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, Exodus 1:21; Ruth 4:11; 2 Samuel 7:27 (Rabbi Salomon). I prefer taking it simply, First collect your materials, and make your preparations, and count the cost, and afterward, when all is ready, set about building; if you do not so, you will have to stop very soon after you have begun, and be justly laughed, at as an improvident fool. So Solomon's temple 'was built of stone made ready before it was brought there' (1 Kings 5:18; 1 Kings 6:7). So the spiritual temple (Ephesians 2:21-22), though prepared in its materials for ages past, with a marvelous combination of agencies, is being now silently reared without outward show (Luke 17:20, margin). Compare Jesus' warning, Luke 14:28-30.