Proverbs 18:23
in Proverbs 18The poor man pleads for mercy, but the rich man answers harshly.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The poor useth entreaties; But the rich answereth roughly.
KJV
The poor useth intreaties; but the rich answereth roughly.
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This verse in Proverbs 18
Commentary
4 notes on this verseWith supplications a poor man speaks, etc. The humble in spirit humbly worship the Lord, like the publican in the Gospel; the proud boast of their merits, like the Pharisee.
This site's exposition
Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing
on Proverbs 18:22-24
Finding a wife is named a good thing and favour obtained from the Lord, set beside the poor man's entreaties against the rich man's rough answer, wealth again shown to change how a man is heard rather than what he deserves. The chapter closes on friendship: a man of many friends may come to ruin, but there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother, and the older writers hear in that closing line more than natural affection, a bond the bench names as theirs to read toward a friend who never fails.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The poor useth entreaties,.... Or "supplications" (a); he is an humble supplicant to others for favours he asks in a submissive and lowly manner; he does not demand anything, nor prescribe what shall be done for him, but modestly tells his case, and submits it; so such who are poor in spirit are humble supplicants at the throne of grace; but the rich answereth roughly; being proud and haughty, lifted up with their riches, and in fear of none, they answer others with hard and rough words, especially their inferiors, and particularly the poor.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Note the paradox. The poor man, of whom one might expect roughness, supplicates; the rich, well nurtured, from whom one might look for courtesy, answers harshly and brusquely.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| תַּחֲנוּנִ֥ים | tachanunim | supplications | H8469 → | |
| יְדַבֶּר־ | yedaber- | he speaks | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| רָ֑שׁ | rash | a poor [person] | H7326 → | 24 times |
| וְ֝עָשִׁ֗יר | veashir | and a rich [person] | H6223 → | 23 times |
| יַעֲנֶ֥ה | yaaneh | he answers | H6030 → | 331 times |
| עַזּֽוֹת׃ | azot | strong [words] | H5794 → | 24 times |
תַּחֲנוּנִ֥יםsupplications
tachanunimH8469 →
יְדַבֶּר־he speaks
yedaber-H1696 →1141 times
רָ֑שׁa poor [person]
rashH7326 →24 times
וְ֝עָשִׁ֗ירand a rich [person]
veashirH6223 →23 times
יַעֲנֶ֥הhe answers
yaanehH6030 →331 times
עַזּֽוֹת׃strong [words]
azotH5794 →24 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
Exodus 5:2But Pharaoh replied, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.”
it leads to
- Exodus 3:19
But I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go unless a mighty hand compels him.
- Job 21:15
Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’
- 2 Kings 18:35
Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered his land from my hand? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”
- Exodus 3:19
Through
James 2:6But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?
it leads to
- Proverbs 17:5
He who mocks the poor insults their Maker; whoever gloats over calamity will not go unpunished.
- Proverbs 14:31
Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.
- 1 Corinthians 11:22
Don’t you have your own homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What can I say to you? Shall I…
- Proverbs 17:5
Through
James 2:3If you lavish attention on the man in fine clothes and say, “Here is a seat of honor,” but say to the poor man, “You must stand” or “Sit at my feet,”
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 8:9
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.
- James 2:6
But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?
- 2 Corinthians 8:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
On this chapter
About Proverbs
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.