The Curse of Ostentatious Flattery
Homilist
Proverbs 27:14
He that blesses his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him.


Flattery is a species of conduct generally most pleasing, always most pernicious. The flattery in the text is a loud vaunting. It intrudes itself on all occasions; it is busy and demonstrative.

I. IT IS A CURSE TO ITS AUTHOR. He who practises sycophancy inflicts an incalculable injury on his own spiritual nature. The spirit of independence, the feeling of honest manhood, give way to a crawling, creeping instinct; it is a sneaking art used to cajole and soften fools.

II. IT IS A CURSE TO ITS VICTIM Perhaps this is what Solomon means when he says "it shall be counted a curse to him," i.e., the object of it. "Of all wild beasts," says Johnson, "preserve me from a flatterer."

(Homilist.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him.

WEB: He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse by him.




Insincerity in Friendship
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