Proverbs 27:23 (BSB)

Be sure to know the state of your flocks, and pay close attention to your herds;

From Proverbs 27. Also in the ESV.

Commentary on Proverbs 27:23

• Matthew Henry (Presbyterian), Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on Proverbs 27:23-27: Here is, I. A command given us to be diligent in our callings. It is directed to husbandmen and shepherds, and those that deal in cattle, but it is to be extended to all other lawful callings; whatever our business is, within doors or without, we must apply our minds to it. This command intimates, 1.
• John Gill (Reformed Baptist), Exposition of the Old and New Testaments on Proverbs 27:23: The hay appeareth, and the tender grass showeth itself,.... Some think this is mentioned to illustrate the uncertainty of riches, which soon vanish away; as the tender grass shows itself, and is presently cut down and quickly appears hay, and that soon consumed; but rather this contains an argument to take to the pastoral life and calling, since it may be performed with so much...
• Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (Reformed), Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible on Proverbs 27:23: flocks--constituted the staple of wealth. It is only by care and diligence that the most solid possessions can be perpetuated (Pro 23:5).
• Keil & Delitzsch (Lutheran), Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament on Proverbs 27:23-27: Pro 27:23-27 An exhortation to rural industry, and particularly to the careful tending of cattle for breeding, forms the conclusion of the foregoing series of proverbs, in which we cannot always discern an intentional grouping. It is one of the Mashal-odes spoken of vol. i. p. 12. It consists of 11 = 4 + 7 lines.