Proverbs 3:28
in Proverbs 3Do not tell your neighbor, “Come back tomorrow and I will provide”—when you already have the means.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Say not unto thy neighbor, Go, and come again, And to-morrow I will give; When thou hast it by thee.
KJV
Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.
⋯
This verse in Proverbs 3
Commentary
7 notes on this verseSay not unto thy neighbor - Do not refuse a kindness when it is in thy power to perform it. If thou have the means by thee, and thy neighbor’s necessities be pressing, do not put him off till the morrow. Death may take either him or thee before that time.
This site's exposition
Do not withhold good from the deserving
on Proverbs 3:27-30
“Do not withhold good from the deserving when it is within your power to act” turns from inward trust to a neighbor's claim. The excuse “Come back tomorrow and I will provide” is forbidden, delay posing as future kindness when the means are at hand.
This site's exposition
Come back tomorrow and I will provide
Adam Clarke warns that death may take either the one who could provide or the neighbor who asks before tomorrow comes. Deuteronomy 24:15 sets the same rule for wages, paid before the sun goes down. Help held back can come too late.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
"Do not say to your neighbor, 'Go, and come back,' etc. This command is given not only about someone asking for alms but that we should be willing and ready to give generously and promptly. Likewise, all the commands of Christ, who said: 'You are …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Say not unto thy neighbour,....
5 Trust in the L ORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. We are here taught to live a life of communion with God; and without controversy great is this mystery of godliness, and of great consequence to us, and, as is here shown, will be of unspeakable advantage.
To be charitable to the poor and necessitous. If others want the necessary supports of life, and we have wherewithal to supply them, we must look upon it as due to them and not withhold it. Alms are called righteousness because they are a debt to the poor, and a debt which we must not defer to pay, Bis dat, qui cito dat -- He gives twice who gives speedily.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תֹּ֘אמַ֤ר | tomar | you say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לְרֵֽעֲךָ֨ | lereeikha | to neighbor your | H7453 → | 188 times |
| לֵ֣ךְ | lekh | go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וָ֭שׁוּב | vashuv | and come back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| וּמָחָ֥ר | umachar | and tomorrow | H4279 → | |
| אֶתֵּ֗ן | ʾeten | I will give [it] | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| וְיֵ֣שׁ | veyesh | and there is | H3426 → | 140 times |
| אִתָּֽךְ׃ | ʾitakh | with you | H854 → | 929 times |
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תֹּ֘אמַ֤רyou say
tomarH559 →5305 times
לְרֵֽעֲךָ֨to neighbor your
lereeikhaH7453 →188 times
לֵ֣ךְgo
lekhH1980 →1546 times
וָ֭שׁוּבand come back
vashuvH7725 →1056 times
וּמָחָ֥רand tomorrow
umacharH4279 →
אֶתֵּ֗ןI will give [it]
ʾetenH5414 →2011 times
וְיֵ֣שׁand there is
veyeshH3426 →140 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
Ecclesiastes 11:6Sow your seed in the morning, and do not rest your hands in the evening, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or if both will equally prosper.
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 9:10–11
Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your store of seed and will increase the harvest of your righteousness.
- Isaiah 55:10
For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return without watering the earth, making it bud and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat,
- Haggai 1:6–11
You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into…
- Hosea 10:12
Sow for yourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of loving devotion; break up your unplowed ground. For it is time to seek the LORD until He comes and sends righteousness upon you like rain.
- 2 Corinthians 9:6
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
- 2 Corinthians 9:10–11
Through
Ecclesiastes 9:10Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
it leads to
- Colossians 3:23
Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, for the Lord and not for men,
- Ephesians 5:16
redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
- Romans 12:11
Do not let your zeal subside; keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
- Colossians 3:23
Where this verse is studied
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.