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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Proverbs 14:31 - 14:31
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31 He who oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker;
And whosoever is merciful to the poor, it is an honour to him.
Line first is repeated in Pro 17:5 somewhat varied, and the relation of the idea in 31b is as Pro 19:17, according to which וּמְכַבְּדוֹ is the predicate and חוֹנֵן אֶבְיוֹן the subject (Symmachus, Targ., Jerome, Venet., Luther), not the reverse (Syr.); חוֹנֵן is thus not the 3 per. Po. (lxx), but the part. Kal (for which 21b has the part. Po. מְחוֹנֵן). The predicates חֵרֵף עֹשֵׂהוּ (vid., regarding the perf. Gesen. §126, 3) and ומכבדו follow one another after the scheme of the Chiasmus. עֹשֵׁק has Munach on the first syllable, on which the tone is thrown back, and on the second the העמדה sign (vid., Torath Emeth, p. 21), as e.g., פּוֹטֵֽר, Pro 17:14, and אֹהֵֽב, Pro 17:19. The showing of forbearance and kindness to the poor arising from a common relation to one Creator, and from respect towards a personality bearing the image of God, is a conception quite in the spirit of the Chokma, which, as in the Jahve religion it becomes the universal religion, so in the national law it becomes the human. Thus also Job 31:15, cf. Pro 3:9 of the Epistle of James, which in many respects has its roots in the Book of Proverbs. Mat 25:40 is a New Testament side-piece to 31b.