Limitless Word
The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all.
Proverbs 22:2 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB The rich and the poor have this in common: Yahweh 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 31:15Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?
  • 1 Sam 2:7The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.
  • Prov 14:31He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.
  • Prov 29:13The poor and the deceitful man meet together: the LORD lighteneth both their eyes.
  • Job 34:19How much less to him that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor? for they all are the work of his hands.
  • Jas 2:2–5For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;
  • 1 Cor 12:21And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
  • Ps 49:1–2Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world:
  • Luke 16:19–20There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

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 22:2YouTube · 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 22:2 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.