Proverbs 27:14...explain?

Proverbs 27:14...explain?

G'day folks,

Hope this thread finds you well :)

I was reading Proverbs 27 yesterday and i came across the 14th verse which i just couldn't understand.

Taken from the NIV:

"If a man loudly blesses his neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse"

Anyone have any thoughts or ideas on what this possibly might mean..?

Thanks
Jake
 
Loud and untimely greetings "early" in the morning may be annoying to many people hence it morphs into a curse instead of a blessing. It points out that timeliness and the manner in which a word is given is very important.
 
Loud and untimely greetings "early" in the morning may be annoying

That's right. Same thing on the next verse:

A quarrelsome wife is like
a constant dripping on a rainy day


A quarelsome wife is annoying. So is an untimely greeting early in the morning.
 
Wow thanks for that. I really didn't think of it as being untimely is going to result in that becoming a curse.

I just took it for what i was...

Thanks again
Jake
 
I really didn't think of it as being untimely is going to result in that becoming a curse.

Biblically speaking, timing is very important:


A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak
Ecle 3

There is a time to keep silence and a time to speak.
 
Loud and untimely greetings "early" in the morning may be annoying to many people hence it morphs into a curse instead of a blessing. It points out that timeliness and the manner in which a word is given is very important.
I have to agree with this response miles.

I am not a morning person. I need at least an hour of quiet time when I wake in the morning. I'm single with no kids, so I can have my hour. So, if someone comes by or calls "early" in the morning with loudness I would totally consider that untimely and would probably be a bit irritated. So, their blessing would not be received as enthusiastically or as thankfully as it should be.

Example . . .

Just this past Sunday morning I was relaxing before church; cup of coffee in hand; thoughts of God in mind. The phone rang "early", and before I even knew who was calling I cringed with the thought, "Who's calling me this early?" Then, I became frightened because no one who really knows me calls that early unless it is an emergency.

Well, thankfully it wasn't an emergency. It was a friend of mine with nothing important to say. I tried not to be irritated, but it was difficult seeing how she knows me well enough to know that I ike my early mornings to myself; especially my early Sunday mornings.

Then, after stating her business she repeated herself several times. I became more irritated, and all I could say was, "Uh huh, uh huh, okay. Uh huh, uh huh, okay." I didn't want to be rude, but through the whole conversation I kept thinking, "Now this could have waited until after church. Why didn't she just wait to tell me this after church? What is wrong with her?" Maybe I shouldn't have, but that's how I felt - irritated.

So, I do understand what miles means when he says . . .
"morphs into a curse instead of a blessing."

Great response miles.

thumbsup.gif
 
Taken from the NIV:

"If a man loudly blesses his neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse"

Let's look at it this way; if you went out one morning, saw your neighbor and said, "Hey, Bob, how are you doing?!" at the top of your lungs, and it is 5 A.M., it would be more of a curse than a blessing, because not only is that rather rude and disturbing, you're disrupting half the neighborhood.
 
Now if i remember clearly, it was king Solomon who wrote the book of Proverbs. Im guessing he might not have been a morning person himself haha..

Anyways coming back to the topic, i was awoken yesterday morning with a phone call for a phone interview basically for job. I said, hello into the phone and i tell you i sounded like a harsh old man. My throat was scratchy as id just woken up, i could hardly think straight and answered those questions with a whole lot of non-sense. I don't think the person on the other line was too pleased with the whole thing :)

I can now kind of relate to what that verse means. It can get quite annoying early in the morning.

Hey but if that person sleeps in, then there's no excuse :D

Jake
 
Now if i remember clearly, it was king Solomon who wrote the book of Proverbs. Im guessing he might not have been a morning person himself haha..

Haha :) Just wanted to add something...

Most of it was by Solomon but some of the proverbs there were from somebody else. Like this for example:

The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, even the prophecy: the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal
Pro 30:1
 
Haha :) Just wanted to add something...

Most of it was by Solomon but some of the proverbs there were from somebody else. Like this for example:

The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, even the prophecy: the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal
Pro 30:1

Yes i do remember reading that somewhere on the internet...But do we actually know who wrote those other passages..?
 
Yes i do remember reading that somewhere on the internet...But do we actually know who wrote those other passages..?
Ah, you are referring to the actual writer? Well, it's possible that other people might have written the words but the bible would still indicate the origianl author (the person where the words came from).

For example, it is generally known that the epistle to the Romans was written by Paul. But...

I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord.
Rom 16:22

So it was Tertius who was the physical writer. But in essence, it was Paul who instructed Tertius to write the words:

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God
Rom 1:1

Same thing in Proverbs. It might be an assistant or a scribe during that time who wrote chapter 30 of Proverbs. But the Bible tells us that the words came from Agur. And that is what is important. :)
 
G'day folks,

Hope this thread finds you well :)

I was reading Proverbs 27 yesterday and i came across the 14th verse which i just couldn't understand.

Taken from the NIV:

"If a man loudly blesses his neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse"

Anyone have any thoughts or ideas on what this possibly might mean..?

Thanks
Jake


Hello Jake. I will be glad to take a shot at this, but mine is a little different. Hope it helps you!!!

There has always been those who make loud ptrotestations of love and affection that you know there is something behind it all. Some would use the word "pious" to explain it. Read the verse again very carfully!!
Notice the word "friend".

My sense is that you need to watch out for the man who is praising you more than you ought to be praised!!!!

Now read 2 Samuel 15:1-6 to get a Scriptural illustration.

Do you see how Absalom won the hearts of the men of Israel? He got up early and came to the city gate to talk with the men who came to the city with a problem. Absalom flattered them and pretended to love them and show an interest in them and their problem. But his true interest was in getting their support when he seized the throne.(Sounds like todays politician does'nt it?)

I have always told young preachers to be very wary of those who tell them how great they are. They will have the young preacher believing he is the next Billy Sunday or John Calvin but there is a trap there. Yes it is wonderful to here encouraqgement but also remember to not believe everything you HEAR.

A modern proverb might go something like this:
"Flattery is like perfume. The idea is to smell it, not swallow it".
 
G'day folks,

Hope this thread finds you well :)

I was reading Proverbs 27 yesterday and i came across the 14th verse which i just couldn't understand.

Taken from the NIV:

"If a man loudly blesses his neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse"

Anyone have any thoughts or ideas on what this possibly might mean..?

Thanks
Jake

Don't loose too much thought to this one. The Hebrew word for this is "qalal" Pronounced kaw-lal' (HSN7043) which is defined as vilification ...which leans more toward cursing (profanity), to insult, cause contention or to anoy.

Compared to "cursed" in Genesis 3:14..The Hebrew word for this is "arar"
Pronounced aw-rar' (HSN779) which means to execrate, condemn or to bitterly curse.

Xcortman this does not apply to your question, but is something that applies to Proverbs in general:

People often quote proverbs as though they were absolute promises from God or rigid rules for living. In fact, few of the proverbs should be read that way (Zondervan - NIV Student Bible).

Example:

Proverbs 16:7. When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

Now this is an excellent principle to live by, but it is not a promise or a rigid rule; if it was, our Lord and Savior would not have died at calvary.

Good Day and God Bless
 
G'day folks,

Hope this thread finds you well :)

I was reading Proverbs 27 yesterday and i came across the 14th verse which i just couldn't understand.

Taken from the NIV:

"If a man loudly blesses his neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse"

Anyone have any thoughts or ideas on what this possibly might mean..?

Thanks
Jake

To me, I believe this means to not bless a neighbor to gain attention and to show off how "holy" you are but to do it privately for God blesses the things you do in private.
 
Hey everyone,

Thanks again for the different opinions and ideas. I did read all of them Im totally confused whenever i hear this verse. Each of us here could take it in many possible ways depending on how each of us have understood it.

But i guess its not much of importance because i don't bless/curse anyone early in the morning. Now if i had to take it in a way of timing, id have to be careful although i feel like i do tend to lean towards the bless/curse explanation.

Jake
 
The Bible says, "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." I don't think that refers only to what we say but also to when we say it. There is a time to speak and a time to be quiet. We can't be a blessing if we ignore that.
 
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