Proverbs 27:23

27:15,16. The contentions of a neighbour may be like a sharp shower, troublesome for a time; the contentions of a wife are like constant rain. 17. We are cautioned to take heed whom we converse with. And directed to have in view, in conversation, to make one another wiser and better. 18. Though a calling be laborious and despised, yet those who keep to it, will find there is something to be got by it. God is a Master who has engaged to honour those who serve him faithfully. 19. One corrupt heart is like another; so are sanctified hearts: the former bear the same image of the earthly, the latter the same image of the heavenly. Let us carefully watch our own hearts, comparing them with the word of God. 20. Two things are here said to be never satisfied, death and sin. The appetites of the carnal mind for profit or pleasure are always desiring more. Those whose eyes are ever toward the Lord, are satisfied in him, and shall for ever be so. 21. Silver and gold are tried by putting them into the furnace and fining-pot; so is a man tried by praising him. 22. Some are so bad, that even severe methods do not answer the end; what remains but that they should be rejected? The new-creating power of God's grace alone is able to make a change. 23-27. We ought to have some business to do in this world, and not to live in idleness, and not to meddle with what we do not understand. We must be diligent and take pains.

Be thou diligent to know the state of flocks,.... In what condition they are; what health they enjoy; how fat and fruitful they be; what pasturage they have; and that they want nothing fitting for them that can be had and is necessary; and also the number of them. The calling of the shepherd is here particularly mentioned, because valiant, honourable, innocent, and useful; but the same diligence is to be used in all other callings and business men are employed in, that they may provide for themselves and their families.

It is in the original text, "the face of thy flocks" (r); perhaps the allusion is to the exact and distinct knowledge some very diligent careful shepherds might have, so as to know each sheep in their flocks distinctly; see John 10:3 ; The Septuagint version renders it, the souls of thy flock, as if it was an instruction to spiritual pastors or shepherds, who have the care of the souls of men: and certain it is, that if it is the duty of shepherds in common to be diligent in looking after their sheep, and doing everything the duty of their office requires; then it must become the indispensable duty of pastors of churches to take heed to the flock of God committed to them, and to look into their state and condition, and provide for them, and feed them with knowledge and understanding, Acts 20:28 ; and look well to thy herds; or, "put thy heart" (s) to them: show a cordial regard for them, and take a hearty care of them, that they have everything needful for them; and which is for the owner's good as well as theirs. (r) "faciem pecoris tui", Tigurine version, Mercerus, Cocceius, Michaelis, Schultens; "vultum", V. L. Pagninus; "facies", Montanus. (s) "pone cor tuum", Pagninus, Montanus; "adverte cor", Cocceius; "adverte animum tuum", Michaelis; "apponere cor tuum", Schultens.

Proverbs 27:23-24 . Be diligent to know the state of thy flock — That thou mayest preserve and improve what thou hast, and take care that thy expenses do not exceed thy income. Flocks and herds are here put for all riches and possessions, because anciently they were the chief part of a man’s riches. And look well, &c. — Hebrew, שׁית לבךְ , set thy heart, &c. Trust not to thy servants, as many do, but make use of thine own eyes and reason for the conduct of thy affairs, lest thou come to ruin, as many have done by this very means. For riches — Hebrew, חסן , treasure, is not for ever — The sense is, what thou now possessest will not last always, but will soon be spent, if thou do not take care to preserve and improve it. And doth the crown endure, &c. — That is, a condition of the greatest honour and plenty. As if he had said, If a man had the wealth of a kingdom, without provident care and due diligence, it would soon be brought to nothing.

(23) Be thou diligent to know the state of thy herds. . . . —In the last five verses of this chapter the peace and security of the pastoral life are described as being far superior to the uncertainty attending other sources of wealth and the regal power. For the spiritual sense of this passage comp. 1Peter 5:2-4

To know the state of thy flocks; that thou mayst preserve and improve what thou hast, and take care that thine expenses may not exceed thine incomes. Flocks and herds are here put for all riches and possessions, because anciently they were the chief part of a man’s riches. Look well, Heb. set thine heart . Trust not wholly to thy servants, as many do, that they may give up themselves wholly to case and pleasure; but make rise of thine own eyes and reason for the conduct of thine affairs, lest thou come to ruin, as many have done by this very means.

The verses sing the praises of the earlier patriarchal life, with its flocks and herds, and tillage of the ground, as compared with the commerce of a later time, with money as its chief or only wealth. Proverbs 27:23 The state - literally, face. The verse is an illustration of John 10:3, John 10:14.

Verses 23-27. - A mashal ode in praise of a pastoral and agricultural life. The moralist evidently desires to recall his countrymen from the luxury of cities and the temptations of money making to the simple ways of the patriarchs and the pleasures of country pursuits - which are the best foundation of enduring prosperity. Verse 23. - Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks. "State;" פָנִים ( panim ); vultum , Vulgate; the face, look, appearance. The LXX. has ψυχάς , which may perhaps mean "the number" - a necessary precaution when the sheep wandered on the downs and mountains, and had to be collected in the evening and folded. These precepts are naturally applied to all rulers, and especially to Christian pastors who have the oversight of the flock of Christ ( 1 Peter 5:2-4 ). Ecclus. 7:22, "Hast thou cattle? have an eye to them; and if they he for thy profit, keep them with thee." Proverbs 27:23

An exhortation to rural industry, and particularly to the careful tending of cattle for breeding, forms the conclusion of the foregoing series of proverbs, in which we cannot always discern an intentional grouping. It is one of the Mashal-odes spoken of vol. i. p. 12. It consists of 11 equals 4 + 7 lines. 23 Give heed to the look of thy small cattle, Be considerate about the herds. 24 For prosperity continues not for ever; And does the diadem continue from generation to generation? 25 (But) the hay is gone, and the after-growth appears, And the grass of the mountains is gathered: 26 Lambs serve to clothe thee, And goats are the price of a field. 27 And there is plenty of goats' milk for thy nourishment, And for the nourishment of thy house, And subsistence for thy maidens. The beginning directs to the fut., as is not common in these proverbs, vid., Proverbs 26:26. With ידע, to take knowledge, which is strengthened by the inf. intensivus, is interchanged שׁית לב, which means at Proverbs 24:32 to consider well, but here, to be careful regarding anything. צאן is the small or little cattle, thus sheep and goats. Whether לעדרים (here and at Isaiah 17:2) contains the article is questionable (Gesen. 35. 2 A), and, since the herds are called העדרים, is not probable; thus: direct thy attention to the herds, that is, to this, that thou hast herds. פּני is the external side in general; here, the appearance which the sheep present; thus their condition as seen externally.