Proverbs 23:10
in Proverbs 23Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Remove not the ancient landmark; And enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
KJV
Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
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This verse in Proverbs 23
Commentary
4 notes on this verseRemove not the old landmark,.... See Gill on Pro 22:28; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless; to carry off the increase of them, to reap their wheat, or mow their grass, or turn in cattle to eat it; or to encroach upon them, take in any part of them, or join the whole to their own; for if there is a woe to them that lay field to field, much more to them that enter into and take the fields of the fatherless, and join them to their own, Isa 5:8.
This site's exposition
Do not move an ancient boundary stone
on Proverbs 23:10-11
"Do not move an ancient boundary stone" repeats a command given at 22:28. The reason is a person: "their Redeemer is strong; He will take up their case." God stands as the goel for the orphan, and Henry ties the word to the office Job invokes at Job 19:25.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Do not touch the boundaries of the little ones, etc. He calls the Lord the near one of the little ones and orphans because, while in the flesh, he deigned to be a companion in faith more to the poor than the rich. Otherwise, the …
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Remove not the old landmark - See Pro 22:28 (note). Enter not into the fields of the fatherless - Take nothing that belongs to an orphan. The heaviest curse of God will fall upon them that do so.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
and..the fields of the orphans The gleanings, the forgotten sheaves, and the corner that is due them.
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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תַּ֭סֵּג | taseg | you displace | H5253 → | |
| גְּב֣וּל | gevul | a boundary of | H1366 → | 240 times |
| עוֹלָ֑ם | olam | antiquity | H5769 → | 438 times |
| וּבִשְׂדֵ֥י | uvisdei | and in [the] fields of | H7704 → | 334 times |
| יְ֝תוֹמִ֗ים | yetomim | fatherless ones | H3490 → | |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תָּבֹֽא׃ | tavo' | you go | H935 → | 2568 times |
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תַּ֭סֵּגyou displace
tasegH5253 →
גְּב֣וּלa boundary of
gevulH1366 →240 times
עוֹלָ֑םantiquity
olamH5769 →438 times
וּבִשְׂדֵ֥יand in [the] fields of
uvisdeiH7704 →334 times
יְ֝תוֹמִ֗יםfatherless ones
yetomimH3490 →
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תָּבֹֽא׃you go
tavo'H935 →2568 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
James 1:27Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
it leads to
- Isaiah 1:16–17
Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil!
- 1 John 3:17–19
If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him?
- Galatians 6:9–10
Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
- Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of…
- Matthew 25:34–46
Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
- Isaiah 1:16–17
Through
Proverbs 22:28Do not move an ancient boundary stone which your fathers have placed.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 19:14
You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker, which was set up by your ancestors to mark the inheritance you shall receive in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 27:17
‘Cursed is he who moves his neighbor’s boundary stone.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- Deuteronomy 19:14
Through
Jeremiah 22:3This is what the LORD says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 21:12
O house of David, this is what the LORD says: ‘Administer justice every morning, and rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor, or My wrath will go forth like fire…
- Jeremiah 21:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.