Proverbs 13:23
in Proverbs 13Abundant food is in the fallow ground of the poor, but without justice it is swept away.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Much food is in the tillage of the poor; But there is that is destroyed by reason of injustice.
KJV
Much food is in the tillage of the poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment.
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This verse in Proverbs 13
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The contrast is the ever recurring one between honest poverty and dishonest wealth. “The new-plowed field of the poor is much food, but there are those, who, though rich, perish through their disregard of right.”
This site's exposition
Abundant food is in the fallow ground of the poor
“Abundant food is in the fallow ground of the poor,” so the ground yields as much to a poor man's as to a rich man's. Yet “without justice it is swept away”.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Many foods are in the fresh fields of the fathers, etc. He acts without proper judgment who is diligently occupied with amassing riches and does not himself dispense these accumulated riches to the poor for the redemption of his soul, but reserves them to be …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Much food is in the tillage of the poor,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
That is destroyed for want of judgment - O, how much of the poverty of the poor arises from their own want of management! They have little or no economy, and no foresight. When they get any thing, they speedily spend it; and a feast and a famine make the chief varieties of their life.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| רָב־ | rov- | abundance of | H7230 → | 149 times |
| אֹ֭כֶל | ʾokhel | food | H400 → | |
| נִ֣יר | nir | [the] unplowed ground of | H5215 → | |
| רָאשִׁ֑ים | rashim | poor [people] | H7326 → | 24 times |
| וְיֵ֥שׁ | veyesh | and there | H3426 → | 140 times |
| נִ֝סְפֶּ֗ה | nispeh | [is what] is swept away | H5595 → | |
| בְּלֹ֣א | belo' | in not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| מִשְׁפָּֽט׃ | mishpat | justice | H4941 → | 422 times |
רָב־abundance of
rov-H7230 →149 times
אֹ֭כֶלfood
ʾokhelH400 →
נִ֣יר[the] unplowed ground of
nirH5215 →
רָאשִׁ֑יםpoor [people]
rashimH7326 →24 times
וְיֵ֥שׁand there
veyeshH3426 →140 times
נִ֝סְפֶּ֗ה[is what] is swept away
nispehH5595 →
בְּלֹ֣אin not
belo'H3808 →5168 times
מִשְׁפָּֽט׃justice
mishpatH4941 →422 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 12:11The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies lacks judgment.
it leads to
- Proverbs 28:19
The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 14:23
There is profit in all labor, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:11–12
and to aspire to live quietly, to attend to your own matters, and to work with your own hands, as we instructed you.
- Psalms 128:2
For when you eat the fruit of your labor, blessings and prosperity will be yours.
- Ephesians 4:28
He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing good with his own hands, that he may have something to share with the one in need.
- Proverbs 28:19
Through
Psalms 112:5It is well with the man who is generous and lends freely, whose affairs are guided by justice.
it leads to
- Psalms 37:21
The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous are gracious and giving.
- Proverbs 2:20
So you will follow in the ways of the good, and keep to the paths of the righteous.
- Psalms 37:21
Through
Proverbs 28:19The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.
it leads to
- Proverbs 12:11
The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies lacks judgment.
- Proverbs 12:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.