11 Timely advice is lovely, like golden apples in a silver basket. 12 To one who listens, valid criticism is like a gold earring or other gold jewelry.
13 Trustworthy messengers refresh like snow in summer. They revive the spirit of their employer.
14 A person who promises a gift but doesn't give it is like clouds and wind that bring no rain.
15 Patience can persuade a prince, and soft speech can break bones.
16 Do you like honey? Don't eat too much, or it will make you sick!
17 Don't visit your neighbors too often, or you will wear out your welcome.
18 Telling lies about others is as harmful as hitting them with an ax, wounding them with a sword, or shooting them with a sharp arrow.
19 Putting confidence in an unreliable person in times of trouble is like chewing with a broken tooth or walking on a lame foot.
20 Singing cheerful songs to a person with a heavy heart is like taking someone's coat in cold weather or pouring vinegar in a wound.
21 If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat. If they are thirsty, give them water to drink. 22 You will heap burning coals of shame on their heads, and the Lord will reward you.
23 As surely as a north wind brings rain, so a gossiping tongue causes anger!
24 It's better to live alone in the corner of an attic than with a quarrelsome wife in a lovely home.
25 Good news from far away is like cold water to the thirsty.
26 If the godly give in to the wicked, it's like polluting a fountain or muddying a spring.
27 It's not good to eat too much honey, and it's not good to seek honors for yourself.
28 A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Proverbs 25:11-28
Commentary on Proverbs 25:11-12
(Read Proverbs 25:11-12)
A word of counsel, or reproof, rightly spoken, is especially beautiful, as fine fruit becomes still more beautiful in silver baskets.
Commentary on Proverbs 25:13
(Read Proverbs 25:13)
See what ought to be the aim of him that is trusted with any business; to be faithful. A faithful minister, Christ's messenger, should be thus acceptable to us.
Commentary on Proverbs 25:14
(Read Proverbs 25:14)
He who pretends to have received or given that which he never had, is like the morning cloud, that disappoints those who look for rain.
Commentary on Proverbs 25:15
(Read Proverbs 25:15)
Be patient to bear a present hurt. Be mild to speak without passion; for persuasive language is the most effectual to prevail over the hardened mind.
Commentary on Proverbs 25:16
(Read Proverbs 25:16)
God has given us leave to use grateful things, but we are cautioned against excess.
Commentary on Proverbs 25:17
(Read Proverbs 25:17)
We cannot be upon good terms with our neighbours, without discretion as well as sincerity. How much better a Friend is God than any other friend! The oftener we come to him, the more welcome.
Commentary on Proverbs 25:18
(Read Proverbs 25:18)
A false testimony is dangerous in every thing.
Commentary on Proverbs 25:19
(Read Proverbs 25:19)
Confidence in an unfaithful man is painful and vexatious; when we put any stress on him, he not only fails, but makes us feel for it.
Commentary on Proverbs 25:20
(Read Proverbs 25:20)
We take a wrong course if we think to relieve those in sorrow by endeavouring to make them merry.
Commentary on Proverbs 25:21-22
(Read Proverbs 25:21-22)
The precept to love even our enemies is an Old Testament commandment. Our Saviour has shown his own great example in loving us when we were enemies.
Commentary on Proverbs 25:23
(Read Proverbs 25:23)
Slanders would not be so readily spoken, if they were not readily heard. Sin, if it receives any check, becomes cowardly.
Commentary on Proverbs 25:24
(Read Proverbs 25:24)
It is better to be alone, than to be joined to one who is a hinderance to the comfort of life.
Commentary on Proverbs 25:25
(Read Proverbs 25:25)
Heaven is a country afar off; how refreshing is good news from thence, in the everlasting gospel, which signifies glad tidings, and in the witness of the Spirit with our spirits that we are God's children!
Commentary on Proverbs 25:26
(Read Proverbs 25:26)
When the righteous are led into sin, it is as hurtful as if the public fountains were poisoned.
Commentary on Proverbs 25:27
(Read Proverbs 25:27)
We must be, through grace, dead to the pleasures of sense, and also to the praises of men.
Commentary on Proverbs 25:28
(Read Proverbs 25:28)
The man who has no command over his anger, is easily robbed of peace. Let us give up ourselves to the Lord, and pray him to put his Spirit within us, and cause us to walk in his statutes.