Proverbs 28:3

A poor man that oppresseth the poor is like a sweeping rain which leaveth no food. A POOR MAN ( geber (H1397 ): A TYRANT, A MAN OF MIGHT) THAT OPPRESSETH THE POOR IS LIKE A SWEEPING RAIN, WHICH LEAVETH NO FOOD. Needy himself, he sweeps away the little food left to the poor by richer oppressors. There are no such hard tyrants as poor ones when they get an opportunity of enriching themselves at the expense of those poorer than themselves. A sponge that is dry sucks strongly; that which is well soaked ceases to suck. So the rich are more merciful than poor oppressors. Rain ought to fertilize the soil; but a sweeping rain carries away, or else causes the seed to rot. The poor, when elevated, ought to compassionate and relieve those whose misery they know by experience. When they do not so, they are the most merciless of...

Verse Proverbs 28:3. _A POOR MAN THAT OPPRESSETH THE POOR_] Our Lord illustrates this proverb most beautifully, by the parable of the _two debtors_, Matthew 18:23, c. One owed _ten thousand talents_, was insolvent, begged for time, was forgiven. A fellow servant owed this one _a hundred pence_: he was insolvent but prayed his fellow servant to give him a little time, and he would pay it all. He would not, took him by the throat, and cast him into prison till he should pay that debt. Here the _poor_ oppressed the _poor_; and what was the consequence? The oppressing poor was delivered to the tormentors; and the forgiven debt charged to his amount, because _he showed no mercy_. The _comparatively poor_ are often shockingly uncharitable and unfeeling towards the re...

People raise a man of the people, poor like themselves, to power. They find him the worst oppressor of all, plundering them to their last morsels, like the storm-rain which sweeps off the seed-corn instead of bringing fertility....

EXPOSITION This chapter is still part of the Hezekiah collection, and not a new series by another author. It may be regarded as describing the various destinies of the powerful and the weak, the sinner and the righteous. PROVERBS 28:1 THE WICKED FLEE WHEN NO MAN PURSUETH. The unreasoning terror of the sinner arises partly from his uneasy conscience, which will not permit him to transgress without warning of consequences, and partly from the judgment of God, according to the threats denounced in Leviticus 26:36, Leviticus 26:37. A terrible picture of this instinctive fear is drawn in...

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 has been poor, but now become rich, and got into some place of authority and profit, who should remember what he had been; and it might be expected that such an one would put on bowels of compassion towards the poor, as knowing what it was to be in indigent circumstances; but if, instead of this, he exercises his authority over the poor in a severe and rigid manner, and oppresses them, and squeezes that little out of them they have: he [IS LIKE] A SWEEPING RAIN WHICH LEAVETH NO FOOD: like a violent hasty shower of rain; which, instead of watering the seed, herbs, and plants, and causing them to grow, as moderate rain does, it washe...

CHAPTER 28 WARNINGS AND INSTRUCTIONS CONTINUED The wicked is a coward; the righteous man, because he trusteth in the Lord and knows the Lord is on his side, is as bold as a lion. It is the conscience which makes a coward of the wicked man. This chapter has many sharp contrasts and important warnings and exhortations. We point out a few. Those who forsake the law, turn their backs upon the revelation of God, refuse obedience to Him, praise the wicked, they make common cause with them. Those who keep the law, obey God's Word, are contenders for the faith Proverbs 28:4. Evil men are blind, but with seeking the Lord comes understanding, the blind eyes are opened Proverbs 28:5. A wise son is he who keepeth the law; such was Solomon till he plunged into apostasy and darkness...

SECOND DIVISION, PROVERBS 28 F. In general character this division resembles Section II., consisting chiefly of antithetic couplets. PROVERBS 28:2 B. The text is uncertain, and various renderings are possible. The translation state is very doubtful. If MT be retained, connect the word for state with the preceding, and translate by men of understanding who know what is right it is prolonged. LXX reads Through the sin of the ungodly disputes arise, but a prudent man quenches them, possibly the original text. Proverbs 28:3. A needy man: so MT, but the thought is not in keeping with the conception of the poor in Pr. or in the OT. We should probably read a wicked man who, etc. (LXX), or possibly a rich man who, etc. The simile seems to be that of a heavy unseasonable rain which flood

POOR. needy. Same root as in verses: Proverbs 28:6; Proverbs 28:19; Proverbs 28:27. Not the same word as in verses: Proverbs 28:3; Proverbs 28:8; Proverbs 28:11; Proverbs 3:15; Proverbs 3:22. Hebrew. _rush_. MAN. strong man. Hebrew. _geber._ App-14. the

_a poor man_ Better, with R.V., A NEEDY MAN, the Hebrew word being different from that rendered _poor_immediately after. The proverb has commonly been held to refer to _official_oppression. "A man in authority is implied. In many Eastern countries the offices of government are frequently sold to needy men, who use their power to reimburse themselves by oppressing others," _Rel. Tr. Soc. Comm_. But the scope of the proverb must not be restricted to this. It is quite general, and is verified in the exactions of the needy employer, or owner, or creditor among ourselves, as well as in the oppression of Oriental misrule. "The hungry contractor undertakes the job at the lowest possible price, and secures his profit by getting hungrier and weaker creatures than himself to do the work at a price lower than possible, literally at starvation wages." Horton. _leaveth no food_ Heb. _without food;_...

CHAPTER 28 TEXT Proverbs 28:1-9 1. The wicked flee when no man pursueth; But the righteous are bold as a lion. 2. For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof; But by men of understanding and knowledge the state thereof shall be prolonged. 3. A needy man that oppresseth the poor Is like a sweeping rain which leaveth no food. 4. They that forsake the law praise the wicked; But such as keep the law contend with them. 5. Evil men understand not justice; But they that seek Jehovah understand all things. 6. Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, Than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich. 7. Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son; But he that is a companion of gluttons shameth his father. 8. He that augmenteth his substa