The poor man pleads for mercy, but the rich man answers harshly.
Parallel translations
- WEB The poor plead for mercy, but the rich answer harshly.
- KJV The poor useth intreaties; but the rich answereth roughly.
- NKJV The poor man uses entreaties, But the rich answers roughly.
- NASB A poor person utters pleadings, But a rich person answers defiantly.
- NLT The poor plead for mercy; the rich answer with insults.
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 poor must beg for mercy while the rich often reply harshly. The proverb soberly observes the harshness wealth can breed.
Overview
This proverb starkly contrasts the poor, who can only plead for mercy, with the rich, who answer roughly. It is an observation that exposes a common injustice rather than endorsing it. Scripture calls God's people to compassion toward the poor (Prov. 14:31), and the gospel reveals a Lord who, though rich, became poor for our sake (2 Cor. 8:9) and answers the needy with mercy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Jas 2:3If you lavish attention on the man in fine clothes and say, “Here is a seat of honor,” but say to the poor man, “You must stand” or “Sit at my feet,”
- Jas 1:9–11The brother in humble circumstances should exult in his high position.
- Jas 2:6But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?
- Exod 5:2But Pharaoh replied, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.”
- 1 Sam 25:17Now consider carefully what you must do, because disaster looms over our master and all his household. For he is such a scoundrel that nobody can speak to him!”
- 2 Kgs 4:1–2Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And now his creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves!”
- Isa 66:2Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word.
- Matt 5:3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- 1 Sam 25:10But Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants these days are breaking away from their masters.
- Gen 42:30“The man who is lord of the land spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country.
- 1 Sam 2:36And everyone left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a morsel of bread, pleading, “Please appoint me to some priestly office so that I can eat a piece of bread.”’”
- Gen 42:7And when Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them as strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where have you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We are here to buy food.”
- Ruth 2:7She has said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the harvesters.’ So she came out and has continued from morning until now, except that she rested a short time in the shelter.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 18:23 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.