Proverbs Chapter 27 verse 14 Holy Bible
He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, It shall be counted a curse to him.
read chapter 27 in ASV
He who gives a blessing to his friend with a loud voice, getting up early in the morning, will have it put to his account as a curse.
read chapter 27 in BBE
He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be reckoned a curse to him.
read chapter 27 in DARBY
He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him.
read chapter 27 in KJV
read chapter 27 in WBT
He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, It will be taken as a curse by him.
read chapter 27 in WEB
Whoso is saluting his friend with a loud voice, In the morning rising early, A light thing it is reckoned to him.
read chapter 27 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 14. - He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning. What is meant is ostentatious salutation, which puts itself forward in order to stand well with a patron, and to be beforehand with other servile competitors for favour. Juvenal satirized such parasitical effusion ('Sat.' 5:19) - "Habet Trebius, propter quod rumpere somnumDebeat et ligulas dimittere, sollicitus, neTots salutaris jam turba peregerit orbem,Sideribus dubiis, aut illo tempore, quo seFrigida circumagunt pigri surraca Bootae." The "loud voice" intimates the importunate nature of such public trumpeting of gratitude, as the "rising early" denotes its inopportune and tactless insistency, which cannot wait for a convenient opportunity for its due expression. It shall be counted a curse to him. The receiver of this sordid adulation, and indeed all the bystanders, would just as soon be cursed by the parasite as blessed in this offensive manner, This clamorous outpouring of gratitude is not accepted as a return by the benefactor; he sees the mean motives by which it is dictated self-interest, hope of future benefits - and he holds it as cheap as he would the curses of such a person. The nuisance of such flattery is mentioned by Euripides, 'Orest.,' 1161 - Παύσομαί σ αἰνῶν ἐπεὶΒάρος τι κὰν τῷ δ ἐστὶν αἰνεῖσθαι λίαν. Duo sunt genera prosecutorum, says St. Augustine ('In Psalm.,' 69), "sciliet vituperantium et adulantium; sed plus prosequitur lingua adulatoris, quam manus prosecutoris." "Woe unto you," said Christ (Luke 6:26), "when all men shall speak well of you." "Do I seek to please men?" asked St. Paul (Galatians 1:10); "for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." Vers. 15 and 16 form a tetrastich on the subject of the termagant wife.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(14) He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice . . .--If gratitude is to be acceptable, the time, place, and manner of shewing it must all be well chosen. A man who is so eager to express his thanks that he begins early in the morning, and in so loud a voice as to draw upon his patron the attention of all the bystanders, is looked upon as a nuisance; any one would as soon be cursed as blessed by him. So God loves heartfelt gratitude offered in secret. (Comp. Matthew 6:5-6.)
