There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.
Parallel translations
- WEB There is one who scatters, and increases yet more. There is one who withholds more than is appropriate, but gains poverty.
- BSB One gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds what is right, only to become poor.
- NKJV There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty.
- NASB There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, And there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in poverty.
- NLT Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything.
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
Generous giving can lead to increase, while stingy hoarding leads to poverty. God's economy often rewards open-handedness over grasping.
Overview
This counterintuitive proverb observes that those who give freely often prosper, while those who withhold unduly come to want. It teaches that generosity, under God's blessing, multiplies rather than depletes. The principle is taken up in the New Testament's teaching that God loves a cheerful giver and supplies the generous.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Prov 19:17He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.
- Luke 6:38Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
- Deut 15:10Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto.
- Ps 112:9He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour.
- Eccl 11:6In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.
- Hag 1:6Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
- Hag 1:9–11Ye looked for much, and lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.
- 2 Cor 9:5–11Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof ye had notice before, that the same might be ready, as a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness.
- Prov 11:18The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward.
- Hag 2:16–19Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty.
- Prov 28:8He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor.
- Eccl 11:1–2Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.
- Acts 11:29–30Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea:
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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 11:24 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
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