Tree of Life Version
Proverbs 18:23
23The poor request favor, but the rich answer harshly.
Proverbs 18:23 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)The poor useth intreaties; but the rich answereth roughly.
- New International Version (NIV)The poor plead for mercy, but the rich answer harshly.
- English Standard Version (ESV)The poor use entreaties, but the rich answer roughly.
- New King James Version (NKJV)The poor man uses entreaties, But the rich answers roughly.
Context of Proverbs 18:23
21Death and life are in the control of the tongue. Those who indulge in it will eat its fruit. 22Whoever finds a wife finds good, and receives favor from Adonai. The poor request favor, but the rich answer harshly. 24A man with many friends may be harmed by them, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Read all of Proverbs 18Proverbs 18:23 word by word
תַּחֲנוּנִ֥ים יְדַבֶּר־רָ֑שׁ וְ֝עָשִׁ֗יר יַעֲנֶ֥ה עַזּֽוֹת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 18:23
- Ruth 2:7“She asked ‘Please allow me to glean and gather among the barley sheaves behind the harvesters.’ So she came and has been working in the field since morning until now, except for a little while in the shelter.”
- 1 Samuel 2:36Anyone left in your household will come and bow low to him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread, and will say: ‘Please, assign me to one of the priestly offices so that I may eat a morsel of bread.’”
- 2 Kings 4:1Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha saying, “Your servant my husband is dead—you know that your servant feared Adonai. Now the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.”
- Isaiah 66:2For My hand has made all these things, so all these things came to be,” declares Adonai. “But on this one will I look, one humble and of a contrite spirit, who trembles at My word.”
- Matthew 5:3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- James 1:9But let the brother in humble circumstances boast in his high position—
- Genesis 42:7Then Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down to him with faces to the ground. When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he made himself unrecognizable to them. Then he spoke harshly and said to them, “Where have you come from?” “From the land of Canaan,” they said, “to buy grain as food.”
- Exodus 5:2But Pharaoh said, “Who is Adonai, that I should listen to His voice and let Israel go? I do not know Adonai, and besides, I will not let Israel go.”
- 1 Samuel 25:10But Nabal answered David’s servants by saying, “Who is David? And who is Jesse’s son? Nowadays there are many slaves each running away from his master.
- James 2:3and you pay special attention to the one wearing the fine clothing and you say, “Sit here in a good place”; and you say to the poor person, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool”;
Commentaries on Proverbs 18:23
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 23Note the paradox. The poor man, of whom one might expect roughness, supplicates; the rich, well nurtured, from whom one might look for courtesy, answers harshly and brusquely.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 23Verse 23 Poverty tells men they must not order or demand. And at the throne of God's grace we are all poor, and must use entreaties.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 23God will punish the powerful who look down on the poor. Wise people help those in need (Proverbs 11:24; 28:27; 29:7, 14).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2323. the rich ... roughly--He is tolerated because rich, implying that the estimate of men by wealth is wrong.Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 18:23
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Proverbs 18
- 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
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
Tree of Life Version — © 2015 The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
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