The rich and the poor have this in common: Yahweh is the maker of them all.
Parallel translations
- KJV The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all.
- BSB The rich and the poor have this in common: The LORD is Maker of them all.
- NKJV The rich and the poor have this in common, The Lord is the maker of them all.
- NASB The rich and the poor have a common bond, The Lord is the Maker of them all.
- NLT The rich and poor have this in common: The Lord made them both.
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
Rich and poor share this: the Lord made them both. It matters because all people have equal dignity as God's creatures.
Overview
Wealth and poverty do not change the fundamental truth that one God created every person (Proverbs 29:13; Job 31:15). This levels human pride and grounds compassion and justice toward all. In Christ there is no distinction of rich or poor, for all are one and equally precious to God (Galatians 3:28).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Job 31:15Didn’t he who made me in the womb make him? Didn’t one fashion us in the womb?
- 1 Sam 2:7Yahweh makes poor, and makes rich. He brings low, he also lifts up.
- Prov 14:31He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for his Maker, but he who is kind to the needy honors him.
- Prov 29:13The poor man and the oppressor have this in common: Yahweh gives sight to the eyes of both.
- Job 34:19Who doesn’t respect the persons of princes, nor respects the rich more than the poor; for they all are the work of his hands.
- Jas 2:2–5For if a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes into your synagogue, and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in;
- 1 Cor 12:21The eye can’t tell the hand, “I have no need for you,” or again the head to the feet, “I have no need for you.”
- Ps 49:1–2For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah. Hear this, all you peoples. Listen, all you inhabitants of the world,
- Luke 16:19–20“Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 22:2 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.