New King James Version
Proverbs 28:15
15Like a roaring lion and a charging bear Is a wicked ruler over poor people.
Proverbs 28:15 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; so is a wicked ruler over the poor people.
- New International Version (NIV)Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a poor people.
- New Living Translation (NLT)A wicked ruler is as dangerous to the poor as a roaring lion or an attacking bear.
Context of Proverbs 28:15
13He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. 14Happy is the man who is always reverent, But he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity. Like a roaring lion and a charging bear Is a wicked ruler over poor people. 16A ruler who lacks understanding is a great oppressor, But he who hates covetousness will prolong his days. 17A man burdened with bloodshed will flee into a pit; Let no one help him.
Read all of Proverbs 28Proverbs 28:15 word by word
אֲרִי־נֹ֭הֵם וְדֹ֣ב שׁוֹקֵ֑ק מֹשֵׁ֥ל רָ֝שָׁ֗ע עַ֣ל עַם־דָּֽל׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 28:15
- Proverbs 20:2The wrath of a king is like the roaring of a lion; Whoever provokes him to anger sins against his own life.
- Hosea 5:11Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, Because he willingly walked by human precept.
- 1 Peter 5:8Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
- Proverbs 17:12Let a man meet a bear robbed of her cubs, Rather than a fool in his folly.
- 2 Kings 2:24So he turned around and looked at them, and pronounced a curse on them in the name of the Lord. And two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.
- Hosea 13:8I will meet them like a bear deprived of her cubs; I will tear open their rib cage, And there I will devour them like a lion. The wild beast shall tear them.
- Exodus 1:14And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage—in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.
- 1 Samuel 22:17Then the king said to the guards who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled and did not tell it to me.” But the servants of the king would not lift their hands to strike the priests of the Lord.
- 2 Kings 15:16Then from Tirzah, Menahem attacked Tiphsah, all who were there, and its territory. Because they did not surrender, therefore he attacked it. All the women there who were with child he ripped open.
- 2 Kings 21:16Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the Lord.
- Esther 3:6But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him of the people of Mordecai. Instead, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus—the people of Mordecai.
- Matthew 2:16Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.
Commentaries on Proverbs 28:15
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15The form of political wretchedness, when the poverty of the oppressed subjects not only embitters their sufferings, but exasperates the brutal ferocity of the ruler.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15Verse 15 A wicked ruler, whatever we may call him, this scripture calls a roaring lion, and a ranging bear.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 15An unjust ruler will not help the poor. Like a roaring lion or an attacking bear, he ruins their lives.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1515. The rapacity and cruelty of such beasts well represent some wicked men (compare Psa 7:2; 17:12).Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 28:15
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Proverbs 28
- 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
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries