Proverbs 27:17 (BSB)

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

From Proverbs 27. Also in the ESV.

Commentary on Proverbs 27:17

• Matthew Henry (Presbyterian), Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on Proverbs 27:17: This intimates both the pleasure and the advantage of conversation. One man is nobody; nor will poring upon a book in a corner accomplish a man as the reading and studying of men will. Wise and profitable discourse sharpens men's wits; and those that have ever so much knowledge may by conference have something added to them.
• John Gill (Reformed Baptist), Exposition of the Old and New Testaments on Proverbs 27:17: As in water face answereth to face,.... As water is as a looking glass, in which a man may behold his own face and another's; or as the face in the water answers to the face of a man, and there is a great likeness between them.
• Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (Reformed), Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible on Proverbs 27:17: a man sharpeneth . . . friend--that is, conversation promotes intelligence, which the face exhibits.
• Geneva Bible Notes (Reformed), Geneva Bible Study Notes on Proverbs 27:17: Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. (g) One hasty man provokes another to anger.