All the brethren of the poor do hate him: how much more do his friends go far from him? he pursueth them with words, yet they are wanting to him.
Parallel translations
- WEB All the relatives of the poor shun him: how much more do his friends avoid him! He pursues them with pleas, but they are gone.
- BSB All the brothers of a poor man hate him—how much more do his friends avoid him! He may pursue them with pleading, but they are nowhere to be found.
- NKJV All the brothers of the poor hate him; How much more do his friends go far from him! He may pursue them with words, yet they abandon him.
- NASB All the brothers of a poor person hate him; How much more do his friends abandon him! He pursues them with words, but they are gone.
- NLT The relatives of the poor despise them; how much more will their friends avoid them! Though the poor plead with them, their friends are gone.
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 are shunned even by relatives and friends. Poverty can leave a person isolated and ignored.
Overview
This proverb laments that the poor man is avoided by his own family and abandoned by his friends, who are 'gone' even as he pursues them with pleas. It exposes the painful loneliness that poverty often brings and the failure of human compassion. Such sober realism heightens the beauty of the gospel, in which God draws near to the poor and lowly (Ps. 113:7) and Christ welcomes the outcast.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ps 88:8Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.
- Jas 2:15–16If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
- Prov 18:23The poor useth intreaties; but the rich answereth roughly.
- Prov 19:4Wealth maketh many friends; but the poor is separated from his neighbour.
- 1 Jn 3:17–18But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
- Ps 38:11My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off.
- Ps 88:18Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.
- Prov 21:13Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.
- Eccl 9:15–16Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.
- Luke 18:38–40And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.
- Prov 14:20The poor is hated even of his own neighbour: but the rich hath many friends.
- Jas 2:6But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
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 19:7 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.