Proverbs 28:15
in Proverbs 28Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear, So is a wicked ruler over a poor people.
KJV
As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; so is a wicked ruler over the poor people.
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This verse in Proverbs 28
Commentary
4 notes on this verse"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.
This site's exposition
As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear
on Proverbs 28:15-17
As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear, so is a wicked ruler over the poor people, gives the chapter's harshest figure for bad government, danger from the very one meant to protect. The prince that wanteth understanding is also a great oppressor, but he that hateth covetousness shall prolong his days, ties a ruler's greed directly to his people's suffering and his own shortened rule. A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit, let no man stay him, closes the cluster with a warning the bench reads as a call for the community not to shelter a murderer from justice.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The form of political wretchedness, when the poverty of the oppressed subjects not only embitters their sufferings, but exasperates the brutal ferocity of the ruler.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
who is always afraid He is concerned with punishment, and therefore distances himself from sin.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲרִי־ | ʾari- | a lion | H738 → | 80 times |
| נֹ֭הֵם | nohem | roaring | H5098 → | |
| וְדֹ֣ב | vedo | and a bear | H1677 → | |
| שׁוֹקֵ֑ק | shokek | rushing | H8264 → | |
| מֹשֵׁ֥ל | moshel | a ruler | H4910 → | 81 times |
| רָ֝שָׁ֗ע | rasha' | wicked | H7563 → | 263 times |
| עַ֣ל | ʾal | over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| עַם־ | ʾam- | a people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| דָּֽל׃ | dal | poor | H1800 → | 47 times |
אֲרִי־a lion
ʾari-H738 →80 times
נֹ֭הֵםroaring
nohemH5098 →
וְדֹ֣בand a bear
vedoH1677 →
שׁוֹקֵ֑קrushing
shokekH8264 →
מֹשֵׁ֥לa ruler
moshelH4910 →81 times
רָ֝שָׁ֗עwicked
rasha'H7563 →263 times
עַ֣לover
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
עַם־a people
ʾam-H5971 →1873 times
דָּֽל׃poor
dalH1800 →47 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
1 Peter 5:8Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
it leads to
- Ephesians 6:11
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes.
- James 4:7
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
- Ephesians 4:27
and do not give the devil a foothold.
- Job 2:2
“Where have you come from?” said the LORD to Satan. “From roaming through the earth,” he replied, “and walking back and forth in it.”
- 1 Peter 1:13
Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
- Ephesians 6:11
Through
Proverbs 20:2The terror of a king is like the roar of a lion; whoever provokes him forfeits his own life.
it leads to
- Proverbs 19:12
A king’s rage is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.
- Ecclesiastes 10:4
If the ruler’s temper flares against you, do not abandon your post, for calmness lays great offenses to rest.
- Proverbs 19:12
Through
Exodus 1:22Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: “Every son born to the Hebrews you must throw into the Nile, but every daughter you may allow to live.”
it leads to
- Acts 7:19
He exploited our people and oppressed our fathers, forcing them to abandon their infants so they would die.
- Acts 7:19
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); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).