Proverbs 27:17 - Meaning and Application

This shows both the pleasure and the benefit of conversation. One person is not enough by himself, and no amount of sitting alone with books will shape a person as much as learning from other people will. Wise and useful conversation sharpens the mind, and even those who already know much can gain more through discussion.

It also sharpens a person’s appearance. By cheering the spirit, it puts life and brightness into the face. It gives someone a look that shows joy within and makes that person pleasant to those around them.

Good people become better when they spend time with other good people. In the same way, bad desires and passions grow stronger when bad people spend time together, just as iron sharpens iron, especially when it is filed against something like itself. People are filed down, smoothed, brightened, and made ready for useful work, when conversation shapes them. Those who were rough, dull, and inactive are helped by this kind of fellowship.

This teaches us to value this means of improving ourselves, but also to be careful about whom we spend time with, because the effect on us is so strong, for good or for evil. It also tells us what we should aim for in conversation: to improve both others and ourselves. We should not use talk just to pass time or tease one another, but to stir one another up to love and good works, and so make each other wiser and better.