A needy man who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain which leaves no crops.
Parallel translations
- KJV A poor man that oppresseth the poor is like a sweeping rain which leaveth no food.
- BSB A destitute leader who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no food.
- NKJV A poor man who oppresses the poor Is like a driving rain which leaves no food.
- NASB A poor man who oppresses the helpless Is like a driving rain which leaves no food.
- NLT A poor person who oppresses the poor is like a pounding rain that destroys the crops.
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
A poor man who oppresses the poor is as ruinous as rain that destroys instead of nourishing. It condemns oppression, especially from those who should sympathize.
Overview
The proverb likens an oppressor of the poor to a violent downpour that beats down crops and leaves no harvest, devastating rather than helping. It is especially perverse when the oppressor is himself needy and should know better. God's heart for the poor runs throughout Scripture and is embodied in Christ, who came to bring good news to the poor (Luke 4:18).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 1
- Matt 18:28–30“But that servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, who owed him one hundred denarii, and he grabbed him, and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’
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 28:3 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.