Proverbs 22:22

22 Don't walk on the poor just because they're poor, and don't use your position to crush the weak,

Proverbs 22:22 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 22:22

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" ^F8; let not that be an inducement to injure him, but the contrary; neither oppress the afflicted in the gate;
or "the poor" ^F9; 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, ( Ruth 4:1 Ruth 4:2 ) ; 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 ( Zechariah 11:7 Zechariah 11:11 ) .

---

FOOTNOTES:

F7 (awx ld yk) "nam tenuis est", so some in Mercerus.
F8 "Etsi"; so some in Mercerus; "quamvis", Lutherus.
F9 (yne) "inopem", Schtultens, so Cocceius; "pauperem", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Proverbs 22:22 In-Context

20 I'm giving you thirty sterling principles - tested guidelines to live by.

21 Believe me - these are truths that work, and will keep you accountable to those who sent you.

22 Don't walk on the poor just because they're poor, and don't use your position to crush the weak,

23 Because God will come to their defense; the life you took, he'll take from you and give back to them.

24 Don't hang out with angry people; don't keep company with hotheads.