Verse 17. -
Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour's house; literally,
make thy foot precious,
rare; Septuagint, "Bring thy foot sparingly (
σπάνιον) into thy friend's house," The proverb seems to be loosely connected with the preceding, as urging moderation. Do not pay too frequent visits to your neighbors' house, or make yourself too much at home there. The Son of Sirach has an utterance on a somewhat similar subject, "Give place, thou stranger, to an honourable man; my brother cometh to be lodged, and I have need of mine house. Those things are grievous to a man of understanding; the upbraiding of house room, and reproaching of the lender" (Ecclus. 29:27, etc.).
Lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee. Such a result might easily arise from too constant intercourse. Cornelius a Lapide quotes from Seneca ('De Benefic,' 1:15), "Rarum esse oportet quod diu carum velis," "That should be rare which you would enduringly bear." And Martial's cynical advice -
"Nulli te facias nimis sodalem;
Gaudebis minus, et minus dolebis." The same poet ('Epigr.,' 4:29, 3) writes -
"Rara juvant; primis sic major gratia pomis,
Hibernae pretium sic meruere rosae."
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. 18. A false testimony is dangerous in every thing.
Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour's house,.... Not but that it is commendable to be neighbourly and friendly, or for one neighbour to visit another; but then it should not be very frequent; a man should not be always or often at his neighbour's house. So the words may be rendered, "make thy foot precious" or "rare at thy neighbour's house" (m); be seldom there;
lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee; or, "lest he be sated with thee" (n); filled with thy company to a loathing of it, as the stomach with eating too much honey, and so his friendship be turned into hatred.
(m) "rarum fac", Montanus, Vatablus, Gejerus, Michaelis, Cocceius; Heb. "praetiosum fac", Piscator. (n) "ne forte satictur tui", Schultens; so Montanus; "saturatus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
