Proverbs 27:14

14 Suppose you loudly bless your neighbor early in the morning. Then you might as well be calling down a curse on him.

Proverbs 27:14 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 27:14

He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice
So as not only to be heard by him, but by others; who is extravagant in his praises and commendations of him; who exceeds all bounds of modesty, truth, and decency; who affects pompous words, and hyperbolical expressions; and shows himself to be a real sycophant and flatterer, having some sinister end to serve by it; rising early in the morning;
lest any should be before him, and get the benefit he seeks by his flattery; or as if he had not time enough in the day to finish his encomium, unless he began early in the morning, and continued it all the day; and so it denotes his being incessant at this work, always harping on this string, or expressing himself in this adulatory way; or, as some think, this is mentioned as an aggravation of his sin, that he should be acting this low, mean, and criminal part, when he should be employed in devotion and prayer to God; it shall be counted a curse to him;
either to the flatterer, by his friend whom he blesses, and by all wise men that hear him, who will despise him all one as if he cursed him: the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, render it to this sense, that such an one nothing differs, or nothing seems to differ, from one that curses: or else to the person blessed, whom others will curse or however detract from his character, because of the profuse praises bestowed upon him; nay, sometimes God himself curses such a man, who listens to, is fond of, and receives the fulsome flatteries of wicked men, as in the case of Herod, ( Acts 12:22 Acts 12:23 ) .

Proverbs 27:14 In-Context

12 Wise people see danger and go to a safe place. But childish people keep on going and suffer for it.

13 Take the coat of one who puts up money for what a stranger owes. Hold it until you get paid back if he does it for a woman who commits adultery.

14 Suppose you loudly bless your neighbor early in the morning. Then you might as well be calling down a curse on him.

15 A nagging wife is like dripping that never stops on a rainy day.

16 Stopping her is like trying to stop the wind. It's like trying to grab oil with your hand.