Proverbs 14:31
in Proverbs 14Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker; But he that hath mercy on the needy honoreth him.
KJV
He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.
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This verse in Proverbs 14
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker
“Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker,” since the insult lands past the poor man onto the God who made him. Kindness is named honor toward the same Maker, so the two halves of the verse are one theology stated as two actions.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
John ChrysostomCOMMENTARY ON THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON, FRAGMENT 14:31 · Written before 407.
proposed
"He who slanders the poor irritates his own Maker." Here there are two sins: slander and opposition to the poor. Why does he irritate his Maker? His Maker certainly made him and made it easy for him to be subjected to a tongue of a slanderer. "He who really honors God has pity upon the needy." If God made the poor, why must the poor be pitied? Certainly I heard many saying: Is there any need to pity the poor man whom God would have not made poor if he loved him? How long will we play with our salvation? How long will we laugh at things in which the one who is wicked and loaded with countless sins should tremble and fear and be terrified? Tell me then whom God did favor: did he favor either Lazarus or the rich man? This is what ruins us, the fact that we easily slip into [bad] jokes.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker - Because the poor, or comparatively poor, are, in the order of God, a part of the inhabitants of the earth; and every man who loves God will show mercy to the poor, for with this God is peculiarly delighted. The poor have we ever with us, for the excitement and exercise of those benevolent, compassionate, and merciful feelings, without which men had been but little better than brutes.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Honoureth him - i. e., God, who is the Maker of poor and rich alike.
Modern Voices1 voice
Now here is an actual instance, a small case of how our social conscience really works: tame in spirit, wild in result, blank in realisation; a thing without the light of mind in it. I take this paragraph from a daily paper:--"At Epping, yesterday, Thomas …
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עֹ֣שֵֽׁק־ | ʾoshek- | [one who] oppresses | H6231 → | 36 times |
| דָּ֭ל | dal | [the] poor | H1800 → | 47 times |
| חֵרֵ֣ף | cheref | he reproaches | H2778 → | 41 times |
| עֹשֵׂ֑הוּ | ʾosehu | maker his | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| וּ֝מְכַבְּד֗וֹ | umekhabedo | and [is] honoring him | H3513 → | 113 times |
| חֹנֵ֥ן | chonen | [one who] shows favor to | H2603 → | 78 times |
| אֶבְיֽוֹן׃ | ʾevyon | [the] needy | H34 → | 61 times |
עֹ֣שֵֽׁק־[one who] oppresses
ʾoshek-H6231 →36 times
דָּ֭ל[the] poor
dalH1800 →47 times
חֵרֵ֣ףhe reproaches
cherefH2778 →41 times
עֹשֵׂ֑הוּmaker his
ʾosehuH6213 →2628 times
וּ֝מְכַבְּד֗וֹand [is] honoring him
umekhabedoH3513 →113 times
חֹנֵ֥ן[one who] shows favor to
chonenH2603 →78 times
אֶבְיֽוֹן׃[the] needy
ʾevyonH34 →61 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 19:17Kindness to the poor is a loan to the LORD, and He will repay the lender.
it leads to
- Proverbs 28:27
Whoever gives to the poor will not be in need, but he who hides his eyes will receive many curses.
- Hebrews 6:10
For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.
- Luke 6:38
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured…
- 2 Corinthians 9:6–8
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
- Matthew 25:40
And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’
- Proverbs 28:27
Through
1 John 4:21And we have this commandment from Him: Whoever loves God must love his brother as well.
it leads to
- Matthew 22:37–39
Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
- Leviticus 19:18
Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
- Matthew 22:37–39
Through
Proverbs 22:2The rich and the poor have this in common: The LORD is Maker of them all.
it leads to
- Job 31:15
Did not He who made me in the womb also make them? Did not the same One form us in the womb?
- Job 31:15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
On this verse
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; GK Chesterton, A Miscellany of Men, The Mad Official (1912); John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON, FRAGMENT 14:31; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.