Proverbschapter 28
28 verses · Solomon and others · 10th to 5th century BC · Wisdom and poetry
He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
Introduction
Solomon and others, Wisdom and poetry, Proverbs Overview.
This chapter of the Hezekiah collection speaks to rulers, to lenders and to the poor who suffered under both. Most of its sayings are built as contrasts between the righteous and the wicked, and many of them concern government and the law. The first hearers lived in hill country where a sudden storm could strip a field, and under kings who could do the same. Listen for how often the law of God is named, and for the saying about hidden sin near the middle of the chapter. The chapter shows a nation's health resting on the conduct of its people and its rulers.
Context
- Who
- Rulers, lenders, and the poor who suffer under both
- What
- Sayings from the Hezekiah collection contrasting the righteous and the wicked, on the law, rulers, wealth and confession.
- Where
- The hill country of Judah, and a nation governed well or badly.
- When
- Sayings of Solomon from about 970 to 931 BC, copied out under Hezekiah, about 715 to 686 BC.
- Why
- To teach that keeping God's law and confessing sin bring mercy, and that oppression and greed ruin a land.
Historical context
"A poor man that oppresseth the poor is like a sweeping rain which leaveth no food." This is a flash flood. Rain in that country falls hard and short, water pours off bare slopes into wadis, and a torrent can strip terrace soil, tear out young vines, and gut a mud-brick wall in an hour, leaving nothing to harvest. A poor official squeezing his own neighbours does the same kind of damage: total and local.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
"He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor." Israel's law banned charging interest to a fellow Israelite, required the poor man's cloak to be returned by nightfall, and cancelled debts every seventh year. Every one of those rules existed because moneylending was the standard way a family lost its land.
"For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof" describes political churn, the rapid turnover of rulers that hit the northern kingdom especially hard, where dynasties fell in coups within a generation.
"He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent." Under the monarchy, trade routes, tax farming, and royal contracts made fast fortunes possible in a way village farming never had. The proverb is describing a new temptation, not an old one.
Significance
"He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy" is the clearest statement of that pattern in the book, and it is aimed at people with the power to hide things.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
The opening line frames the rest: "the wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion." Guilt, the chapter says, does its own surveillance.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
No public reading in the synagogue is drawn from this chapter. The site's own table in src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts was probed for this lane over Proverbs 16 to 31. It printed parashot total 0, haftarah uses total 0 and 0 chapters with a synagogue reading. It printed null for a festival reading of the book. The same probe printed 54 weekly portions and 6 festival readings in the table as a whole. The corpus ties no custom of the home or the synagogue to this chapter, so this part records the absence.
The chapter is met in the study of the Midrash and the Talmud instead. The corpus links it to twenty-one collections. The two it cites most often here are Bereshit Rabbah and Bereshit Rabbati.
How it is read
Rashi is quoted here from The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, which Sefaria reports as CC-BY. Every quotation is held to fifty words or fewer because the translation is modern. Rashi reads many sayings of this chapter as sayings about judges and teachers. The poor man who oppresses the poor of the third verse is "An ignorant judge" (Rashi on Proverbs 28:3:1). The poor man of the sixth verse is better "Even one who is poor in Torah" (Rashi on Proverbs 28:6:1). The rich man and the discerning poor man of the eleventh verse are a teacher and a pupil, "and through him, the teacher gains wisdom" (Rashi on Proverbs 28:11:1).
At the eighth verse he gives the reading of Rabbi Tanhuma. The government confiscates the money of the man who grew rich by usury, and builds bridges and repairs highways with it. "This is being gracious to the poor" (Rashi on Proverbs 28:8:1). The faithful man of the twentieth verse is the one who gives his tithes where no witness sees, "but the Holy One, blessed be He, sees and lavishes blessings upon him" (Rashi on Proverbs 28:20:1).
Confession at the thirteenth verse has two parts: "He confesses his sins and abandons them, never to return to them" (Rashi on Proverbs 28:13:1). The one who robs his father at the twenty-fourth verse is robbing "The Holy One, blessed be He" (Rashi on Proverbs 28:24:1). The one who is always afraid is "concerned with punishment, and therefore distances himself from sin" (Rashi on Proverbs 28:14:1).
The corpus carries two further notes on this chapter without an English text, each marked linked because Sefaria holds no English version of the ref. They are cited by ref alone: Ibn Ezra on Proverbs 28:4:1 and 28:9:1.
What the rabbis say
The corpus carries forty rabbinic locators on this chapter, thirty-one filed as Midrash and nine as Talmud, and the text of none, so each is cited here by its ref and never quoted or paraphrased. At verse 1 it holds Bereshit Rabbah 84:2, with Midrash Lekach Tov, Genesis 37:1:1. At verse 2 it holds Otzar Midrashim, A Tale of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levy 1:3. At verse 3 it holds Bereshit Rabbati, Parashat Vayetze 54, with Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Bechukotai 7:1. At verse 4 it holds Berakhot 7b:15, with Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Berakhot 1:38. At verse 5 it holds Aggadat Bereshit 1:2, with Bereshit Rabbati, Parashat Noah 9. At verse 6 it holds Midrash Mishlei 28:1. At verse 8 it holds Bava Metzia 60b:12 and Bava Metzia 70b:9. At verse 9 it holds Devarim Rabbah 10:1 and Devarim Rabbah 4:2. At verse 10 it holds Bamidbar Rabbah 20:9, with Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Balak 8:1. At verse 11 it holds Bereshit Rabbati, Parashat Toldot 6, with Jerusalem Talmud Horayot 3:5:10. At verse 13 it holds Aggadat Bereshit 11:1, with Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Berakhot 9:12. At verse 14 it holds Avot DeRabbi Natan, Recension B 17:1, with Bamidbar Rabbah 19:32. At verse 15 it holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Megillah 1:12, with Megillah 11a:4. At verse 16 it holds Aggadat Bereshit 26:3 and Bereshit Rabbah 58:7. At verse 17 it holds Avot DeRabbi Natan 40:3, with Bereshit Rabbati, Parashat Vayeshev 11. At verse 18 it holds Sanhedrin 7a:10. At verse 19 it holds Bereshit Rabbah 82:8 and Midrash Mishlei 28:5. At verse 20 it holds Bereshit Rabbah 82:2, with Midrash Sekhel Tov, Shemot 5:13:1. At verse 22 it holds Midrash Aggadah, Genesis 23:17:3, with Midrash Aggadah, Leviticus 25:14:1. At verse 23 it holds Devarim Rabbah 1:2, with Ein Yaakov, Tamid 1:4. At verse 24 it holds Berakhot 35b:2. At verse 27 it holds Midrash Lekach Tov on Ruth, Introduction 1. At verse 28 it holds Bereshit Rabbah 65:10. What each of them teaches is a saying of the rabbis, and it is reported as theirs wherever this site quotes one.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on Proverbs 28:1:1 to 28:24:1, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, reported CC-BY; Ibn Ezra, Ibn Ezra on Proverbs 28:4:1 and 28:9:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; The Sefaria corpus, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/proverbs/28.json, the 40 Talmud and Midrash locators of this chapter; The site's own files, src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, printing no portion, no Haftarah and no festival reading for this book.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
The Wicked Flee When None Pursueth; Confessed Sin Finds Mercy
The wicked flee when no one pursues: s, but the righteous are as bold as a lion" states the chapter's key contrast. Guilt invents its own pursuers, while a clear conscience needs no army. The fleeing wicked picture a mind unable to rest, and the lion pictures a settled confidence.
Proverbs 28:1
“The wicked flee - Every wicked man, however bold he may appear, is full of dreary apprehensions relative to both worlds. But the righteous has true courage, being conscious of his own innocence, and the approbation of his God. The unpitious fleeith - Old MS. Bible. This word is often used for impious, wicked, ungodly; hence it appears that our word pity anciently meant piety or godliness.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Proverbs 28:1
“The wicked flee when no one pursues. He who is not strong in faith sometimes deserts faith of his own accord, even if no persecutor pursues him, when he renders himself similar to the infidel by thefts, perjuries, fornications, poisonings, and other such crimes.”
Bede · written before 735 · Commentary on Proverbspatristic
Proverbs 28:2-4
A land in rebellion has many rulers: s" reads a nation's instability as the fruit of its own sin. The oppressor of the poor is "like a driving rain that leaves no food." Verse 4 closes the group on the law, since those who forsake it praise the wicked.
Proverbs 28:2
“Anarchy producing contending rulers shortens the reign of each. but by a man . . . prolonged--or, "by a man of understanding--that is, a good ruler--he who knows or regards the right, that is, a good citizen, shall prolong (his days)." Good rulers are a blessing to the people.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
A destitute leader who oppresses the poor: Rain should water a field, and this rain beats the crop down and leaves no food. The picture fits a ruler who is poor himself and presses those as poor as he is. Verse 2 traced a land's unrest to its rebellion.
Proverbs 28:3
“A poor man that oppresseth the poor - Our Lord illustrates this proverb most beautifully, by the parable of the two debtors, Mat 18:23. One owed ten thousand talents, was insolvent, begged for time, was forgiven. A fellow servant owed this one a hundred pence: he was insolvent; but prayed his fellow servant to give him a little time, and he would pay it all. He would not, took him by the throat, and cast him into prison till he should pay that debt. Here the poor oppressed the poor; and what was the consequence?”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Proverbs 28:3
“People raise a man of the people, poor like themselves, to power. They find him the worst oppressor of all, plundering them to their last morsels, like the storm-rain which sweeps off the seed-corn instead of bringing fertility.”
Those who forsake the law praise the wicked: The verse measures a man's hold on the law by what he says of the wicked. Clement of Alexandria renders the second line as those who love the law setting it before them like a wall. Praise and resistance are the two answers.
Proverbs 28:4
The Stoics laid down their doctrine on the basis that the goal is to live according to nature, using the word nature improperly rather than "God," since nature applies to plants, crops, trees and stones. At any rate, there is the clear statement, "Scoundrels think nothing of the law, but those who love the law set it in front of them like a wall." For "the wisdom of able men will understand the paths of wisdom, but the folly of fools goes in the wrong direction."
Clement of Alexandria · written before 215 · The Stromata Book 2patristic
Proverbs 28:5-7
Evil men do not understand justice: e, but those who seek the LORD comprehend fully" ties moral perception to seeking God. Verse 6 ranks integrity above wealth: "Better a poor man who walks with integrity than a rich man whose ways are perverse." Verse 7 applies the ranking to a household.
Proverbs 28:5
“The deep interdependence of morality and intellect. We have a right judgment in all things in proportion as our hearts seek to know God. Compare Jas 1:23-24.”
Better a poor man who walks with integrity: John Gill notes that the Hebrew speaks of the perverse man's ways as two ways. He pictures a man who halts between them, claiming the path of righteousness while walking in sin. The poor man keeps one straight path.
Proverbs 28:6
“Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness,.... See Gill on Pro 19:1; than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich; or, "in his two ways" (c): that halts between two ways, or makes use of both; sometimes turns to the one, to the right hand, and sometimes to the other, to the left hand; or that pretends to the one, and walks in the other; would be thought to be a virtuous and religious man, and to walk in the paths of righteousness and truth, when he walks in those of sin and wickedness.”
A discerning son keeps the law: The verse applies the ranking of verse 6 to a household. A son shows his discernment by keeping the law, and his choice of companions decides whose honor he carries. Gluttons for company bring shame home to his father.
Proverbs 28:7
“Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son,.... That observes the law of God; for, though he cannot perfectly keep it, yet he delights in it after the inward man; and with his spirit serves it, from a principle of love, in faith, and with a view to the glory of God, without mercenary and sinister ends.”
Proverbs 28:8-9
He who increases his wealth by interest: Wealth gained "by interest and usury" is laid up "for one who is kind to the poor." Verse 9 pairs disobedience with worship: "Whoever turns his ear away from hearing the law, even his prayer is detestable." A closed ear makes the open mouth in prayer worthless.
Proverbs 28:8
“He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance,.... By biting and oppressing the poor; letting him have money at an exorbitant interest, and goods at an exorbitant price, and so increases his substance in this scandalous manner; hence usury is in Lev 25:36, called "increase", and by the Greeks τοκος, a "birth", because money is the birth of money, as Aristotle (e) observes; and so by the Latins "foenus", as if it was "foetus" (f), "a birth".”
Whoever turns his ear away: Gregory the Dialogist asks why anyone should marvel that God is slow to hear prayers. People hear His commandments slowly or never. The ear shut to the law makes the praying mouth detestable.
Proverbs 28:9
“And so it cometh to pass that our tongue is so much the less respected of God when we pray, by how much we are more defiled with foolish speech, because, as it is written: "He that turneth away his ear that he hear not the law, his prayer shall be execrable." What marvel, then, is it, if, when we pray, God doth slowly hear us, when as we hear God's commandments, either slowly or not at all?”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Dialogues, Book 3, Chapter 15patristic
Proverbs 28:10-12
He who leads the upright along the path of evil: He who leads the upright astray "will fall into his own pit," the trap-for-the-trapper principle the Psalms use of the wicked. Verse 11 sets a poor man's discernment above a rich man's self-estimate. Verse 12 closes on the public mood rulers set, for "when the wicked rise, men hide themselves."
Proverbs 28:10
“Whoso causeth the righteous to go astray - He who strives to pervert one really converted to God, in order that he may pour contempt on religion, shall fall into that hell to which he has endeavored to lead the other.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Proverbs 28:10
“When the wicked succeed in tempting the righteous, Vice seems to win a triumph. But the triumph is suicidal. The tempter will suffer the punishment he deserves, and the blameless, if true to themselves, will be strengthened and ennobled by the temptation.”
A rich man is wise: The wealthy man's opinion of himself is the only witness to his wisdom. A poor man with discernment searches him out and sees through the claim. Real insight outranks self-regard.
Proverbs 28:11
“Wealth blunts, poverty sharpens, the critical power of intellect.”
When the righteous triumph, there is great glory: Clarke sees great glory when the righteous triumph and God's word runs freely. When the wicked rise to places of trust, the righteous hide themselves. Verse 28 returns to the same contrast.
Proverbs 28:12
“When righteous men do rejoice - When true religion is no longer persecuted, and the word of God duly esteemed, there is great glory; for the word of the Lord has then free course, runs, and is glorified: but when the wicked rise - when they are elevated to places of trust, and put at the head of civil affairs, then the righteous man is obliged to hide himself; the word of the Lord becomes scarce, and there is no open vision.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Proverbs 28:13-14
He who conceals his sins will not prosper: r, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy" is the collection's clearest gospel-shaped sentence. Renouncing stands beside confessing, so mercy answers a change of direction. Verse 14 closes on the reverence, while "he who hardens his heart falls into trouble."
Proverbs 28:13
"As confession and beauty are in the sight of God," so a sinner who confesses his sins and says, "My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness" loses his foul wounds and is made whole and clean. But "he that covers his sins shall not prosper."
Jerome · written before 420 · LETTER 122.3patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Proverbs 28:13
“Concealment of sin delivers none from God's wrath, but He shows mercy to the humble penitent (Ps 51:4).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Blessed is the man who is always reverent: Basil calls blessed the man who is always reverent and stands in awe in all things. He joins the verse to the psalm of the man who keeps the LORD always before him. The man who hardens his heart falls.
Proverbs 28:14
He who in all things stands in awe out of reverent timidity is called blessed, and he stands firm in the truth who is able to say, "I set the Lord always in my sight; for he is at my right hand that I shall not be moved."
Basil of Caesarea · written before 379 · The Long Rules, Prefacepatristic
He That Tilleth His Land Shall Have Plenty of Bread
Proverbs 28:15-17
Like a roaring lion or a charging bear: r is a wicked ruler over a helpless people" gives the chapter's harshest figure for bad government. Verse 16 ties a ruler's greed to his people's suffering. Verse 17 warns that a man burdened by bloodguilt flees into the Pit.
Proverbs 28:15
"A roaring lion and a ravenous bear," etc. It can be understood of pagan and heretical princes who often test the patience or wisdom of the poor people, that is, the holy Church, with savage cruelty.
Bede · written before 735 · Commentary on Proverbspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Proverbs 28:15
“As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear,.... Which are both terrible; the lion that roars for want of food, or when it is over its prey; and the hear, when it runs from place to place in quest of provision, being "hungry and very desirous" of food, has a keen appetite, as some think the word (l) signifies. The Targum and Jarchi take it to be expressive of the cry and roaring it makes at such a time, as well as the lion; see Isa 59:11; so the Tigurine version.”
A leader who lacks judgment: Jamieson, Fausset & Brown read the lack of judgment as blindness to the danger oppression brings on the ruler himself. Covetousness breeds oppression, they note, hence the contrast with hating dishonest profit. John Gill calls the gentle prince the wise one.
Proverbs 28:16
“The prince that wanteth understanding is also a great oppressor,.... Or, "much in oppressions" (o); he multiplies them, and abounds in them; he distresses his subjects in a variety of ways and methods he uses to extort money from them by which he shows his want of understanding: he is a wise prince that uses gentle methods, and gains the affections of his people, and who cheerfully supports his crown and government with honour and glory; but he is a foolish prince that uses them with rigour.”
A man burdened by bloodguilt: Barnes limits the case to willful murder, a man with bloodguilt on his soul. Such a man hastens to his own destruction in the Pit. Barnes says those who see him must stand aloof and let God's judgment run its course.
Proverbs 28:17
“The case of willful murder, not the lesser crime of manslaughter for which the cities of refuge were appointed. One, with that guilt on his soul, is simply hasting on to his own destruction. Those who see him must simply stand aloof, and let God’s judgments fulfill themselves.”
Proverbs 28:18-19
He who walks with integrity will be kept safe: e, but whoever is perverse in his ways will suddenly fall" states the chapter's contrast. One path is secure and the other collapses without warning. Verse 19 applies the principle, for "The one who works his land will have plenty of food."
Proverbs 28:18
“Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved, Or "be safe" (r) from those that seek his life, plot against him, shoot at him, as the wicked do at the upright in heart, but the Lord protects him; and it is even well with him in times of public calamities; the Lord has his chambers and hiding places for him; and he is safe from falling, as may be gathered from the opposite clause; for he walks surely, and is in the hands of Christ, and is kept by him from a final and total falling away: and he shall be saved…”
1 more voice on this verse
Proverbs 28:18
“In his ways - Rather “in his double ways” (as in Pro 28:6). The evil of vacillation rather than that of craft, the want of the one guiding principle of right, is contrasted with the straightforwardness of the man that “walketh uprightly.” Shall fall at once - Better, shall fall in one of them (his ways). The attempt to combine incompatibilities is sure to fail. Men cannot serve God and Mammon.”
The one who works his land: Verse 18 set the upright path against the perverse one, and this verse carries it into daily labor. Steady work on one's own land fills the table. Chasing fantasies fills a man with poverty instead.
Proverbs 28:19
“He that tilleth his land - See Pro 12:11.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Proverbs 28:20-22
A faithful man will abound with blessings: s, but one eager to be rich will not go unpunished" opens the chapter's clearest teaching on money. Verse 21 names favoritism as a temptation bought cheaply, "for a piece of bread." Verse 22 repeats the warning against haste.
Proverbs 28:20
“A faithful man shall abound with blessings,.... Or, "a man of faithfulness" (u). A very faithful man, that is truly so; that is so in a moral sense; true to his work, makes good his promises, fulfils his contracts, abides by the obligations he lays himself under; is faithful in every trust reposed in him, be it greater or lesser matters, in every station in which it is, and throughout the whole course of his life.”
1 more voice on this verse
Proverbs 28:20
Not the possession of wealth, nor even the acquisition of it, is evil, but the eager haste of covetousness. Shall not be innocent - Better, as in the margin, in contrast with the many “blessings” of the “faithful.”
To show partiality is not good: Albert Barnes says partiality enslaves a man until he will do wrong for a very small inducement. A piece of bread was proverbial for the extreme point of poverty. The smallness of the price is the point.
Proverbs 28:21
“Dishonest partiality leads men who have enslaved themselves to it to transgress, even when the inducement is altogether disproportionate. A “piece of bread” was proverbial at all times as the most extreme point of poverty (compare the marginal reference).”
A stingy man hastens after wealth: Barnes traces covetousness from dishonesty to envy. The grudging temper of the stingy man hastens after wealth and leads him into poverty. Verse 20 has already warned the man eager for wealth.
Proverbs 28:22
“The covetous temper leads not only to dishonesty, but to the “evil eye” of envy; and the temper of grudging, carking care, leads him to poverty.”
Proverbs 28:23-28
He who rebukes a man: The chapter's close ranks honest rebuke above flattery. Trusting the LORD is set against trusting oneself, and giving to the poor against hiding one's eyes. Verse 28 answers verse 12 as a frame, for when the wicked perish, "the righteous flourish."
Proverbs 28:23
“He that rebuketh a man,.... His friend and acquaintance, for any fault committed by him; which reproof he gives in a free and faithful manner, yet kind, tender, and affectionate. The word rendered "afterwards", which begins the next clause, according to the accents belongs to this, and is by some rendered, "he that rebuketh a man after me" (b); after my directions, according to the rules I have given; that is, after God, and by his order; or Solomon, after his example, who delivered out these sentences and instructions.”
He who robs his father or mother: Clarke treats a father's goods as fully his own. The son who robs his father or mother adds ingratitude and cruelty to the wrong. Such a man, Clarke says, is a companion to a destroyer, a murderer.
Proverbs 28:24
“Whoso robbeth his father - The father’s property is as much his own, in reference to the child, as that of the merest stronger. He who robs his parents is worse than a common robber; to the act of dishonesty and rapine he adds ingratitude, cruelty, and disobedience. Such a person is the compatriot of a destroyer; he may be considered as a murderer.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
A greedy man stirs up strife: The verse sets greed against the man who trusts in the LORD. Greed stirs up strife among men, and the one who trusts in the LORD will prosper. Verse 26 carries the contrast from greed to trust in oneself.
Proverbs 28:25
“Shall be made fat - Shall be prosperous.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Proverbs 28:25
“Shall be made fat - He shall enjoy the two-fold blessing of abundance and tranquility (compare Pro 11:25).”
He who trusts in himself is a fool: Verse 25 set trust in the LORD against greed, and this verse sets it against trust in oneself. The self-reliant man leans on his own judgment and is called a fool. Walking in wisdom brings safety.
Proverbs 28:26
“The contrast between the wisdom of him who trusts in the Lord, and the folly of self-trust.”
1 more voice on this verse
Proverbs 28:26
“He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool - For his heart, which is deceitful and desperately wicked, will infallibly deceive him.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Whoever gives to the poor: Caesarius of Arles tells the farmer at harvest to reckon his household's needs first. What remains, he says, was never truly given to him. The one who hides his eyes from the poor draws many curses.
When the wicked come to power: The verse answers verse 12 and closes the chapter as a frame. Under wicked rulers people hide, and at their end the righteous flourish. A nation's rulers set its public mood.
Keep studying
Studies6
Words12
Subjects1
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Basil of Caesarea, THE LONG RULES, PREFACE; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 30:6; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 2; Gregory the Dialogist, Dialogues, Book 3, Chapter 15; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.