Proverbs 23:11
in Proverbs 23for their Redeemer is strong; He will take up their case against you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For their Redeemer is strong; He will plead their cause against thee.
KJV
For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
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This verse in Proverbs 23
Commentary
6 notes on this verseReceive into thy ears the teaching of the great Solomon: God hates the poor man to be a pleader on high. [Prov. 23:11] Therefore submit thyself, and give honour to Him that is powerful; for the soft speech-thou knowest the proverb-melts. [Prov. 15:1] One is …
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.
This site's exposition
for their Redeemer is strong
The fatherless have a strong Redeemer who will take up their case against the man who moves their boundary stone. Albert Barnes explains the word from the duty of the next of kin, the avenger of blood. God claims the fatherless as his own kin.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
For their Redeemer is mighty,.... As he must needs be, since the Lord of hosts is his name; who sympathizes with them, has mercy on them, is their father, and their friend; see Jer 50:34; he shall plead their cause with thee; or "against thee", as the Vulgate Latin version; and will certainly carry it for them, and against thee; for, when he undertakes a cause, he pleads it thoroughly.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The reason is given for the precept Pro 23:10. Their redeemer - See Job 19:25 note. It was the duty of the גאל gā'al, the next of kin, to take on himself, in case of murder, the office of avenger of blood Num 35:19. By a slight extension the word was applied to one who took on himself a like office in cases short of this. Here, therefore, the thought is that, destitute as the fatherless may seem, there is One who claims them as His next of kin, and will avenge them.
For their redeemer is mighty - גאלם goalam, their kinsman. The word means the person who has a right, being next in blood, to redeem a field or estate, alienated from the family, to avenge the blood of a murdered relative, by slaying the murderer; and to take to wife a brother’s widow, who had died childless, in order to preserve the family. The strength here mentioned refers to the justness of his claim, the extent of his influence, and the powerful abettors of such a cause. But in reference to the orphans here mentioned, they having no kinsman, God takes up, vindicates, and avenges their cause.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| גֹאֲלָ֥ם | goalam | redeemer their | H1350 → | |
| חָזָ֑ק | chazak | [is] strong | H2389 → | |
| הֽוּא־ | hu'- | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| יָרִ֖יב | yariv | he will conduct | H7378 → | 67 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| רִיבָ֣ם | rivam | case their | H7379 → | 61 times |
| אִתָּֽךְ׃ | ʾitakh | with you | H854 → | 929 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
גֹאֲלָ֥םredeemer their
goalamH1350 →
חָזָ֑ק[is] strong
chazakH2389 →
הֽוּא־he
hu'-H1931 →1879 times
יָרִ֖יבhe will conduct
yarivH7378 →67 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
רִיבָ֣םcase their
rivamH7379 →61 times
אִתָּֽךְ׃with you
ʾitakhH854 →929 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
Job 19:25But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth.
it leads to
- Ephesians 1:7
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
- Isaiah 54:5
For your husband is your Maker—the LORD of Hosts is His name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.
- Psalms 78:35
And they remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.
- Psalms 19:14
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
- Ephesians 1:7
Through
Psalms 12:5“For the cause of the oppressed and for the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will bring safety to him who yearns.”
it leads to
- Psalms 34:6
This poor man called out, and the LORD heard him; He saved him from all his troubles.
- Proverbs 14:31
Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.
- James 5:4
Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
- Psalms 146:7–8
He executes justice for the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free,
- Psalms 34:6
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); Commodian, On Christian Discipline, LXXII; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.