xv. The Israelites were much attached to their own country, where they might practise the true religion. (Calmet)
Proverbs 27:9 Ointment and perfumes rejoice the heart: and the good counsels of a friend are sweet to the soul.

And. Septuagint add, "wine and incense....but accidents tear the soul." (Haydock)
Proverbs 27:10 Thy own friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not: and go not into thy brother's house in the day of thy affliction.

Affliction. He will be less compassionate than a tried friend. --- Better, etc. This daily experience evinces. "Those who purchase land, should consider if there be plenty of water, and a neighbour." (Pliny, [Natural History?] 18:5.) --- The Persians honour most those who live nearest to them. (Herodotus 1:134.)
Proverbs 27:11 Study wisdom, my son, and make my heart joyful, that thou mayst give an answer to him that reproacheth.

Thou. Hebrew, Complutensian, and Sixtus V, "I may," etc. Septuagint, "and cast reproaches from thee."
Proverbs 27:12 The prudent man seeing evil hideth himself: little ones passing on have suffered losses.
Proverbs 27:13 *Take away his garment that hath been surety for a stranger: and take from him a pledge for strangers.

Proverbs 20:16.
Proverbs 27:14 He that blesseth his neighbour with a loud voice, rising in the night, shall be like to him that curseth.

In the night. Or "early in the morning," de nocte, as the Hebrew implies. --- Curseth. His importunity will be equally displeasing. (Haydock) --- Flattery is dangerous, (Calmet) and unworthy of a free man. (Cicero, de Amic.)
Proverbs 27:15 *Roofs dropping through in a cold day, and a contentious woman are alike.

Proverbs 19:13.
Proverbs 27:16 He that retaineth her, is as he that would hold the wind, and shall call in the oil of his right hand.

Hand. As it will flow away, such a woman is commonly incorrigible. (Calmet)
Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

Sharpeneth. Or instructeth. Fungar vice cotis. (Horace, Art.)
Proverbs 27:18 He that keepeth the fig-tree, shall eat the fruit thereof: and he that is the keeper of his master, shall be glorified.

Glorified. He who serves his master well shall be promoted.
Proverbs 27:19 As the faces of them that look therein, shine in the water, so the hearts of men are laid open to the wise.

Are. Hebrew, "to men." Our hearts have all something similar. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "as faces are not like each other, so neither are the hearts of men." They have all some peculiarity. (Haydock) --- But this agrees not with the original.
Proverbs 27:20 Hell and destruction are never filled: *so the eyes of men are never satisfied.

Ecclesiasticus 14:9. 		Destruction. Hebrew abaddo, or abadon, Proverbs 15:11., and Apocalypse 9:11. People die, and are plunged in hell daily. --- Eyes. Avarice and ambition, Ecclesiasticus 14:9.
Proverbs 27:21 *As silver is tried in the fining pot, and gold in the furnace: so a man is tried by the mouth of him that praiseth.

Proverbs 17:3. 		Praiseth. If he be not puffed up, or if all agree in his praises, we may conclude that they are well founded. --- The, etc., is not in Hebrew, Comp.[Complutensian?], St. Jerome, or Chaldean, and destroys the connection.
Proverbs 27:22 Though thou shouldst bray a fool in the mortar, as when a pestle striketh upon sodden barley, his folly would not be taken from him.

Mortar. Such were used by those who could not afford handmills. (Calmet)
Proverbs 27:23 Be diligent to know the countenance of thy cattle, and consider thy own flocks:

Flocks. John 10:3., and Ecclesiasticus 7:24. This may be applied to pastors.
Proverbs 27:24 For thou shalt not always have power: but a crown shall be given to generation and generation.

Generation. Thou wilt be cited as an example of prudence, if thou hast forseen the change of thy affairs, and provided for it. In the east it was not unusual to see a general of an army reduced to the meanest condition, and economy is necessary for all.
Proverbs 27:25 The meadows are open, and the green herbs have appeared, and the hay is gathered out of the mountains.
Proverbs 27:26 *Lambs are for thy clothing: and kids for the price of the field.

1 Timothy 9:8. 		Field. If thou wishest to purchase, or to pay the workmen.
Proverbs 27:27 Let the milk of the goats be enough for thy food, and for the necessities of thy house, and for maintenance for thy handmaids.

Milk. We cannot but admire such frugality. Septuagint are rather different; (Calmet) ver. 25., "Be careful of the grass in thy field....that thou mayst have lambs for thy clothing. Honour the field, that there may be lambs for thee. (27) Son, thou hast from me solid instructions for thy life, and for that of thy servants." (Haydock)