Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 22:22
Rob not the poor, because he [is] poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:
The body of the Collection
Chap. Pro 22:22 to Pro 24:22
22. because ] Which may either mean, Do not let his poverty and consequent defencelessness be a temptation to thee to wrong him, or, Let it be a motive with thee to abstain through pity from doing so. The latter meaning is indicated in R.V. marg. by rendering for, instead of because. , LXX.
the gate ] The place of business (Gen 34:20), and of judgement, (Deu 21:19).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
i. e., Do not be tempted by the helplessness of the poor man to do him wrong: some prefer, Refrain from doing him wrong through pity for his helplessness.
The gate – The place where the rulers of the city sit in judgment. The words point to the special form of oppression of which unjust judges are the instruments.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 22. Neither oppress the afflicted in the gate] In judgment let the poor have a fair hearing; and let him not be borne down because he is poor. The reader has often seen that courts of justice were held at the gates of cities in the East.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Because he is poor: this may be mentioned, either,
1. As a motive to this robbery, because he was unable to resist him, or to revenge himself upon him. Do not take advantage of his poverty. Or,
2. As an argument against it, because he is a fitter object for thy pity and charity, than for thy injustice or cruelty. It is base and inhuman to crush such a person.
In the gate; in the place of judgment, or under pretence of justice, and much less in other ways, where there is no colour of justice.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
22, 23. Here follow ten preceptsof two verses each. Though men fail to defend the poor, God will(Pro 17:5; Psa 12:5).
in the gateplace ofpublic gathering (Job 5:4;Psa 69:12).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Rob not the poor, because he [is] poor,…. And cannot help himself; cannot go to law with him that has injured him, and defend his own cause; which the other knowing, is the more emboldened to spoil and defraud him, which is an aggravation of his sin: or, “for he is poor” g; to rob any man is an evil and an injurious thing; but to rob the poor is cruel and barbarous; rather something should be given them, and not anything taken from them: or, “though he is poor” h; let not that be an inducement to injure him, but the contrary;
neither oppress the afflicted in the gate; or “the poor” i; the same as before, only a different word used: when he comes into a court of judicature, which was usually held in the gates of a city, Ru 4:1; and applies for redress of any grievance, do not crush him in the gate, or oppress him in judgment; nor wrest his cause, and do him wrong; but let him have justice done him, though poor. Some understand this of using the poor ill, when they come to their gates to beg; which sense is favoured by the Septuagint version; but the former is best. One might have expected, after such a preface or introduction as in the preceding verses, that something of more importance, something more spiritual and evangelical, would have followed: this shows the great regard the Lord has to the poor, and how much they are on his mind, and how near they lie to his heart; especially the poor of the flock, worried and spoiled by antichrist; see Zec 11:7.
g “nam tenuis est”, so some in Mercerus. h “Etsi”; so some in Mercerus; “quamvis”, Lutherus. i “inopem”, Schtultens, so Cocceius; “pauperem”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
After these ten lines of preliminary exhortation, there now begins the collection of the “Words of the Wise” thus introduced. A tetrastich which, in its contents, connects itself with the last proverb of the Solomonic collection, Pro 22:16, forms the commencement of this collection:
22 Rob not the lowly because he is lowly;
And oppress not the humble in the gate.
23 For Jahve will conduct their cause,
And rob their spoilers of life.
Though it may bring gain, as said Pro 22:16, to oppress the , the lowly or humble, yet at last the oppressor comes to ruin. The poet here warns against robbing the lowly because he is lowly, and thus without power of defence, and not to be feared; and against doing injustice to the , the bowed down, and therefore incapable of resisting in the gate, i.e., in the court of justice. These poor men have not indeed high human patrons, but One in heaven to undertake their cause: Jahve will conduct their cause ( , as at Pro 23:10), i.e., will undertake their vindication, and be their avenger. ( ), Aram. and Arab. dakk (cf. , Arab. dakk ), signifies to crush anything so that it becomes broad and flat, figuratively to oppress, synon. (Fleischer). The verb has, in Chald. and Syr., the signification to stick, to fix (according to which Aquila here translates , to nail; Jerome, configere ); and as root-word to , the signification to be arched, like (Arab.) kab’ , to be humpbacked; both significations are here unsuitable. The connection here requires the meaning to rob; and for Mal 3:8 also, this same meaning is to be adopted, robbery and taking from one by force (Parchon, Kimchi), not: to deceive (Khler, Keil), although it might have the sense of robbing by withholding or refraining from doing that which is due, thus of a sacrilege committed by omission or deception. The Talm. does not know the verb in this meaning; but it is variously found as a dialectic word for .
(Note: Thus Rosch ha-schana 26b: Levi came once to N.N. There a man came to meet him, and cried out . Levi knew not what he would say, and went into the Madrash-house to ask. One answered him: He is a robber ( ) said that one to thee; for it is said in the Scriptures (Mal 3:8), “Will a man rob God?” etc. ( vid., Wissenschaft Kunst Judenthum, p. 243). In the Midrash, , to Psa 57:1-11, R. Levi says that is used in the sense of . And in the Midrash Tanchuma, P. , R. Levi answers the question, “What is the meaning of , Mal 3:8?” – It is an Arabic expression. An Arabian, when he wishes to say to another , says instead of it, . Perhaps is cogn. to ; the R. coincides in several groups of languages (also the Turkish kb ) with the Lat. capere .)
Schultens’ etymological explanation, capitium injicere (after Arab. kab’ , to draw back and conceal the head), is not satisfactory. The construction, with the double accus., follows the analogy of and the like, Gesen. 139. 2. Regarding the sing. , even where several are spoken of, vid., under Pro 1:19.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
22 Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate: 23 For the LORD will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.
After this solemn preface, one would have expected something new and surprising; but no; here is a plain and common, but very needful caution against the barbarous and inhuman practices of oppressing poor people. Observe,
I. The sin itself, and that is robbing the poor and making them poorer, taking from those that have but little to lose and so leaving them nothing. It is bad to rob any man, but most absurd to rob the poor, whom we should relieve,–to squeeze those with our power whom we should water with our bounty,–to oppress the afflicted, and so to add affliction to them,–to give judgment against them, and so to patronise those that do rob them, which is as bad as if we robbed them ourselves. Rich men will not suffer themselves to be wronged; poor men cannot help themselves, and therefore we ought to be the more careful not to wrong them.
II. The aggravations of the sin. 1. If their inability, by reason of their poverty, to right themselves, embolden us to rob them, it is so much the worse; this is robbing the poor because he is poor; this is not only a base and cowardly thing, to take advantage against a man because he is helpless, but it is unnatural, and proves men worse than beasts. 2. Or, if it be done under the colour of law and justice, that is oppressing the afflicted in the gate, where they ought to be protected from wrong and to have justice done them against those that oppress them.
III. The danger that attends this sin. He that robs and oppresses the poor does it at his peril; for, 1. The oppressed will find God their powerful patron. He will plead their cause, and not suffer them to be run down and trampled upon. If men will not appear for them, God will. 2. The oppressors will find him a just avenger. He will make reprisals upon them, will spoil the souls of those that spoil them; he will repay them in spiritual judgments, in curses to their souls. He that robs the poor will be found in the end a murderer of himself.
| Prudential Maxims. | |
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Defender of Poor and Afflicted
Verses 22 and 23 assure Divine protection for the poor and afflicted and warns that the LORD will take action against those who would rob or oppress the disadvantaged, Pro 23:10-11; Exo 23:6; Zec 7:10; Mal 3:5; Psa 12:5; Psa 35:10; Psa 68:5; Psa 140:12.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 22:22-23
GOD THE SPOILER OF THE SPOILER
I. Robbery is of three kinds.
1. There is the open and unlegalised thief. There are men who do not pretend to respect the rights of others and who openly live in violation of Divine and human laws. They differ somewhat in their methods and in the description of their plundersome seeking to gain an entrance into the mansion and lay hands on the jewels of the wealthy, and others being content with what they can find in the cottage or on the waysidebut they are alike in pursuing their profession without any pretence that they fear God or regard men. But these are not the robbers against whom the sentence is passed which is contained in this proverb.
2. There is the legalised thief. There are governments under which iniquity is established by lawkingdoms in which wholesale robbery is carried on in the name of justice. There were many such in the days of Solomon and there is not a few in this nineteenth century. Perhaps, however, the Preacher was not referring so much to a government as a whole as to individuals who, sitting in the seats of justice, were regardless of the rights of those over whom their position gave them authority. The oppressor in the gate is probably a judge who disregards the rights of the poor man if he conceives it will further his own interest so to do, while he all the time pretends to be an administrator of justice and does all in the name of the law of the land. Under this class may be placed those who hold in trust property which has been given for the use of the poor and who disregard the claims of the really needy and so defeat the good intention of the donor. There is an immense amount of this misappropriation of money even in England, and although those who are guilty of it distribute their favours with a pretence of impartiality, and in the name of law, they are as truly robbers in the sight of God as the burglar or the pickpocket.
3. There is the negative robber. A man may be a thief without taking anything from his fellow-man or without holding any official position and abusing his power and privileges. If a man or woman who is brought in contact with others poorer than himself or herself withholds from these poorer brethren anything simply because they cannot retaliate or enforce their rights, such a man or woman is a robber of the poor. And this may and is often done unconsciouslya man who would be indignant at being branded as unjust withholds from those whom poverty has placed in his power rights which belong to every rank and station but which are not always looked upon as the equal heritage of the poor and the rich. For it is quite possible to rob the poor without taking or withholding money from them. Some, who would not do this, rob them of their rest and leisure and withhold from them consideration and sympathy.
II. Defenceless though the poor may seem, Almighty power is on their side. Although the robbery may be legalised on earth, it is contrary to the law of heaven, and although the judge who oppresses can be brought before no human tribunal, he will one day stand before the bar of God. The Judge of all the earth was Himself once a poor man, and can sympathise with the oppressed poor as well as avenge their wrongs. He will spoil the oppressor of his souls comfort, and cause him to faint, and be afflicted for want of spiritual sustenance. Many a poor mans soul is made sad by legalised injustice, and Christ as mans judge will bring legalised justice to bear upon him who offends in this matter. (Mat. 25:41-46.) See also Homiletics on Pro. 22:16, and on Chap. Pro. 14:30, page 389.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
After so promising a preface, and such wooing of attention, we looked for some fresh matter, and that of best note, too. But, behold, here is nothing but what we had before. It is truth, saith the wise man, and yet I must tell you that to write the same things to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. (Php. 3:1.)Trapp.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
TEXT Pro. 22:22-29
22.
Rob not the poor, because he is poor;
Neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:
23.
For Jehovah will plead their cause,
And despoil of life those that despoil them.
24.
Make no friendship with a man that is given to anger;
And with a wrathful man thou shalt not go:
25.
Lest thou learn his ways,
And get a snare to thy soul.
26.
Be thou not one of them that strike hands,
Or of them that are sureties for debts.
27.
If thou has not wherewith to pay,
Why should he take away thy bed from under thee?
28.
Remove not the ancient landmark,
Which thy fathers have set.
29.
Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings;
He shall stand before mean men.
STUDY QUESTIONS OVER 22:22-29
1.
Why would people rob the poor (Pro. 22:22)?
2.
What other passages besides Pro. 22:23 show Gods particular care for the unfortunate?
3.
Why should one become a close friend to the unfortunate (Pro. 22:23)?
4.
What are other verses besides Pro. 22:25 that indicate the power of evil influence?
5.
What is meant in Pro. 22:26 by strike hands?
6.
How could one lose his bed (Pro. 22:27)?
7.
What is meant by landmark (Pro. 22:28)?
8.
What Bible character came to stand before the king because of diligence (Pro. 22:29)?
9.
Why is meant by mean in Pro. 22:29?
PARAPHRASE OF 22:22-29
22, 23
Dont rob the poor and sick! For the Lord is their defender. If you injure them He will punish You.
24, 25.
Keep away from angry, short-tempered men, lest you learn to be like them and endanger your soul.
26, 27.
Unless you have the extra cash on hand, dont countersign a note. Why risk everything you own? Theyll even take your bed!
28.
Do not move the ancient boundary marks. That is stealing.
29.
Do you know a hard working man? He shall be successful and stand before kings!
COMMENTS ON 22:22-29
Pro. 22:22. Both Old and New Testaments teach us to regard the unfortunate (Exo. 23:6; Jas. 1:27). Yet they are often oppressed (Zec. 7:10; Mal. 3:5;. In the gate was where legal matters were settled (their courthouse). Sometimes the poor have not gotten their proper treatment in courts because of the other side had the money to bribe those in charge.
Pro. 22:23. In the absence of human defense God has promised to take up in their behalf and take away from those who took away from them. Other passages on the same subject: Psa. 12:5; Psa. 35:10; Psa. 68:5; Psa. 140:12; Pro. 23:10-11. God saw that King Ahab was despoiled for the vineyard he took away from Naboth (1Ki. 21:1-14).
Pro. 22:24. Of all the people in the world with which to make companions, what a poor companion an angry, wrathful man is! But some people are that way (quick-tempered, no judgment, etc.), and some make friends with them.
Pro. 22:25. Like all companions, the close ties leave their influence (I. Cor. Pro. 15:33). Thus, one who had been blessed with a good spirit and a calm, cool disposition begins flying off the handle and going into a senseless rage when everything doesnt go just right. Why? Because he has been around just such a man.
Pro. 22:26. Being co-signer for anothers debts is warned against several times in Proverbs (Pro. 6:1-2; Pro. 11:15; Pro. 17:18; Pro. 20:16).
Pro. 22:27, How do you know at the time of obligating yourself whether you will be able at the time of need to put up the necessary money? You may have to get along without things that are necessary to your own life (like a bed).
Pro. 22:28. Pro. 23:10 also contains this prohibition. The original law behind this saying is in Deu. 19:14 : Thou shalt not remove thy neighbors landmark, which they of old time have set, in thine inheritance which thou shall inherit, in the land that Jehovah thy God giveth thee to possess it. It was one of the twelve special curses to be pronounced from Mt. Ebal: Cursed be he that removeth his neighbors landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen (Deu. 27:17). This would be like removing steel stakes or buried rocks of surveyings today. It was even worse then because the official description of a property line is recorded at the courthouse today while in Bible days the landmark was all there was.
Pro. 22:29. A person diligent in business is one who is ambitious, industrious, and aggressive. They are men of application, and they will be numbered among the great and the known. Their lifetimes will be spent in major, not minor, concerns. Joseph tended to every business assigned to him (Gen. 39:1-6; Gen. 39:21-23), and he stood before the Pharaoh (Gen. 41:39-44). David was diligent in caring for his fathers sheep. In this he developed both skill and bravery in protecting them against ferocious animals, and this (together with his great faith in God) had much to do with his fighting and killing Goliath (1Sa. 17:32-37). This led to his relationship with King Saul and the army (1Sa. 18:2; 1Sa. 18:5). Daniel was diligent in business (Dan. 6:4-5), and he was an important man in the administration of the following kings: Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, and Darius. The word mean in our verse means insignificant. Paul used the same word in referring to his native city Tarsus (Act. 21:39).
TEST QUESTIONS OVER 22:22-29
1.
What law has God issued concerning the unfortunate (Pro. 22:22)?
2.
What does in the gate mean in Pro. 22:22?
3.
What has God said concerning those who oppress the unfortunate (Pro. 22:23)?
4.
What will happen to a person who makes an angry man his buddy (Pro. 22:24-25)?
5.
What does Proverbs warn about being surety for anothers debts (Pro. 22:26)?
6.
Why was it even more serious then to remove the ancient landmarks than to remove surveyor items now (Pro. 22:28)?
7.
What does mean mean in Pro. 22:29?
8.
Cite Bible characters who were diligent in business and who stood before kings as a result (Pro. 22:29).
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
5. FIRST APPENDIX TO THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON (Pro. 10:1 to Pro. 22:16), CONTAINING PROVERBS OF DIFFERENT LENGTHS, FROM THE DISTICH TO THE LENGTHENED DIDACTIC POEM (Pro. 22:22 to Pro. 24:22).
(22) Neither oppress the afflicted in the gate.The place of business (Gen. 34:20) and of judgment (Deu. 21:19; Amo. 5:15). (Comp. the title, the Sublime Porte.) This, with the following Pro. 22:23, forms a tetrastich or verse of four lines, as do also Pro. 22:24-25.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
22, 23. Neither oppress in the gate The “gate” was the place of public resort, where courts were held, and causes tried and decided. The rich are forbidden to take, in judicial proceedings, such advantage of the poor or weak as their position and wealth may give them: and judges are warned against favouring the strong at the expense of the weak. Jehovah looks with especial displeasure on such unjust dealings. He is the advocate and patron of the poor and oppressed, and by his providence will avenge them, even to the life of their spoilers.
Spoil the soul The life; that is, he will demand the life of those who take advantage of the helpless poor. This is a fearful declaration to those who defraud the poor and lowly of their just rights. Some translate the last clause: He will despoil those who rob them of life. Others, despoil of life those who despoil them. Compare Pro 23:11; Mat 18:32, et seq; Zec 7:10.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
First Saying (Tetrastitch) Pro 22:22-23 forms a single proverbial thought using four lines. This is an example of a tetrastitch. This proverb warns us not to afflict the poor because God will take vengeance upon his oppressors. Note a similar verse in this division of proverbs where God will also defend the fatherless:
Pro 23:10-11, “Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless: For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.”
Pro 22:22 Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:
Pro 22:23
Pro 22:23 “neither oppress the afflicted in the gate” Comments – The gate of the cities was the place where judgment took place, where the elders decreed decisions in times of conflicts . Note:
BBE, “Do not take away the property of the poor man because he is poor, or be cruel to the crushed ones when they come before the judge :”
The statement “neither oppress the afflicted in the gate” refers to the injustice that takes place at a place of judgment, such as a court. In many societies today, and in ancient times, it was easy to bribe the judges and gain their favor, while the poor had nothing to offer such judges.
Pro 22:23 For the LORD will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.
v. 22. Rob not the poor, Pro 22:22 Rob not the poor, because he [is] poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:
Ver. 22. Rob not the poor, &c. ] Here some caviller will be apt to cry out, Quid dignum tauto feret hic promissor hiatu? After so promising a preface, and such wooing of attention, we looked for some new matter, and that of best note too. But behold here is nothing but what we had before. It is truth, saith the wise man; and yet I must tell you, that “to write the same things, to me indeed is not grievons, but for you it is safe.” Php 3:1 See the like in Psa 49:1-3 , &c. The scope of the psalm is to show the happy and secure estate of the saints in trouble, and the slippery condition of the wicked when at their height. Now whereas some might object and say, This is an ordinary argument, we have heard of it a hundred times; the Psalmist answers, that yet this is the great “wisdom” that he will speak of, and the “dark saying” that he will open. And hereunto he makes a solemn Oyez! – “Hear this, all ye people, and give ear all ye inhabitants of the world.”
Because he is poor.
Neither oppress the afflicted. a Gel., lib. xi. cap. 18.
the afflicted = a wretched one. Hebrew. ‘ani. See note on Pro 6:11.
Pro 22:22-23
Pro 22:22-23
“Rob not the poor because he is poor; Neither oppress the afflicted in the gate: For Jehovah will plead their cause, And will despoil of life those that despoil them.”
“To be ruthlessly `on the make’ is to make, above all, an Enemy. That Enemy, of course, is the Lord of heaven and earth.
Pro 22:22. Both Old and New Testaments teach us to regard the unfortunate (Exo 23:6; Jas 1:27). Yet they are often oppressed (Zec 7:10; Mal 3:5;. In the gate was where legal matters were settled (their courthouse). Sometimes the poor have not gotten their proper treatment in courts because of the other side had the money to bribe those in charge.
Pro 22:23. In the absence of human defense God has promised to take up in their behalf and take away from those who took away from them. Other passages on the same subject: Psa 12:5; Psa 35:10; Psa 68:5; Psa 140:12; Pro 23:10-11. God saw that King Ahab was despoiled for the vineyard he took away from Naboth (1Ki 21:1-14).
Rob: Pro 23:10, Pro 23:11, Eze 22:29
oppress: Pro 22:16, Exo 23:6, Job 29:12-16, Job 31:16, Job 31:21, Zec 7:10, Mal 3:5
in the gate: That is, in the court of justice, which, as we have already seen, was held at the gates of cities in the East.
Reciprocal: Exo 3:9 – and I have Exo 21:26 – General Exo 22:23 – I will surely Lev 19:13 – shalt not Deu 1:17 – ye shall hear Deu 24:15 – lest he Deu 24:17 – pervert Job 20:19 – Because Job 27:13 – the heritage Job 36:6 – giveth Psa 12:5 – oppression Psa 35:10 – which Psa 103:6 – executeth Psa 109:31 – to save Psa 140:12 – the Lord Psa 146:7 – executeth Pro 3:31 – choose Pro 10:15 – the destruction Pro 14:31 – that oppresseth Pro 21:7 – robbery Pro 22:7 – rich Pro 24:7 – openeth Isa 3:13 – standeth up Lam 3:35 – turn Eze 18:7 – hath not Eze 22:7 – dealt Amo 4:1 – which oppress Amo 5:12 – in the 1Th 4:6 – defraud
Pro 22:22-23. Rob not the poor, &c. Thus, after the preceding solemn preface, among the principal rules of life which he was about to lay down, he first commends this, not to be injurious to poor people; especially by oppressing them in a form of justice: as if he had said, Never abuse thy power to the spoiling of him who is in a mean condition; because he is poor And unable to resist thee, or to revenge himself upon thee. Do not take advantage of his poverty. Or, this clause may be considered as an argument against robbing him; as if he had said, Because he is a fitter object for thy pity and charity, than for thy injustice and cruelty; it is base and inhuman to crush such a person. Neither oppress the afflicted in the gate In the place of judgment, or under pretence of justice; and much less in other ways, where there is no colour of justice. For the Lord will plead their cause Which he hath in a peculiar manner undertaken to do; and will spoil the soul of those that spoiled them Will take away not only their goods, but their lives too. So fully will he recompense their wickedness to them.
Note the chiastic structure in these four lines that unifies the thought of the passage: violence, litigation, litigation, violence. The point of this first saying is that God will avenge the poor on those who oppress them.
B. The 30 Sayings 22:22-24:22
Waltke titled the first 10 sayings "a Decalogue of sayings about wealth." [Note: Ibid., p. 225.]
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)