28#
23 Whoever rebukes a man will afterward find more favour than he who flatters with his tongue.
I’m not naturally someone who finds it easy to rebuke others. Rebuke is hard, it’s easy to do it out of spite or anger. It’s easy to become hardened and unforgiving. It’s hard to do it lovingly. Flattery is something I don’t think I find it hard to avoid in the obvious sense but in a subtle way maybe the proverb is suggesting that if you fail to rebuke someone when you should you’re flattering them.