Proverbs 27:10 (WEB)

Passage

Don’t forsake your friend and your father’s friend. Don’t go to your brother’s house in the day of your disaster: better is a neighbor who is near than a distant brother.

Nearby Context

Proverbs 27:8 As a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man who wanders from his home.

Proverbs 27:9 Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart; so does earnest counsel from a man’s friend.

Proverbs 27:10 Don’t forsake your friend and your father’s friend. Don’t go to your brother’s house in the day of your disaster: better is a neighbor who is near than a distant brother.

Proverbs 27:11 Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart, then I can answer my tormentor.

Proverbs 27:12 A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "forsake", "friend", "father", "brother", "house", "disaster", and "better". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "forsake" and "friend", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 9's "Perfume and incense bring joy to the..." into verse 11's "Be wise my son and bring joy...", so "forsake" and "friend" belong inside that flow. In Proverbs context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "forsake" and "friend" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.