Proverbs 25:17

17 Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor's house, lest he have his fill of you and hate you.

Proverbs 25:17 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 25:17

Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour's house
Not but that it is commendable to be neighbourly and friendly, or for one neighbour to visit another; but then it should not be very frequent; a man should not be always or often at his neighbour's house. So the words may be rendered, "make thy foot precious" or "rare at thy neighbour's house" F13; be seldom there; lest he be weary of thee, and [so] hate thee;
or, "lest he be sated with thee" F14; filled with thy company to a loathing of it, as the stomach with eating too much honey, and so his friendship be turned into hatred.


FOOTNOTES:

F13 (rqx) "rarum fac", Montanus, Vatablus, Gejerus, Michaelis, Cocceius; Heb. "praetiosum fac", Piscator.
F14 (Kebvy Np) "ne forte satictur tui", Schultens; so Montanus; "saturatus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Proverbs 25:17 In-Context

15 With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone.
16 If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it.
17 Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor's house, lest he have his fill of you and hate you.
18 A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a war club, or a sword, or a sharp arrow.
19 Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.