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For the LORD will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.
Proverbs 22:23 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB for Yahweh will plead their case, and plunder the life of those who plunder them.
  • BSB for the LORD will take up their case and will plunder those who rob them.
  • NKJV For the Lord will plead their cause, And plunder the soul of those who plunder them.
  • NASB For the Lord will plead their case And take the life of those who rob them.
  • NLT For the Lord is their defender. He will ruin anyone who ruins them.

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 LORD Himself defends the poor and will repay those who rob them.

Overview

This verse gives the reason not to exploit the needy: God is their advocate who takes up their cause. The language of "plundering the life" of the oppressor shows that injustice against the weak invites divine justice in kind. God as Defender of the helpless foreshadows Christ, the righteous Judge who will set all wrongs right (2 Thess. 1:6-7).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 16

  • Ps 12:5For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.
  • Ps 140:12I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor.
  • Jer 51:36Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.
  • Prov 23:11For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
  • 1 Sam 25:39And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife.
  • Ps 35:10All my bones shall say, LORD, who is like unto thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?
  • Ps 43:1Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.
  • Mic 7:9I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.
  • Jer 50:34Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
  • Mal 3:5And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.
  • Ps 35:1Plead my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me.
  • Ps 68:5A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.
  • Isa 33:1Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
  • Hab 2:8Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee; because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.
  • 1 Sam 24:12The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.
  • 1 Sam 24:15The LORD therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Proverbs videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Proverbs 22:23YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ProverbsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 22:23 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.