Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 27:17
Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
17. sharpeneth ] This has been understood to mean exasperates. Comp. Mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me, Job 16:9 (where, however, the Hebrew word is different). But, as it is a friend that is spoken of here, it is better to take the proverb in a good sense. See for illustrations, 1Ki 10:1; 1Ki 10:3; Act 28:15.
The effect, however, is mutual, not like that of the whetstone to which Horace compares the critic,
acutum
Reddere qu ferrum valet, exsors ipsa secandi.
De Art. Poet. 304, 5.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The proverb expresses the gain of mutual counsel as found in clear, well-defined thoughts. Two minds, thus acting on each other, become more acute. This is better than to see in sharpening the idea of provoking, and the point of the maxim in the fact that the quarrels of those who have been friends are bitter in proportion to their previous intimacy.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Pro 27:17
Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
Friendship
Scripture instances of friendship are David and Jonathan; Ruth and Naomi; Paul and Timotheus; and our Lord and the Bethany sisters. In classical literature we see that friendship had a great part, both in the government of states and the lives of individuals. It is an aspect of politics and of human nature, and of all virtue. Partly owing to the different character of domestic life, the tie of friendship seems to have exercised s greater influence amongst the Greeks and Romans than among ourselves; and although these attachments may sometimes have degenerated into evil, we cannot doubt that much that was noble in the old life was also pure. See cases of Achilles and Patroclus, and of Pylades and Orestes. The school of Socrates was as much a circle of friends as a band of disciples. Roman friendships are illustrated in Scipio and Loelius, and in Cicero and Atticus. Shakespeare gives several types of friendship. In youth, when life is opening before us, we easily form friendships. A young man, even if he be poor in worldly goods, may reasonably hope to be rich in friends. Like draws towards like, and youth rejoices in youth. We cannot make friendships exactly as we please. Friendships are not made, but grow out of similar tastes, out of mutual respect, from the discovery of some hitherto unsuspected vein of sympathy. They depend also on our own power of inspiring friendship in others. Yet neither is the choice of friends altogether independent of ourselves. A man may properly seek for friends. He gets good, or he gets harm, out of the companionship of those with whom he lives. Such as they are he will be in some degree.
I. The character of true friendship. It should be simple, manly, unreserved; not weak, or fond, or extravagant, nor yet exacting more than human nature can fairly give; nor intrusive into the secrets of anothers soul, or curious about his circumstances. The greatest element in friendship is faithfulness. Friends learn from one another; they form the characters of one another; they bear one anothers burdens; they make up for each others defects. The ancients spoke of three kinds of friendship–one for the sake of the useful, one for the sake of the pleasant, and a third for the sake of the good or noble. The first is a contradiction in terms. It is a partnership, not a friendship. Every one knows the delight of having a friend. Is there a friendship for the sake of the noble and the good? Mankind are dependent beings, and we cannot help seeing how much, when connected together, they may do for the elevation of one anothers character and for the improvement of mankind.
II. Changing friendships. Like the other goods of life, friendship is commonly mixed and imperfect, and liable to be interrupted by changing circumstances or the tempers of men. Few have the same friends in youth as in age. Some youthful friendships are too violent to last; they have in them some element of weakness or sentimentalism, and the feelings pass away. Or, at some critical time of life, a friend has failed to stand by us, and then our love to him grows cold. But there are duties we owe to an extinct friend. We should never speak against him, or make use of our knowledge about him. A passing word should not be suffered to interrupt the friendship of years. It is a curious observation, that the most sensitive natures are also the most liable to pain the feelings of others.
III. Christian friendship. The spirit of a mans life may be more or less consciously Christian. Friendship may be based on religious motives, and may flow out of a religious principle. Human friendships constantly require to be purified and raised from earth to heaven. And yet they should not lose themselves in spiritual emotion or in unreal words. Better that friendship should have no element of religion than that it should degenerate into cant and insincerity. All of us may sometimes think of ourselves and our friends as living to God, and of human love as bearing the image of the Divine. There are some among us who have known what it is to lose a friend. Death is a gracious teacher. Who that has lost a friend would not wish to have done more for him now that he is taken away? The memory of them is still consecrated and elevating for our lives. (Professor Jowett.)
Friendship
This is what one friend should be to another; a whetstone, to give keenness to the edge of his energy. A friend can encourage his friend when duty is difficult, or wearisome, or painful; can comfort, can advise. But friendship is too often made the stepping-stone to the worst falls; and many a sinner has his friends to thank for his having fallen into sins which, left to himself, he would have shrunk from with horror. God has mercifully hedged round most sins with many barriers–the barrier of ignorance, of shame, and of affection. This latter, in a personal friend, may be especially helpful. A friend may aid us in both the right and the wrong. It is sometimes the duty of a true friend openly to find fault with a friend. But the occasion is very rare. In most cases all that is wanted is to hold to the right, and you will do more towards holding your friend to the right than by all manner of exhortations. Few things can give acuter pain to the soul in after-years than the memory of friends misled by our friendship. Friendship, and sympathy, and cheerful example ought to help us more than anything else to grow up soldiers and servants of Christ, and to fight His battle when we are grown up. Iron cannot sharpen iron more than we might sharpen each other. The very differences in our character might be such a help to us in making friendship valuable, because when one friend is much tempted the other is strong, and can uphold him, and yet, when another kind of temptation comes, will receive back as much support as he gave. (Frederick Temple, D.D.)
A friend in need is a friend indeed
Bacon says, To be without friends is to find the world a wilderness. It is only a mean man that can be contented alone. A trusty friend is one of earths greatest blessings. Alas, for the dire contagion of evil friendships! Washington said, Be courteous to all, intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. Stick to your friend. He can never have any true friends who is often changing them. Bring your friend to a proper understanding of himself. Persuade him of his follies. Phocion said truly to Antipater, I cannot be both your friend and flatterer. True friendship cannot exist between bad men. True friendship is tested in the hour of adversity. Wait until you are in trouble, and many a professed friend will be shy of you and give you the dead cut. Many people expect too much from their friends. There is an old saying that Friends, like fiddle-strings, must not be screwed too tight. Friendships are often productive of mischief because they are not governed by wisdom and prudence. He is our best friend who is a friend to our soul. Give a wide berth to the sneering sceptic. Have for your bosom friends men who will strengthen your hand in God, who will foster your piety and make you wiser, better, and holier men. In Christ alone the proverb at the heading of this outline finds its fullest verification. (M. C. Peters.)
Friendly converse
This proverb is described by Edward Irving as forcibly expressing the effect of religious converse and communion by a beautiful figure, which also not inaptly represents the way in which the effect is produced. Iron sharpeneth iron by removing the rust which has been contracted from their lying apart; so intercourse between friend and friend rubs down the prejudices which they have contracted in their separate state. And as the iron, having removed the rust which entered into the good stuff of the blade, and hindered its employment for husbandry or war, straightway applies itself to the metallic substance, brings it to a polish and to an edge, shows its proper temper, and fits it for its proper use, so the intercourse of friends having removed the prejudices which were foreign to the nature and good conditions of each, proceeds, in the next place, to bring out the slumbering spirit which lay hid, to kindle each other into brightness, and prepare each other for action. (Francis Jacox.)
The sharpening influence of religious intercourse
We are all well acquainted with the every-day fact that iron sharpeneth iron; we have all seen steel used to sharpen a blade, to give it an edge, and make it fit to do its work. We are also well aware that the blade, when sharpened, may be used for a good purpose, or abused for a bad one. The axe may be used to fell the timber of the temple, or to break down all the carved work thereof. The steel or the whetstone to sharpen, fits the blade for doing good or doing evil, according to circumstances. The act of sharpening increases its power, whether for good or evil; and so is it with regard to a mans friends–they stir him up, they excite him, but it is to good or to evil, according as they themselves are good or evil. We must take care who our friends are, lest we receive mischief; take care what kind of friends we are, lest we impart it. Those who countenance what is wrong are answerable for much of the evil their countenance leads to. For instance, all persons should take great care to what they are led by the countenance and encouragement of friends on occasions of public festivity or show. Many on such occasions have their countenances sharpened as they are not on other days. They are encouraged to say, to do, to boast, to indulge, as they never would do, and never do, when sitting at home in their own houses. It is a pleasing thought, however, that the man whose heart is right with God sharpeneth for good the countenance of his friend. There is nothing more false upon true religion than to imagine that it stunts our minds, that its design is to withdraw them from the genial warmth of social life, where it may blossom–where, like a healthy plant, it may open and expand, and place them alone, to become proud and selfish. True religion, like every other good sentiment, requires society to bring it to perfection. Now, if there be something so valuable in the intercourse of true Christians, they should seek it in the spirit best calculated to profit by such communion. They should seek it in Christian friendship. They should constantly be on the look-out for those who are willing to drink deep with them at the fountain of Divine truth. But our expectations from this truth are not to be limited to the exercise of private friendship. We cannot all be bound together by such ties, desirable as they are; but then, again, all real Christians are real friends. They may never have spoken; they may want introduction one to another; distance of situation may keep them apart; circumstances may keep them unacquainted though near in point of neighbourhood; yet have they, being all partakers of the same Spirit, that which is calculated, under altered circumstances, to make and keep them friends. All Christians, I repeat, are friends; and, therefore, we may expect many circumstances, short of strict and intimate friendship, calculated to bring into play the principle upon which I have been dwelling. I shall mention two circumstances under which this may happen.
1. I would recommend all persons to seek this means of improvement in their families. With his family is every Christian bound to share, and by sharing to increase, his devout affections. There are innumerable degrees of life among the members of our Lord: there are all the stages from simple consecration to Him, in baptism and profession, to the fullest union. To be helpers of each others faith throughout these several stages–to become by mutual communication joint partakers of one common Spirit–is one of the most effectual means of spiritual growth. He that watereth may hope to be watered also himself.
2. But this is not all: he is in the way to have his own countenance sharpened, his own motives quickened, his own soul stirred up to watchfulness, love, zeal, diligence, and an endeavour at being consistent. If we know ourselves, we know that we want every kind of motive, every sort of help. Then let every Christian try the power of meeting each morning and evening to pray together with his family. But, if so, how much more should we thank God for those further helps which He affords to us in the public assemblies of the congregation. Here especially the fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above. If we came to His house expecting much, imploring much, desiring much, we should gain much. Our God would enrich us, and that partly through the channel of our fellowship one with another. (J. H. A. Walsh, M.A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 17. Iron sharpeneth iron] As hard iron, viz., steel, will bring a knife to a better edge when it is properly whetted against it: so one friend may be the means of exciting another to reflect, dive deeply into, and illustrate a subject, without which whetting or excitement, this had never taken place. Had Horace seen this proverb in the Septuagint translation when he wrote to the Pisos?
Ergo fungar vice cotis, acutum
Reddere quae ferrum valet, exors ipsa secandi.
HOR. ARS. POET., ver. 304.
“But let me sharpen others, as the hone
Gives edge to razors, though itself have none.”
FRANCIS.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Iron cutting tools are made bright, and sharp, and fit for use by rubbing them against the file, or some other iron. So a man, who being alone is sad, and dull, and unactive, by the company and conversation of his friend is greatly refreshed, his very wits are sharpened, and his spirit revived, and he is both fitted for and provoked to action.
The countenance is here put for the mind or spirit, whose temper or disposition is commonly visible in mens countenances.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. a man sharpeneth . . .friendthat is, conversation promotes intelligence, which theface exhibits.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Iron sharpeneth iron,…. A sword or knife made of iron is sharpened by it; so butchers sharpen their knives;
so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend; by conversation with him; thus learned men sharpen one another’s minds, and excite each other to learned studies; Christians sharpen one another’s graces, or stir up each other to the exercise of them, and the gifts which are bestowed on them, and to love and to good works. So Jarchi and Gersom understand it of the sharpening of men’s minds to the learning of doctrine; but Aben Ezra, takes it in an ill sense, that as iron strikes iron and sharpens it, so a wrathful man irritates and provokes wrath in another. Some render the words, “as iron delighteth in iron, so a man rejoiceth the countenance of his friend”, i: by his company and conversation.
i “laetatur”, a “laetari; ferrum in ferro laetatur, et virum laetificant ora socii ejus”, Gussetius, p. 242. “ferrum ferro hiluratur, et vir exhilarat vultum sodalis sui”, Schultens.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
This proverb expresses the influence arising from the intercourse of man with man:
Iron is sharpened by iron,
And a man may sharpen the appearance of another.
When the Masora reads , Ewald remarks, it interprets the word as denoting “at the same time,” and the further meaning of the proverb must then accord therewith. Accordingly he translates: “iron together with iron! and one together with the face of another!” But then the prep. or is wanting after the second – for is, in spite of Ewald, 217h, never a prep. – and the “face,” 17b, would be a perplexing superfluity. Hitzig already replies, but without doing homage to the traditional text-punctuation, that such a violence to the use of language, and such a darkening of the thought, is not at all to be accepted. He suggests four ways of interpreting : (1) the adverb , united, properly (taken accusat.) union; (2) , Psa 86:11, imper. of the Piel , unite; (3) , Job 3:6, jussive of the Kal , gaudeat ; and (4) as Kimchi, in Michlol 126a, jussive of the Kal (= ) acuere , after the form , Mic 4:11. , Gen 32:8, etc. in p. , after the form , Job 23:9. , 2Ki 1:2 (= , 2Ch 16:12). If we take with , then it is priori to be supposed that in the idea of sharpening lies; in the Arab. iron is simply called hadyda = , that which is sharpened, sharp; and a current Arab. proverb says: alhadyd balhadyd yuflah = ferrum ferro diffinditur ( vid., Freytag under the word falah ). But is the traditional text-punctuation thus understood to be rightly maintained? It may be easily changed in conformity with the meaning, but not so that with Bttcher we read and , the fut. Kal of : “iron sharpeneth itself on iron, and a man sharpeneth himself over against his neighbour” – for after a verb to be understood actively, has to be regarded as the object – but since is changed into ( fut. Hiph. of ), and into or ( fut. Hiph. of , after the form , incipiam , Deu 2:25, or , profanabo , Eze 39:7; Num 30:3). The passive rendering of the idea 17a and the active of 17b thus more distinctly appear, and the unsuitable jussive forms are set aside: ferrum ferro exacuitur, et homo exacuit faciem amici sui (Jerome, Targ., the Venet.). But that is not necessary. As may be the fut. of the Hiph. (he brought up) as well as of the Kal (he went up), so may be regarded as fut. Kal, and as fut. Hiph. Fleischer prefers to render also as Hiph.: aciem exhibet , like , divitias acquirit , and the like; but the jussive is not favourable to this supposition of an intransitive (inwardly transitive) Hiph. It may indeed be said that the two jussives appear to be used, according to poetic licence, with the force of indicatives (cf. under Pro 12:26), but the repetition opposes it. Thus we explain: iron is sharpened [ gewetzt , Luther uses this appropriate word] by iron ( of the means, not of the object, which was rather to be expected in 17b after Pro 20:30), and a man whets , the appearance, the deportment, the nature, and manner of the conduct of his neighbour. The proverb requires that the intercourse of man with man operate in the way of sharpening the manner and forming the habits and character; that one help another to culture and polish of manner, rub off his ruggedness, round his corners, as one has to make use of iron when he sharpens iron and seeks to make it bright. The jussive form is the oratorical form of the expression of that which is done, but also of that which is to be done.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
This intimates both the pleasure and the advantage of conversation. One man is nobody; nor will poring upon a book in a corner accomplish a man as the reading and studying of men will. Wise and profitable discourse sharpens men’s wits; and those that have ever so much knowledge may by conference have something added to them. It sharpens men’s looks, and, by cheering the spirits, puts a briskness and liveliness into the countenance, and gives a man such an air as shows he is pleased himself and makes him pleasing to those about him. Good men’s graces are sharpened by converse with those that are good, and bad men’s lusts and passions are sharpened by converse with those that are bad, as iron is sharpened by its like, especially by the file. Men are filed, made smooth, and bright, and fit for business (who were rough, and dull, and inactive), by conversation. This is designed, 1. To recommend to us this expedient for sharpening ourselves, but with a caution to take heed whom we choose to converse with, because the influence upon us is so great either for the better or for the worse. 2. To direct us what we must have in our eye in conversation, namely to improve both others and ourselves, not to pass away time or banter one another, but to provoke one another to love and to good works and so to make one another wiser and better.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Influence of Friends
Verse 17 suggests the power of true friends to influence the moral and spiritual life of each other, Pro 17:17; Ecc 4:9-10; 1Sa 18:1; 1Ki 5:1; Rth 1:16; 2Ti 1:16; Rom 16:4.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Pro. 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 Pro. 27:17
A SOCIAL WHETSTONE
I. This proverb may be applied to mens general intercourse with each other. It is needful for a man to mingle with his fellow-creatures in order to have his faculties and capacities developed and fitted for action. Social intercourse is stimulating to the mind and refreshing to the spiritual nature, and is indeed indispensable to our happiness and usefulness. A man by himself, says Muffet, is no manhe is dull, he is very blunt; but if his fellow come and quicken him by his presence, speech, and example, he is so whetted on by this means that he is much more skilful, comfortable, and better than when he was alone. The human countenance, as the organ by which the soul of one man makes its presence felt by another, has a quickening influence even when no words are uttered, and this general friction of soul with soul preserves men from intellectual dulness and spiritual apathy.
II. It is especially applicable to intercourse with those whom we know and love. Above and beyond the general need of man to have constant intercourse with man, there are times and seasons when the face of a friend is especially helpful. The sword that has seen much hard service must come in contact with another steel instrument to restore its edge. The ploughshare that has pushed its way through hard and stony ground must be fitted for more work by friction with a whetstone, and the axe, after it has felled many trees, must be subjected to a similar process. So the intellectual and spiritual nature of man becomes at times in need of a stimulus from without which may fitly be compared with this sharpening of iron by iron. Hard mental toil, contact with uncongenial persons and things, disappointments, and even great spiritual emotions, have a tendency to exhaust our energies and depress our spirits, and render us for a time indisposed to exertion, and perhaps incapable of it. In such a condition a look of sympathy and encouragement from one who understands us is very serviceable indeed, and has power to arouse within us fresh hope, and therefore new life for renewed action.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
As you can only sharpen iron by iron, you can only sharpen souls by souls. Neither dead matter, however majestic in aspect or thunderous in melody, nor irrational life, however graceful in form or mighty in force, can sharpen a blunted soul. Mind alone can quicken mind; it is in all cases the spirit that quickeneth.Dr. David Thomas.
Iron is welded by iron. (This is Millers rendering.) That is, we must bring a face of iron (not of tin, or brass, or wood, but, by the very necessities of its nature, of iron), and strictly a face of it, so that face may meet face (as of the water in the 19th verse), or they cannot run or mould themselves together. Fit a face of iron, red hot, to a face of iron, also hot, and force them hard upon each other, and thus you weld them. Bring a man face to face with his neighbour, and let them be warmed by a common taste, and, though one of them be God Himself, this will weld them.Miller.
We owe some of the most valuable discoveries of science to this active reciprocity. Useful hints were thrown out, which have issued in the opening of large fields of hitherto unexplored knowledge. The commanding word in the field of battle puts a keen edge upon the iron. (2Sa. 10:11-13). The mutual excitation for evil is a solemn warning against evil communications. But most refreshing is it, when, as in the dark ages of the Church, they that feared the Lord spake often one to another. Sharpening indeed must have been the intercourse at Emmaus, when the hearts of the disciples burned within them. The apostle was often so invigorated by the countenance of his friends, that he longed to be somewhat filled with their company. Upon this principleTwo are better than oneour Lord sent His first preachers to their work. And the first Divine ordination in the Christian Church was after this precedent. (Act. 13:2-4.)Bridges.
The countenance of a friend is a wonderful work of God. It is a work as great and good as a sun in the heavens; and verily, He who spread it out and bade it shine did not intend that it should be covered by a pall. He intends that it should shine upon hearts that have grown dark and cold. The human countenanceoh, thou possessor of the treasure, never prostitute that gift of God! If you could, and should pluck down these greater and lesser lights that shine in purity from heaven, and trail them through the mire, you would be ashamed as one who had put out the eyes and marred the beauty of creation. Equal shame and sin are his who takes this terrestrial sunblithe, bright, sparkling countenanceand with it fascinates his fellow into the old serpents filthy folds.Arnot.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(17) So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friendi.e., the play of wit with wit sharpens and brightens up the face.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. Iron sharpeneth iron; so, etc. Men’s minds are excited to activity by contact. One wit whets another. One friend encourages another. One intellectual man stimulates another. Both good and bad emotions are excited by mutual conversation. It is probable that the wise man here chiefly refers to the enlivening and improving influence of good, intelligent society.
Countenance ( pene) may be used tropically for mind. Miller translates: “Iron is welded to iron, so for a man the tie is the face of his friend.” He takes the root to be , ( yahhadh,) instead of , ( hhadhadh:) his idea is not without plausibility.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Pro 27:17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
Pro 27:17
Pro 15:13, “A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.”
Ecc 10:9-10 says that a blunt axe takes more strength to cut wood:
Ecc 10:9-10, “Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby. If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength : but wisdom is profitable to direct.”
A sharp axe allows you to chop wood with greater ease and less strength. A sharp axe is like a cheerful countenance. Therefore, a blunt axe is like a dull countenance. How much easier it is to carry on the tasks of life with a cheerful heart, rather than a dull, unhappy heart.
Also, the countenance of a friend strengthens a man when he is low spiritually. The best place to go is to a friend, for he will sharpen your countenance.
Pro 27:17 Comments – Note these insightful words from Frances J. Roberts regarding Pro 27:17:
“Turn thy face toward Me, and leave to Me the responsibility of probing thy soul. I am the Master Surgeon. I am skilled in all cures of the soul as well as those of the body. Let Me care for thy health. Delight thyself in Me, and I shall bring about that which ye desire to see in thy character and personality. Feed upon My Word. It is there that ye shall come to a clearer understanding of My Person. Only as ye know Me can ye come to be more like Me. In association with others, man taketh to himself a measure of the mannerisms and ideologies of these other persons . So shall it be likewise to those who spend much time in My company. Silently, and without conscious effort, thou shalt be changed.” [146]
[146] Frances J. Roberts, Come Away My Beloved (Ojai, California: King’s Farspan, Inc., 1973), 168.
Pro 27:18 Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof: so he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured.
Pro 27:18
Pro 27:19 As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.
Pro 27:20 Pro 27:20
Pro 27:21 As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so is a man to his praise.
Pro 27:21
Pro 27:22 Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.
Pro 27:22
Pro 22:15, “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Pro 27:17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
Ver. 17. Iron sharpeneth iron. ] One edge tool sharpeneth another; so doth the face of a man his friend. Ipse aspectus viri boni delectat, saith Seneca. Let us “whet one another to love and good works,” saith Paul, Heb 10:24 as boars whet their tusks, as mowers whet their scythes. Thus Paul was “pressed in spirit” by the coming of Timothy, Act 18:5 and extimulates Timothy to “stir up ( ) the gift of God that was in him.” 2Ti 1:6 Thus Peter roused up ( ) those to whom he wrote, ex veterno torporis et teporis, out of their spiritual lethargy. 1Pe 1:13 And thus those good souls “spake often one to another,” for mutual quickening in dull and dead times. Mal 3:16-17 See Trapp on “ Mal 3:16 “ See Trapp on “ Mal 3:17 “ As amber grease is nothing so sweet in itself as when compounded with other things; so godly and learned men are gainers by communicating themselves to others. Conference hath incredible profit in all sciences. Castalio renders this text thus: Ut ferrum ferro, sic heroines alii aliis coniuguntur; As iron is to iron, so are men joined and soldered to one another, – viz., in a very straight bond of love and friendship.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Pro 27:17
Pro 27:17
“Iron sharpeneth iron; So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.”
Based upon the truism that a friend would not sharpen the features of another’s face, is the following: “As one iron implement is sharpened by another, so a man sharpens the perception of his companion. However, would not the joy over the arrival of a friend actually change the appearance of a companion’s face, wreathing it in smiles?
Pro 27:17. The proverb deals with the influence which men have upon one another (Pulpit Commentary). See the harder steel file sharpen the softer steel knife edge, or watch the butcher as he sharpens his cutting knife by the use of polished steel. This is not to say that men do not use stones to sharpen knives, but the fact that they also use iron upon iron shows that things of the same material can also affect one another-just as men can affect men from sadness to gladness. And ability to cheer up a sorrowful human heart becomes a responsibility to do so. Thus, Jesus referred to our visiting the sick and those in prison (Mat 25:36) and Heb 12:12 to our lifting up the hands that hand down.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Iron: 1Sa 13:20, 1Sa 13:21
so: Pro 27:9, Jos 1:18, Jos 2:24, 1Sa 11:9, 1Sa 11:10, 1Sa 23:16, 2Sa 10:11, 2Sa 10:12, Job 4:3, Job 4:4, Isa 35:3, Isa 35:4, 1Th 3:3, 2Ti 1:8, 2Ti 1:12, 2Ti 2:3, 2Ti 2:9-13, Heb 10:24, Jam 1:2, 1Pe 4:12, 1Pe 4:13
Reciprocal: Job 16:5 – But I would Ecc 4:9 – are Luk 24:32 – Did Joh 11:29 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
IDEAS GROW BY INTERCOURSE
Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
Pro 27:17
I. The character of true friendship.It should be simple, manly, unreserved, not weak, or fond, or extravagant, nor yet exacting more than human nature can fairly give. It should be easy, too, and cheerful, careful of little things, having also a sort of dignity which is based on mutual respect. Perhaps the greatest element of friendship is faithfulness.
II. Like the other goods of life, friendship is commonly mixed and imperfect, and liable to be interrupted by changing circumstances or the tempers of men.The memory of a friendship is, like the memory of the dead, not likely to be spoken of or aspersed.
III. Christian friendship is another aspect of the ideal, though in some respects different.For the spirit of a mans life may be more or less consciously Christian. That which others regard as the service of man he may recognise to be the service of God; that which others do out of compassion for their fellow-creatures he may also do from the love of Christ. And so of friendship; that also may be more immediately based on religious motives, and may flow out of a religious principle. They walked together to the house of God; that is, if I may venture a paraphrase of the words, they served God together in doing good to His creatures. Human friendships constantly require to be purified and raised from earth to heaven.
IV. Some among us have known what it is to lose a friend.Death is a gracious teacher. The thought of a departed friend or child, instead of sinking us in sorrow, may be a guiding light to us, like the thought of Christ to His disciples, bringing many things to our remembrance of which we were ignorant; and if we have hope in God for ourselves, we have hope also for them. We believe that they rest in Him, and that no evil shall touch them.
Rev. Dr. B. Jowett.
Illustration
Oh, the sweetness of a mans friend! it is as ointment and perfume to the heart. Let us be careful not to forsake a friend, especially if he be an old friend of many years standing. At the same time, we shall probably keep our friends longest if we remember the warning of Pro 27:14. Mutual intercourse between friend and friend tends to the sharpening of each, and so we say: Choose your friends wisely, cling to them tenaciously, make much of them, be true to them, and through them learn the friendship of God.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Pro 27:17. Iron sharpeneth iron Iron tools are made sharp, and fit for use, by rubbing them against the file, or some other iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend Quickens his ingenuity, enlivens his affections, strengthens his judgment, excites him to virtuous and useful actions, and makes him, in all respects, a better man. The countenance is here put for the mind or spirit, the state and disposition of which are commonly visible in mens countenances.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
27:17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a {g} man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
(g) One hasty man provokes another to anger.