New International Version
Proverbs 31:8
8Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.
Proverbs 31:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Open your mouth for the speechless, In the cause of all who are appointed to die.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed.
Context of Proverbs 31:8
6Let beer be for those who are perishing, wine for those who are in anguish! 7Let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more. Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. 9Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. 10A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.
Read all of Proverbs 31Proverbs 31:8 word by word
פְּתַח־פִּ֥יךָ לְאִלֵּ֑ם אֶל־דִּ֝֗ין כָּל־בְּנֵ֥י חֲלֽוֹף׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 31:8
- Proverbs 24:7Wisdom is too high for fools; in the assembly at the gate they must not open their mouths.
- 1 Samuel 19:4Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly.
- 1 Samuel 20:32“Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” Jonathan asked his father.
- 1 Samuel 22:14Ahimelek answered the king, “Who of all your servants is as loyal as David, the king’s son-in-law, captain of your bodyguard and highly respected in your household?
- Esther 4:13he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape.
- Job 29:9the chief men refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands;
- Psalms 82:3Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
- Jeremiah 26:16Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man should not be sentenced to death! He has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.”
- Jeremiah 38:7But Ebed-Melek, a Cushite, an official in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate,
- John 7:51“Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?”
- Psalms 79:11May the groans of the prisoners come before you; with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die.
Commentaries on Proverbs 31:8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8Open thy mouth for the dumb - For such accused persons as have no counsellors, and cannot plead for themselves. Are appointed to destruction - חלוף בני beney chaloph, variously translated, children of passage - indigent travelers; children of desolation - those who have no possessions, or orphans. I believe it either signifies those who are strangers, and are travelling from place to place, or those who are ready to perish in consequence of want or…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8In contrast with the two besetting sins of Eastern monarchs stands their one great duty, to give help to those who had no other helper. Such as are appointed to destruction - literally, “children of bereavement,” with the sense, either, as in the text, of those “destined to be bereaved of life or goods,” or of “bereaved or fatherless children.”Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8-9Instead of drinking wine (Proverbs 31:4–7), the king should defend those who cannot protect themselves.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3-93-9. Succinct but solemn warnings against vices to which kings are peculiarly tempted, as carnal pleasures and oppressive and unrighteous government are used to sustain sensual indulgence. strength--mental and bodily resources for health and comfort. thy ways--or course of life. to that ... kings--literally, "to the destroying of kings," avoid destructive pleasures (compare Pr 5:9; 7:22, 27; Ho 4:11).Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 31:8
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Proverbs 31
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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