Proverbs 27:17 (MSG) You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another.
- (CEV) Just as iron sharpens iron, friends sharpen the minds of each other.
- (DARBY and KJV) Iron is sharpened by iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
- Proverbs 27:19 Just as water mirrors your face, so your face mirrors your heart.
- Proverbs 27:6 Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.
- Proverbs 27:9 Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of one's friend springs from his earnest counsel.
- Proverbs 27:10 Do not forsake your friend and the friend of your father.
The celebrations of the Christmas season revolve around family and friends. Family you are born with: friends you choose. What then is this thing we call friendship? One pundit says that "friends are people who see through you and still like the view." A lot to be said for that point of view. Aristotle suggested that a friend was "A single soul in two bodies." Emerson commented, "A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud."
A very old rendering of this verse gives us an insight into the complex meaning of the Hebrew: "as iron delights in iron, so a man rejoices the countenance of his friend." The various translations above demonstrate the richness of meaning in this simple verse.
The "sharpening" is a stimulating activity and there is meaning that is beyond simply helping a friend "think through" something: there is this idea that a friend can "read" the body language and get right to the real issues - the heart issues - Real issues between real friends.
The sharpening of the mind suggests the concept of conversation as a way of not only building exemplary thought, but also "lightening the load" or the changing of the countenance of a friend. There is in this idiomatic Hebrew language the picture of a file achieving its purpose by making the piece of metal being filed bright as a result of the filing. The brightness will not be revealed until the file is applied, the sharpening begins and the sparks cleanse the metal. Friends are like that. Or they should be. But, there is even more here in this word picture.
This verse is not about superficiality. It is about "depth" as vs. 19 makes clear (see above). The countenance of a friend can be bright because the conversation has penetrated the heart of the other. Conversation promotes “intelligence” that the face exhibits. Real issues are discussed. The underlying question is: What's really going on in your heart?
Some of us are great at wearing masks: some not. The friend spoken of here removes the mask and helps his/her friend deal with the heart issue. This can happen because from a friend like this, no matter what is revealed behind the mask, a "friend loves at all times" (Pr 17:17). Friends work to sharpen the dull thinking, sharpen the lens used to look at the world, and, for Believers, sharpen ones understanding of the faithfulness of God.
Contrast the supposed friends of Job who, wrapped in their conceit and did not look to God for answers for Job, but pontificated out of their ignorance and arrogance. As Christians, we want to be friends who are first in tune with the Spirit so that we might provide just the right touch to the sharpening effects of our file. File marks leave patterns- and our patterns must be a balance mixture of grace and truth. That’s what Jesus called us to, and so, in confidence, in love, and in tune with the Spirit, each can offer the other advice the goes beyond solving a business problem, a personal problem, a living problem. We can offer advice that sometimes goes behind the problem and directly to the heart. That's what friends are for – speaking directly to the heart.
Do you have friends like this you can count on? Maybe a better question is: Are you a friend that will “brighten” your friends with the balanced mix of grace and truth?
Copyright (c) 2005 by P. Griffith Lindell
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