Chapter 27
[Proverbs 27:1] -- Do not boast about tomorrow, etc. Do not ever be secure about the future, because even if you see yourself serving the Lord today, you cannot at all foresee what you might become in the future or how you may end your life. For blessed is the man who is always fearful (Prov. XXVIII).
[Proverbs 27:3] -- The stone is heavy, etc. It is indeed quite grievous for anyone to be weighed down by even a single capital crime, as if by the weight of a stone, or to be burdened by countless lighter sins, like pebbles or sand; but the anger of a fool is heavier than both, because these sins, once revealed as certainly evil as they are, more sharply prick the soul to chastise. Truly, because it is not a physical but a spiritual vice, the less it is perceived, the more it weighs down. Hence, he does not simply say anger, but the anger of a fool, is heavier than stone and sand. For the wise endeavor to examine and discipline their mental impulses as diligently as their actions and words.
[Proverbs 27:4] -- Anger holds no mercy, etc. This is not said of all anger, for of a most mild and modest man it is written that he went out from Pharaoh in great anger (Exod. X). But he speaks of the anger of a fool, which he mentioned in the preceding verse, which loses the bowels of compassion once it has flared up, only knowing to loosen its reins in its own fury. Otherwise, useful and necessary anger is meant, Better is anger than laughter (Eccli. VII), because by the sadness of the countenance, the mind of the delinquent is corrected.
[Proverbs 27:5] -- Better is open rebuke, etc. Hidden love in this place is called improper love, such as adulterous love, which due to its shamefulness is rightfully hidden from the wise to avoid reproach; to which rightfully open rebuke is preferred, as it is undoubtedly better to rebuke someone openly with the intent of correction than to sin secretly out of a shared intent.
[Proverbs 27:6] -- Better are the wounds of a friend, etc. It is better to endure wounds and affliction from the Lord, who as a father instructs us as children, than to be deceived by the flattery of the devil, who, to deprive us of our heavenly inheritance, is accustomed to favor our errors, as if what we do is a light evil, and the tribulation we endure beyond the measure of our sins is inflicted by the Lord's discretion.
[Proverbs 27:7] -- The soul sated will trample upon the honeycomb, etc. The soul of the rich, who have their consolation and are told by the Lord, Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger (Luke VI), spurns the sweetness of the heavenly kingdom when preached; but the soul of those who hunger and thirst for justice finds it sweet to endure even the adversities of the world for the Lord, indeed to suffer death itself, knowing that through the cup of bitterness they will come to the joys of eternal salvation.
[Proverbs 27:8] -- Like a bird flying away from its nest, etc. Just as a bird that neglects the eggs or chicks it was fostering and leaves them to be taken by other birds or animals, so indeed he who abandons the protection of the virtues in which he was progressing becomes a betrayer to the same virtues he seemed to possess, surrendering them to unclean spirits. Hence elsewhere it says: If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place. Which is clearly to say, If the temptation of the prince of this world, that is, the devil, presses upon you, be careful not to abandon the good work in which you were laboring.
[Proverbs 27:10] -- Better is a neighbor close by, etc. It is better for you to have a neighbor who binds your soul with fraternal association than a brother who neglects to share common rights of faith and piety with you. The Lord clearly proved this in the parable of the wounded man by robbers, who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho; and of the Samaritan, who took care of him.
[Proverbs 27:14] -- He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, etc. He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice extols him with the favor of excessive praise; either by favoring his evil deeds against justice, or by praising his good deeds more than is just. But he is likened to one who curses, because he greatly harms him, to whom by praising he either gives confidence in an evil action or diminishes the simplicity of a pure heart in a righteous work: namely that the good, which he had begun with an eye to the heavenly reward, he completes for the love of transitory praise.
[Proverbs 27:17] -- Iron sharpens iron, etc. The consultation and advice of the wise is quite good, where they instruct each other by consulting, iron sharpens iron.
[Proverbs 27:20] -- Hell and destruction will not be full, etc. The torments of hell will not be filled, by receiving an end; similarly, the intentions of those who are wise in human matters are insatiable in the desire to sin. And hence they pay the penalties without end because they had the will to sin without end, if they had the nature to live without end.
[Proverbs 27:23] -- Diligently know the countenance of your flock, etc. It is said to the pastor of the Church: Diligently care for those who it happens to you to be in charge of. Know the minds and actions of each one, and if you find anything in them of defiling vice, remember to correct it swiftly. For you will not always have the power to feed the Lord's sheep, but the eternal crown is which you will receive, if you have served well the office entrusted to you in your time.
[Proverbs 27:25] -- The meadows are open, etc. The pastures of the heavenly sacraments, which were long closed by legal types, are now open. The novelty of evangelical truth and grace has appeared; the writings of the old fathers are gathered into the pasture of the Lord's flock; indeed taken from the proud Jews by the sickle of divine retribution, and given to the humble people of the Church for spiritual sustenance; according to what the Lord said to them, The kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing its fruits (Matt. XXI).
[Proverbs 27:26] -- Lambs for your clothing, etc. He calls the innocent lambs, the penitent kids. You will be clothed with the fleece of the lambs, while you, the pastor, improve by the good manners of obedient disciples, and seeing their laudable deeds, you yourself will be more glorious both in the adornment of virtues and in the warmth of love. You will buy the field with the kids, while calling sinners to repentance, you acquire a higher place for yourself in the land of the living.
[Proverbs 27:27] -- Let the milk of the goats suffice you for your food, etc. Feed the flock entrusted to you with such diligence, that neither new milk in summer nor in cold will be lacking to you, but always it will suffice for you and yours; that is, insist so diligently on doctrine, that you also promote former penitents to the office of teaching; so that through them, who formerly seemed to be placed on the left side of the judge due to the foulness of vices, reasonable and sincere milk of the word may now be ministered to those with little understanding. The milk of the goats becomes food for the handmaidens, when those who serve the Lord not yet with perfect love, but still with servile fear, are refreshed with the example or words of those who have been saved through repentance, and are united to advance to the greater growths of virtues. Some have placed what is said: The meadows are open, and the green herbs have appeared, and the hay is gathered from the mountains: lambs for your clothing, and kids for the price of the field; thus, "The monuments are open, the revived bodies have appeared, the sinners are separated from the saints, hay to be burned from the high places. The lambs are separated to the right, the kids to the left: lambs for the king's clothing, because he said, I will inhabit in them; the kids are sold for the price of the saints whom they harmed (or killed?) by fire."