Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 14:31
He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoreth him hath mercy on the poor.
31. he that honoureth &c.] Rather, he that hath mercy on the needy honoureth him, R.V. Comp. Pro 17:5; Mat 25:40.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Honoureth him – i. e., God, who is the Maker of poor and rich alike.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Pro 14:31
He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker.
Oppression of the poor a reproach to their Maker
Every man acting his part in his social capacity is a spectacle. Society is an organisation of rational creatures, acting together for some good. Society is a commonwealth of human nature in close connection with God. And so every man becomes his brothers keeper.
I. Human nature, as involving a crime–oppressing the poor.
1. By political injustice. When they have no proper organ for expressing their wants, or have a voice in the representation of their country, or a free agency in all the enactments of their country.
2. By social neglect. When the state, as a body, allows vast masses of accumulating distress and ignorance and misery to grow up around it.
3. By mental debasement. Real, true, solid Christian education consists in three things–in giving the mind great truths, in imparting to the mind great motives, in the bestowment of great principles.
II. The consequence–the maker is reproached. The poor cannot but think ill of God, when society, which assumes to be His arrangement, presses so heavily upon them. (R. Montgomery, M.A.)
Godliness and humanity
Piety and philanthropy are essentially one. Wherever there is piety or godliness, there is philanthropy. Philanthropy is the offspring of all true religion. The text teaches–
I. That inhumanity is ungodliness. There is a great deal of inhumanity in the world, the poor have to endure a great deal of oppression. Superior force is exerted to exact their labours for the most inadequate remuneration, and thus to grind their faces. All this oppression of the poor is a reproach of God; he who does it reproacheth his Maker. He reproaches his Maker–
1. By disregarding that identity of nature with which our Maker has endowed all classes.
2. By disregarding those laws which our Maker has enjoined concerning the poor (Lev 25:35-36; Deu 15:11).
II. True humanity is godliness. He that honoureth Him, hath mercy on the poor. He that honoureth God, by loving Him supremely, and serving Him, will have mercy on the poor. There is, it is true, a fickle, sentimental, natural mercifulness for the poor, which has no connection with godliness, but this is not true humanity. True humanity is that which sympathises with man, as the offspring of God, the victim of moral evil, the child of immortality, and which consecrates itself in the Spirit of Christ to ameliorate his woes and redeem his soul, and this is godliness in its practical development (Isa 58:6-7). (Homilist.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 31. He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker] Because the poor, or comparatively poor, are, in the order of God, a part of the inhabitants of the earth; and every man who loves God will show mercy to the poor, for with this God is peculiarly delighted. The poor have we ever with us, for the excitement and exercise of those benevolent, compassionate, and merciful feelings, without which men had been but little better than brutes.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He that oppresseth the poor; that useth him hardly, as the Syriac renders it; that withholdeth from him that which is his due, either by the rules of strict justice, or by the great law of charity, of which see Pro 3:27, and so it is opposed to having mercy in the next clause.
Reproacheth his Maker; whose image the poor man bears, which might challenge respect, Job 31:15; by whose counsel and providence he is made poor, 1Sa 2:7; Pro 22:2, and who hath declared himself to be their protector and avenger.
He that honoureth him, his image, and works, and laws,
hath mercy on the poor; doth not only forbear oppressing or injuring of him, but affords him his pity and help.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
31. reproacheth his Makerwhois the God of such, as well as of the rich (Pro 22:2;Job 31:15; and specially 1Sa 2:8;Psa 113:7).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker,…. That does him any injury, either by scoffing at him, and reproaching him for his poverty; or by vexatious law suits; or by withholding from him his wages; or not giving him that relief which he ought: such an one not only injures the poor man; but reproaches God that made him, not only a man, but a poor man; and who is the Maker of the rich man also,
Pr 22:2;
but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor; he that is desirous of honouring God, and glorifying him, will give of his substance to the poor; having compassion on him in his necessitous circumstances, will relieve him; and in so doing he honours God, whose image the poor man bears, and who has commanded him so to do. The words may be rendered, “he that hath mercy on the poor honoureth him”; that is, his Maker: so the Targum,
“he that hath mercy on him that suffers injury honoureth him.”
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
31 He who oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker;
And whosoever is merciful to the poor, it is an honour to him.
Line first is repeated in Pro 17:5 somewhat varied, and the relation of the idea in 31b is as Pro 19:17, according to which is the predicate and the subject (Symmachus, Targ., Jerome, Venet., Luther), not the reverse (Syr.); is thus not the 3 per. Po. (lxx), but the part. Kal (for which 21b has the part. Po. ). The predicates ( vid., regarding the perf. Gesen. 126, 3) and follow one another after the scheme of the Chiasmus. has Munach on the first syllable, on which the tone is thrown back, and on the second the sign ( vid., Torath Emeth, p. 21), as e.g., , Pro 17:14, and , Pro 17:19. The showing of forbearance and kindness to the poor arising from a common relation to one Creator, and from respect towards a personality bearing the image of God, is a conception quite in the spirit of the Chokma, which, as in the Jahve religion it becomes the universal religion, so in the national law it becomes the human. Thus also Job 31:15, cf. Pro 3:9 of the Epistle of James, which in many respects has its roots in the Book of Proverbs. Mat 25:40 is a New Testament side-piece to 31b.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
31 He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.
God is here pleased to interest himself more than one would imagine in the treatment given to the poor. 1. He reckons himself affronted in the injuries that are done them. Whosoever he be that wrongs a poor man, taking advantage against him because he is poor and cannot help himself, let him know that he puts an affront upon his Maker. God made him, and gave him his being, the same that is the author of our being; we have all one Father, one Maker; see how Job considered this, Job xxxi. 15. God made him poor, and appointed him his lot, so that, if we deal hardly with any because they are poor, we reflect upon God as dealing hardly with them in laying them low, that they might be trampled upon. 2. He reckons himself honoured in the kindnesses that are done them; he takes them as done to himself, and will show himself accordingly pleased with them. I was hungry, and you gave me meat. Those therefore that have any true honour for God will show it by compassion to the poor, whom he has undertaken in a special manner to protect and patronise.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
God’s Concern For Poor
Verse 31 emphasizes God’s concern for the poor and needy. God is the creator of all, including the poor, (Job 31:15-16) and God is reproached by any who oppresses the poor, Pro 14:31; Pro 17:5. He that honors God has mercy on (shows kindness to) the needy, Pro 14:31; 1Jn 3:17-18.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 14:31
THE OPPRESSED AND THEIR OPPRESSORS
I. Those who are objects of oppressionThe poor. They are made up of three classes.
1. Those who have never known their supplies to be equal to their positive needswho have not only always lived from hand to mouth, but whose hands have never been able to obtain a sufficient supply for the mouth. Such poor ones have this advantage, they have never known better daystheir life is like a river whose shallow waters have never overflowed its bankswhose channel has always been much deeper than the stream. There is no force of contrast to add to the present bitterness.
2. Those who have been reduced from sufficiency to want. To such poverty is a greater hardship than to those just mentioned. The light and comfort of the past makes the darkness and misery of the present harder to bear. If their own wrong-doing or mistakes have been the cause of their fall, the trial is all the heavier.
3. There are those whom we call poor who, though not actually in want, have to toil hard and unceasingly for the necessaries of life, and who know nothing of the luxuries of wealth and ease.
II. The oppression of any or all of these is an insult to God. To oppress the first is to oppress men for what they cannot helpfor that for which they are as irresponsible as for the colour of their skin, and therefore it is to reproach Him who appointed them to their lot in life. To oppress the second is to insult God, by afflicting them beyond the affliction which He has permitted to fall upon them. Whether their present condition is retribution or chastisement, its measure has been appointed by the hand of the All-wise Ruler of men, and it is reproaching Him to add to it by oppression. If a child is being corrected by its parent, or a criminal is paying the penalty which the judge has awarded to him for his crimes, it is an impeachment of their judgment to add in any way to the punishment that has been decreed. Those who oppress the third class are guilty of a sin against those who have always been special objects of His favour, and who make up a large proportion of the members of His kingdom. (See Homiletics and Comments on Pro. 14:21.)
III. Mercifulness to the poor reveals reverence for God.
1. It shows that the man regulates his conduct by Divine laws. God, as we have seen in considering the 21st verse, has been most explicit in the revelation of His will in this matter.
2. He sees in every man some trace of his divine Creator.
Man is Gods image; but a poor man is
Christs stamp to boot.
Herbert.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Oppression means something more than the contempt and neglect dealt with in Pro. 14:21. He who acts such a part reproacheth His Maker. For, first, he acts as if the poor were of another speciesan inferior order of beings; whereas they have all the attributes of the same manhood with him by whom they are condemned. Second, he acts as if the circumstances in which the poor are placed were a warrant for him to imitate the Divine conduct and depress them still further, which is a reproach of God, as if He dealt with the poor in a spirit of unkindness or partiality. A man may have mercy on the poor who does not honour God. Humanity may, and often does, exist without godliness; but godliness cannot exist without humanity.Wardlaw.
We treat God with no respect
(1) when the poor who are His children, are not treated as such;
(2) when the poor, who are his dependents, are left unhelped, so as to seem to bring Him into discredit, but (as is most intended, judging from the whole drift of this part of the chapter)
(3) when the poor, who are His instruments, and are sent to exercise our virtues, are not treated as such, but our Maker thwarted in the work of making us better by these needy visitants. Life moves by such sort of influences.Miller.
God takes it for an honour, how should this prevail with us? How exceedingly shall such be honoured in that great panegyris at the last day, when the Judge shall say, Come, ye blessed of My Father, I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat.Trapp.
He that reproacheth the poor reproacheth his own Maker, and showeth himself unworthy to have been made by Him; reproacheth the Maker of the poor, as if either He could not help him, or else as if He had made him to be oppressed by making him poor. But God, who suffereth thee to oppress the poor, will not suffer thee to be unpunished for it, and seeing thou sparest not to reproach Himself, will not spare to scourge thee. Tully saith, Men in nothing come nearer God than in giving, and Gregory Nazianzen goes further, and tells us, Thou mayest even by no labour be made God, do not, therefore, neglect the opportunity of obtaining a Deity. Make thyself God to the miserable, by imitating the mercy of God.Jermin.
The ancient Church possessed in full the glorious truth, that of all the real compassion which flows through human channels, the fountain-head is on high. He who gets mercy shows it.Arnot.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(31) Reproacheth his Maker.For having placed him in such a lowly condition. The equality of all men, as being all of them the work of God, is taught by Gen. 1:27; Job. 31:15; Pro. 22:2. The duty of aiding the poor is in Mat. 25:40 based on the still higher ground of the union of Christ with His people, which makes Him regard good done to them as done to Himself.
But he that honoureth him . . .This would be better rendered, but he that hath mercy on the poor honoureth Him.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
31. Oppresseth reproacheth God is the maker, patron, and friend of the poor, and whose “oppresseth” such, because of his poverty, “reproacheth,” or injuriously reflects on, God, who assigned him his lot.
That honoureth him Better, he honoureth him (God) that hath mercy on the poor, the needy. Two Hebrew words in the verse are rendered by one word, poor. This is often the case in these proverbs. It is probable, indeed, that the words in the original are nearly synonymous, and are used merely for variety of expression. It is a pity that our translators had not more closely imitated the elegance of the original, as they might oftener have done. Compare Pro 5:21; Pro 17:5; Pro 19:17; Job 31:15-16; Mat 25:40; 1Jn 3:17; Deu 15:7; Luk 3:11; Pro 22:2.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
v. 31. He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Pro 14:31 He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.
Ver. 31. He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker. ] Since it is he that “maketh poor, and that maketh rich, and thereby killeth and maketh alive.” 1Sa 2:6-7 Rich men only seem to be alive. Hence David, sending his servants to that Pamphagus, that rich curmudgeon, Nabal, speaketh on this sort, “Thus shall ye say to him that liveth” 1Sa 25:6 – there is no more in the original – as if rich men only were alive. Poor people are “free among the dead” Psa 88:5 – free of that company, as David was, when they are crushed and oppressed, especially by rich cormorants and cannibals. Psa 14:4 A poor man’s livelihood is his life, Luk 8:43 for a poor man in his house is like a snail in his shell – crush that, and you kill him. This reflects very much upon God, the poor man’s king, as James IV of Scotland was called, who will not suffer it to pass unpunished, “for he is gracious.” As unskilful hunters may shoot at a beast, but kill a man, so do these oppressors hit God, the poor man’s maker.
But he honoureth him that hath mercy on the poor.
a , Heb 12:23 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the poor = a weak one. Hebrew. dal. See note on Pro 6:11.
his Maker. An ancient title found in the book of Job (Job 35:10), also in Pro 17:5; just as we speak of the “Creator”. Used here because He is the Maker of the weak as well as the strong. We meet with it again in Isa 17:7; Isa 51:13; Isa 54:5. Not “confined to the later literature of Judaism”.
the poor = a humble one. Hebrew. ‘ebyon. See note on Pro 6:11.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 14:31
Pro 14:31
“He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker; But he that hath mercy on the needy honoreth him.”
There are three classes of the poor: (1) those, who through lack of ability, have never been able to make a living, (2) those who were once affluent, but have been brought down by affliction, and (3) those who, though not actually in want, are able through diligent and constant toil to supply the barest necessities of life but do not know any of the luxuries of ease or wealth. “Oppression of any or all of these is an insult to God. To oppress class (1) is to increase the affliction of them whose condition is not their fault, any more than is the color of their skin; to oppress class (2) is to add to an affliction that God has permitted to fall upon them; and to oppress class (3) is to oppress those who make up the vast majority of God’s kingdom. The oppression of any poor man is an insult to God.
Pro 14:31. Ones action toward the poor and needy is here judged in relation to God (Mat 25:44-45), who is the Maker of the poor as well as any other (Pro 22:2). Pro 17:5 speaks of mocking the poor, which also results in reproaching their Maker. Pro 14:21 of this chapter speaks of having pity on the poor which he does by having mercy upon him (this verse). People of Jobs day understood this teaching (Job 31:13-15). In life there are some who help make people poor (like the thieves in the Good Samaritan parable, Luk 10:30) and others who help the needy (like the Good Samaritan himself, Luk 10:33-34); and then there are also many (like the priest and levite of that parable) who neither made the man poor nor help him get better (Luk 10:31-32). In which class are you?
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
that oppresseth: Pro 17:5, Pro 22:2, Pro 22:16, Pro 22:22, Pro 22:23, Job 31:13-16, Psa 12:5, Ecc 5:8, Mat 25:40-46
but: Pro 14:21, Pro 19:17, Mat 25:40, Joh 12:8, 2Co 8:7-9, 1Jo 3:17-21, 1Jo 4:21
Reciprocal: Lev 25:14 – General Lev 25:35 – then Num 15:30 – reproacheth Deu 24:14 – General Job 20:19 – Because Job 30:25 – was Job 31:15 – Did not he Job 34:19 – they Psa 10:9 – when Psa 103:6 – executeth Pro 3:9 – General Pro 22:7 – rich Isa 58:10 – thou draw Eze 18:7 – hath not Eze 18:17 – hath taken Mat 25:35 – I was an Mat 25:45 – Inasmuch Luk 11:41 – rather Luk 14:13 – call Rom 15:26 – the poor Heb 6:10 – For Jam 2:6 – ye
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 14:31. He that oppresseth the poor That uses the poor man hardly, as the Syriac renders it: that withholdeth from him that which is his due, either by the rules of strict justice, or by the great law of charity, of which see Pro 3:27; reproacheth his Maker Whose image the poor man bears, by whose counsel and providence he is made poor, and who hath declared himself to be the protector and avenger of the poor; but he that honoureth him That honoureth Gods image, and works, and laws; hath mercy on the poor Does not only forbear oppressing or injuring the poor man, but affords him his pity and help.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
"Loving evangelism is the foremost road out of poverty." [Note: Larsen, p. 174.]