Proverbs 24:27 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

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 and interior graces and virtues, to a serious and profound study of the truths of religion, before the setting up to instruct or direct one's neighbour. A man must be a good labourer before he becomes an architect in the house of God. Some take the phrase to signify the engaging in marriage. "Begin with cultivating your lands, and you will be enabled to feed your family; and after this, if you will, you may think of marrying." See Calmet.