KJV: Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour's house; lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee.
ASV: Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour's house; lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee.
Matthew Henry Commentary
17 Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour's house; lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee.
Here he mentions another pleasure which we must not take too much of, that of visiting our friends, the former for fear of surfeiting ourselves, this for fear of surfeiting our neighbour. 1. It is a piece of civility to visit our neighbours sometimes, to show our respect to them and concern for them, and to cultivate and improve mutual acquaintance and love, and that we may have both the satisfaction and advantage of their conversation. 2. It is wisdom, as well as good manners, not to be troublesome to our friends in our visiting them, not to visit too often, nor stay too long, nor contrive to come at meal-time, nor make ourselves busy in the affairs of their families; hereby we make ourselves cheap, mean, and burdensome. Thy neighbour, who is thus plagued and haunted with thy visits, will be weary of thee and hate thee, and that will be the destruction of friendship which should have been the improvement of it. Post tres saepe dies piscis vilescit et hospes--After the third day fish and company become distasteful. Familiarity breeds contempt. Nulli te facias nimis sodalem--Be not too intimate with any. He that sponges upon his friend loses him. How much better a friend then is God than any other friend; for we need not withdraw our foot from his house, the throne of his grace (Pr 8:34); the oftener we come to him the better and the more welcome.
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