The rich man’s wealth is his strong city; The destruction of the poor is their poverty.
Parallel translations
- WEB The rich man’s wealth is his strong city. The destruction of the poor is their poverty.
- KJV The rich man’s wealth is his strong city: the destruction of the poor is their poverty.
- BSB The wealth of the rich man is his fortified city, but poverty is the ruin of the poor.
- NASB The rich person’s wealth is his fortress, The ruin of the poor is their poverty.
- NLT The wealth of the rich is their fortress; the poverty of the poor is their destruction.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The rich man's wealth is his fortified city, while poverty is the ruin of the poor. Wealth gives a sense of security; poverty leaves one vulnerable.
Overview
This proverb observes a plain reality: riches function as protection while poverty exposes one to hardship. It is an observation about life's mechanics rather than an endorsement of trusting in wealth, which Proverbs elsewhere warns against (11:28). The true and lasting refuge is not riches but the Lord himself (Proverbs 18:10).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Prov 18:11The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, like an unscalable wall in his own imagination.
- Prov 19:7All the relatives of the poor shun him: how much more do his friends avoid him! He pursues them with pleas, but they are gone.
- Ps 52:7“Behold, this is the man who didn’t make God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.”
- Prov 14:20The poor person is shunned even by his own neighbor, but the rich person has many friends.
- Eccl 7:12For wisdom is a defense, even as money is a defense; but the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.
- Prov 22:22–23Don’t exploit the poor, because he is poor; and don’t crush the needy in court;
- 1 Tim 6:17Charge those who are rich in this present world that they not be haughty, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy;
- Ps 49:6Those who trust in their wealth, and boast in the multitude of their riches —
- Mark 10:24The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus answered again, “Children, how hard is it for those who trust in riches to enter into God’s Kingdom!
- Luke 12:19I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.”’
- Mic 2:1–2Woe to those who devise iniquity and work evil on their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand.
- Job 31:24–25“If I have made gold my hope, and have said to the fine gold, ‘You are my confidence;’
- Jer 9:23Yahweh says, “Don’t let the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might. Don’t let the rich man glory in his riches.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 10:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.