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 sweetness of the friend springeth from faithful counsel of soul.” Zöckler, “The sweetness of a friend is better than one’s own counsel.”
Proverbs 27:10. Neighbour that is near, etc. “The near neighbour is he who keeps himself near as one dispensing counsel and help to the distressed, just as the far-off brother is he who, on account of hit unloving disposition, keeps at a distance from the same” (Zöckler.) Most commentators substantially agree with this view of the text
Proverbs 27:14. As a curse, etc. It is no better than a curse, or it may be regarded as veiling an evil intention.
Proverbs 27:16. And the ointment of his right hand. Zöckler and Delitzsch translate “And his right hand graspeth, or meeteth oil,” that is, he cannot hold her. Other commentators, retaining the English translation, understand it to refer to the hopelessness of concealing her vexatious disposition.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 27:8
A MAN AND HIS PLACE
I. It is good for every man to have a place in the world which he can call his home, and work which he feels especially belongs to him. A man should have some spot on earth which is dearer to him than all the world beside, and some calling or profession which he can recognise as his own. It is not by any means desirable that he should always be in that place, or that he should never employ his time in other work. The bird often leaves the nest and flies hither and thither for many hours, and men must and ought not to confine themselves always to one place and to the same employment. Change of scene and occupation is always desirable within certain limits, and is often a necessity with men. But however far the bird flies she returns to her nest, and however much men may be obliged or may choose to wander, they should always have one place to call home; and however many things may occupy their hours of leisure, they should have one kind of work which especially fills up their life.
II. It is not good hastily and often to quit one sphere of work and one mode of life for another. Every honest calling has some advantages connected with it, and almost every sphere in life has something to recommend it; and steady perseverance in one employment, and continuance in one position, is often far more conducive to our material prosperity, and more beneficial to our character and reputation, than constant changes, even although they promise more speedy promotion and a smoother path to some desired end. This much is certain, that change merely for the sake of change is foolish, and change without good and sufficient reason is not wise.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
By place, the Holy Ghost understandeth particular callings. Now God had taken care that none should molest a bird in her nest, there she was safe (Deuteronomy 22:6-7); but when she begins to wander then she is in danger, either to be shot by the fowler or caught in the snare, or made a prey to other ravenous birds. So a man that is diligent in his calling whilst he is employed therein, is in God’s precincts, and so under God’s protection; but when he wandereth abroad from his calling, going out of his bounds to sit and talk, he is a waif and a stray, and so falleth to the lord of the manor, “the god of this world.” Reader, thou mayest expect to be preserved whilst thou art a-working, but not when thou art wandering. Those soldiers who leave their place in a march and straggle to pilfer, are many times snapt and slain by their enemies, when they who keep their places are safe and secure.—Swinnock.
Change of place is thought of as an evil. The sense of security is lost and cannot be regained. The maxim, it may be noted, is characteristic of the earlier stages of Hebrew history, before exile and travel had made change of country a more familiar thing. We seem to hear an echo of the feeling which made the thought of being “a fugitive and a vagabond” (Genesis 4:12-13) the most terrible of all punishments.—Plumptre.
In such a comparison as this, we cannot but suppose there is a reference to the purposes for which the nest is constructed. The allusion is doubtless to the period of incubation—to the hatching of the eggs, and the rearing of the young. If the bird “wanders from her nest” during that period, what is the consequence? Why, that the process is frustrated—the eggs lose their vital warmth; they become cold, addled, and unproductive. Absence, even for a very short time, will produce this effect; and produce it to such a degree, that no subsequent sitting, however constant and prolonged, can ever vivify again the extinct principle of vitality. And then, during the period of early training, when the young are dependent on the brooding breast and wing of the parent bird for their warmth, and on the active quickness of the parent bird, as their purveyor, for their sustenance,—desertion is death. If the mother then “wanders from her nest,” forsaking for any length of time her callow brood—they perish, the hapless victims of a mother’s neglect. They are starved of cold, or they are starved of hunger; or, it may be, their secret retreat is found out by some devouring foe. Such appears to be the apt allusion. Let us now consider to what cases it may with truth and profit be applied.
1. In the first place then, I apply it to a man’s HOME. Home may surely be regarded as most appropriately designated “his place.” It is there he ought to be; not merely enjoying comfort, but imparting it;—not the place of selfish ease and indulgence, but of dutiful and useful occupation. He has a charge there,—committed to him, not by the instincts of nature merely, but by the law of God. His family demand his first interest and his first attention.
2. I apply the proverb to the SITUATION IN LIFE which has been assigned to a man by Providence. As the brooding bird should be found upon her eggs, or with her young, so should every servant, in every department, be found in his own place, and at his own occupation. It should be the aim of every man to have it said of him with truth—Tell me where he ought to be, and I will tell you where he is.
3. I wish to apply the words to the SANCTUARY OF GOD. I think they may be so applied with perfect appropriateness. Every Christian must delight in God’s sanctuary. It is to him, as a worshipper of God, “his place;”—the place where, at stated times, he ought to be, and where he chooses, and desires, and loves to be. How frequently, how strongly, how beautifully, does the Psalmist express this feeling!—and on one occasion with an exquisitely touching allusion to those birds of the air, that built their nests in the vicinity of the temple; and which, when banished from Jerusalem, and kept at a distance from the sacred precincts, he represents himself as envying—coveting their proximity to the altars of Jehovah (Psalms 84:3.)—Wardlaw.
The 9th, 10th, 11th, and 14th verses have been considered with the 6th and 7th. For Homiletics on the subject of Proverbs 27:12 see on chap. Proverbs 14:15, page 364. Proverbs 27:13; Proverbs 27:15-16 are almost a verbal repetition of chaps. Proverbs 20:16, and Proverbs 19:13. For Homiletics see pages 589 and 573.