Proverbs 23:11

Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless: ENTER NOT INTO THE FIELDS OF THE FATHERLESS (IN ORDER TO APPROPRIATE THEIR PROPERTY, AS THINKING THEY HAVE NONE TO DEFEND THEM); FOR THEIR REDEEMER IS MIGHTY; HE SHALL PLEAD THEIR CAUSE WITH THEE - (,) So () the poor once oppressed by the rich, at the capture of Jerusalem became possessors of the land of their oppressors. Compare Israel's Redeemer, ; . The Lord is the nearest of kin to the godly and friendless poor (), and is therefore their rightful Go'el, or Redeemer, to recover their lost...

Verse Proverbs 23:11. _FOR THEIR REDEEMER_ IS _MIGHTY_] גאלם _goalam_, their _kinsman_. The word means the person who has a right, being next in blood, to _redeem a field_ or _estate_, alienated from the family, to avenge _the blood_ of a murdered relative, by slaying the murderer; and to take to _wife_ a brother's widow, who had died childless, in order to preserve the family. The _strength_ here mentioned refers to the _justness_ of his claim, the _extent_ of his _influence_, and the powerful _abettors_ of such a cause. But in reference to the orphans here mentioned, they having no _kinsman_, God takes up, vindicates, and avenges their cause....

The reason is given for the precept Proverbs 23:10. THEIR REDEEMER - See Job 19:25 note. It was the duty of the גאל _gā'al_, the next of kin, to take on himself, in case of murder, the office of avenger of blood Numbers 35:19. By a slight extension the word was applied to one who took on himself a like office in cases short of this. Here, therefore, the thought is that, destitute as the fatherless may seem, there is One who claims them as His next of kin, and will avenge them. Yahweh Himself is in this sense their גאל _gā'al_, their Redeemer....

EXPOSITION PROVERBS 23:1 A hexastich closely connected with the last verse of the preceding chapter, as if the warning was addressed to the man of skill whom his talents had made the guest of kings. PROVERBS 23:1 WHEN THOU SITTEST TO EAT WITH A RULER. This, of course, would be a great honour to a man of lowly birth, or to one of the middle class, to whom the manners of courts and palaces were practically unknown. CONSIDER DILIGENTLY WHAT IS BEFORE THEE. So the Vulgate, _Qua apposita sunt ante faciem tuam_;_ _and the Septuagint, Τὰ παρατιθέμενά σοι_. _Take heed lest the unusual dainties on the table tempt thee to excess, which may lead not only to unseemly behavi

FOR THEIR REDEEMER [IS] MIGHTY,.... As he must needs be, since the Lord of hosts is his name; who sympathizes with them, has mercy on them, is their father, and their friend; see Jeremiah 50:34; HE SHALL PLEAD THEIR CAUSE WITH THEE; or "against thee", as the Vulgate Latin version; and will certainly carry it for them, and against thee; for, when he undertakes a cause, he pleads it thoroughly....

REDEEMER Hebrew, "goel," Redemption (Kinsman type). (_ See Scofield) - (Isaiah 59:20). _...

CHAPTER 23 INSTRUCTIONS CONTINUED The opening proverbs of this chapter treat of self-restraint in curbing the appetite and give manners to be observed in the presence of a superior. Warnings against riches and their uncertainty are contained in Proverbs 23:4 and Proverbs 23:5. How well it would be if the great mass of professing Christians, and some true believers also, would consider this instruction: “Labor not to be rich.” But this exhortation as well as the exhortation in 1Ti 6:1-10 is overlooked, and many who profess to have their riches in Christ, in the heavenly places and never ending glory, weary themselves with earthly gain, and aim to become wealthy. But riches have wings; they can fly away swiftly as does the eagle when he mounts heavenward. This too is mentioned in the epistle to Timoth

It is possible to take these three verses together as a warning against treachery lurking in the dainties of a royal table. In that case, in Proverbs 23:1 we should render consider diligently what (_mg._) is set before thee, and in Proverbs 23:2 continue, For thou wilt put (_mg.)._ But possibly the general interpretation represented by RV is more suitable, and Proverbs 23:3 has come in by error from Proverbs 23:6, where it more naturally belongs. Proverbs 23:4 f. The uncertainty of riches. The general sense is clear, but the text is

REDEEMER. kinsman-redeemer. Hebrew. _ga'al._ See note on Exodus 6:6; Exodus 13:13....

_their Redeemer_ viz. God, who is "a Father of the fatherless," Psalms 68:5. The Heb. word is _Goel_, and there is probably an allusion to the _Goel_among men, the nearest blood relation, whose duty it was not only to avenge the blood of his kinsman if he had been unjustly slain (Numbers 35:19), but generally to befriend him and espouse his cause (Leviticus 25:25; Ruth 3:9; Ruth 3:12-13; Ruth 4:1; Ruth 4:4