He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.
Parallel translations
- WEB A stingy man hurries after riches, and doesn’t know that poverty waits for him.
- BSB A stingy man hastens after wealth and does not know that poverty awaits him.
- NKJV A man with an evil eye hastens after riches, And does not consider that poverty will come upon him.
- NASB A person with an evil eye hurries after wealth And does not know that poverty will come upon him.
- NLT Greedy people try to get rich quick but don’t realize they’re headed for poverty.
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 greedy rush after wealth, unaware that poverty is coming for them. It warns that miserly, hasty pursuit of riches ends in loss.
Overview
The stingy person eagerly chases riches while blind to the poverty that awaits as the fruit of his greed. The verse exposes the self-defeating nature of covetous haste. Jesus warns that life does not consist in the abundance of possessions and that storing up earthly treasure while neglecting God is folly (Luke 12:15).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 1 Tim 6:9But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
- Prov 23:6Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
- Prov 28:20A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.
- Job 27:16–17Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay;
- Matt 20:15Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
- Mark 7:22Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
- Job 20:18–22That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down: according to his substance shall the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice therein.
- Gen 19:17And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
- Gen 13:10–13And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.
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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 28:22 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
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