Proverbs 14:20
in Proverbs 14The poor man is hated even by his neighbor, but many are those who love the rich.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The poor is hated even of his own neighbor; But the rich hath many friends.
KJV
The poor is hated even of his own neighbour: but the rich hath many friends.
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This verse in Proverbs 14
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
The evil bow before the good
on Proverbs 14:19-21
“The evil bow before the good, and the wicked at the gates of the righteous,” a reversal stated plainly. The cluster on poverty opens without softening it: “The poor man is hated even by his neighbor, but many are those who love the rich”.
This site's exposition
The poor man is hated even by his neighbor
The saying reports how people treat the poor man and the rich. Albert Barnes calls it a jarring maxim drawn from experience, and reads verse 21 as its answer, where the man who despises his neighbor sins. The kindness shown the poor there answers the hatred here.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The poor is hated even of his own neighbour,.... As well as of strangers; that is, he is shy of him; he does not care to take any notice of him, or be friendly with him, lest he should be burdensome to him.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
But the rich hath many friends - Many who speak to him the language of friendship; but if they profess friendship because he is rich, there is not one real friend among them.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The maxim, jarring as it is, represents the generalization of a wide experience; but the words which follow Pro 14:21 show that it is not to be taken by itself. In spite of all the selfish morality of mere prudence, the hearer is warned that to despise his “neighbor” (Christians must take the word in all the width given to it by the parable of the Good Samaritan) is to sin. The fullness of blessing comes on him who sees in the poor the objects of his mercy.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| לְ֭רֵעֵהוּ | lereehu | by neighbor his | H7453 → | 188 times |
| יִשָּׂ֣נֵא | yisane' | he is hated | H8130 → | 146 times |
| רָ֑שׁ | rash | a poor [person] | H7326 → | 24 times |
| וְאֹהֲבֵ֖י | veohavei | and [those who] love | H157 → | 211 times |
| עָשִׁ֣יר | ʾashir | <of> [the] rich | H6223 → | 23 times |
| רַבִּֽים׃ | rabim | [are] many | H7227 → | 454 times |
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
לְ֭רֵעֵהוּby neighbor his
lereehuH7453 →188 times
יִשָּׂ֣נֵאhe is hated
yisane'H8130 →146 times
רָ֑שׁa poor [person]
rashH7326 →24 times
וְאֹהֲבֵ֖יand [those who] love
veohaveiH157 →211 times
עָשִׁ֣יר<of> [the] rich
ʾashirH6223 →23 times
רַבִּֽים׃[are] many
rabimH7227 →454 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 10:15The wealth of the rich man is his fortified city, but poverty is the ruin of the poor.
it leads to
- Proverbs 18:11
A rich man’s wealth is his fortified city; it is like a high wall in his imagination.
- Proverbs 19:7
All the brothers of a poor man hate him—how much more do his friends avoid him! He may pursue them with pleading, but they are nowhere to be found.
- Psalms 52:7
“Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction.”
- Proverbs 18:11
Through
Job 30:10They abhor me and keep far from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
it leads to
- Matthew 26:67
Then they spit in His face and struck Him. Others slapped Him
- Isaiah 50:6
I offered My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard. I did not hide My face from scorn and spittle.
- Numbers 12:14
But the LORD answered Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp for seven days;…
- Psalms 88:8
You have removed my friends from me; You have made me repulsive to them; I am confined and cannot escape.
- Matthew 26:67
Through
Proverbs 19:4Wealth attracts many friends, but a poor man is deserted by his friend.
it leads to
- Proverbs 19:6–7
Many seek the favor of the prince, and everyone is a friend of the gift giver.
- Proverbs 19:6–7
Where this verse is studied
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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.