Proverbs

Proverbs 28

28 verses · Wisdom · Old Testament

1The wicked flee when no one pursues; but the righteous are as bold as a lion. 2In rebellion, a land has many rulers, but order is maintained by a man of understanding and knowledge. 3A needy man who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain which leaves no crops. 4Those who forsake the law praise the wicked; but those who keep the law contend with them. 5Evil men don’t understand justice; but those who seek Yahweh understand it fully. 6Better is the poor who walks in his integrity, than he who is perverse in his ways, and he is rich. 7Whoever keeps the law is a wise son; but he who is a companion of gluttons shames his father. 8He who increases his wealth by excessive interest gathers it for one who has pity on the poor. 9He who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination. 10Whoever causes the upright to go astray in an evil way, he will fall into his own trap; but the blameless will inherit good. 11The rich man is wise in his own eyes; but the poor who has understanding sees through him. 12When the righteous triumph, there is great glory; but when the wicked rise, men hide themselves. 13He who conceals his sins doesn’t prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy. 14Blessed is the man who always fears; but one who hardens his heart falls into trouble. 15As a roaring lion or a charging bear, so is a wicked ruler over helpless people. 16A tyrannical ruler lacks judgment. One who hates ill-gotten gain will have long days. 17A man who is tormented by life blood will be a fugitive until death; no one will support him. 18Whoever walks blamelessly is kept safe; but one with perverse ways will fall suddenly. 19One who works his land will have an abundance of food; but one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty. 20A faithful man is rich with blessings; but one who is eager to be rich will not go unpunished. 21To show partiality is not good; yet a man will do wrong for a piece of bread. 22A stingy man hurries after riches, and doesn’t know that poverty waits for him. 23One who rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than one who flatters with the tongue. 24Whoever robs his father or his mother and says, “It’s not wrong,” is a partner with a destroyer. 25One who is greedy stirs up strife; but one who trusts in Yahweh will prosper. 26One who trusts in himself is a fool; but one who walks in wisdom is kept safe. 27One who gives to the poor has no lack; but one who closes his eyes will have many curses. 28When the wicked rise, men hide themselves; but when they perish, the righteous thrive.

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4 commentators · 111 notes on this chapter

Matthew HenryEnglish Puritan / Nonconformist · 1708–171428

Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.

Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.

v. 1

See here, 1. What continual frights those are subject to that go on in wicked ways. Guilt in the conscience makes men a terror to themselves, so that they are ready to flee when none pursues; like one that absconds for debt, who thinks every one he meets a…

v. 2

Note, 1. National sins bring national disorders and the disturbance of the public repose: For the transgression of a land, and a general defection from God and religion to idolatry, profaneness, or immorality, many are the princes thereof, many at the same…

v. 3

See here, 1. How hard-hearted poor people frequently are to one another, not only not doing such good offices as they might do one to another, but imposing upon and over-reaching one another. Those who know by experience the miseries of poverty should be…

John GillParticular Baptist / High Calvinist · 1746–176328

The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.

Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.

v. 1

The wicked flee when no man pursueth,.... Through the terrors of a guilty conscience, as in Cain and others; who fear where no immediate cause of fear is, are frightened with their own shadows; and as Gaal was with the shadow of the mountains, he took for an…

v. 2

For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof,.... Either together; that is, reigning princes, such as lay claim to the crown, and usurp it; otherwise it is a happiness to a nation to have many princes of the blood, to inherit in succession, to…

v. 3

A poor man that oppresseth the poor,.... Either one that is poor at the time he oppresses another like himself, either by secret fraud or open injury; from whom the oppressed can get no redress, as sometimes he may and does from a rich man: or rather one that…

Keil & DelitzschGerman Lutheran, conservative-critical · 1861–187528

The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.

Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.

v. 1

1 The godless flee without any one pursuing them; But the righteous are bold like a lion. We would misinterpret the sequence of the accents if we supposed that it denoted רשׁע as obj.; it by no means takes ואין־רדף as a parenthesis. רשׁע belongs thus to נסוּ…

v. 2

There now follows a royal proverb, whose key-note is the same as that struck at Pro 25:2, which states how a country falls into the οὐκ ἀγαθόν of the rule of the many: Through the wickedness of a land the rulers become many; And through a man of wisdom, of…

v. 3

A proverb of a tyrant here connects itself with that of usurpers: A poor man and an oppressor of the lowly - A sweeping rain without bringing bread. Thus it is to be translated according to the accents. Fleischer otherwise, but also in conformity with the…

Jamieson, Fausset & BrownScottish Presbyterian / Reformed · 187127

The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.

Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.

v. 2

Anarchy producing contending rulers shortens the reign of each. but by a man . . . prolonged--or, "by a man of understanding--that is, a good ruler--he who knows or regards the right, that is, a good citizen, shall prolong (his days)." Good rulers are a…

v. 3

A poor man, &c.--Such, in power, exact more severely, and so leave subjects bare.

v. 4

They that forsake . . . wicked--Wrongdoers encourage one another.

World English Bible — Public domain