Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he will also cry out, but shall not be heard.
Parallel Translations
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Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he will also cry out, but shall not be heard.
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Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.
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Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be answered.
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to Proverbs 21:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 28:27 One who gives to the poor has no lack; but one who closes his eyes will have many curses.
- Proverbs 1:28 Then they will call on me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me;
- Matthew 6:14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
- Matthew 7:2 For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you.
- James 2:13-16 For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him? And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food, and one of you tells them, “Go in peace. Be warmed and filled;” yet you didn’t give them the things the body needs, what good is it?
- Jeremiah 34:16-17 but you turned and profaned my name, and every man caused his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom you had let go free at their pleasure, to return. You brought them into subjection, to be to you for servants and for handmaids.’ ” Therefore Yahweh says: “You have not listened to me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor. Behold, I proclaim to you a liberty,” says Yahweh, “to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine. I will make you be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.
- Matthew 18:30-35 He would not, but went and cast him into prison, until he should pay back that which was due. So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were exceedingly sorry, and came and told their lord all that was done. Then his lord called him in, and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt, because you begged me. Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?’ His lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors, until he should pay all that was due to him. So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don’t each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds.”
- Isaiah 1:15-17 When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves. Make yourself clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Cease to do evil. Learn to do well. Seek justice. Relieve the oppressed. Defend the fatherless. Plead for the widow.”
- Isaiah 58:6-9 “Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to release the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Isn’t it to distribute your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light will break out as the morning, and your healing will appear quickly; then your righteousness shall go before you, and Yahweh’s glory will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and Yahweh will answer. You will cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away from among you the yoke, finger pointing, and speaking wickedly;
- Psalms 18:41 They cried, but there was no one to save; even to Yahweh, but he didn’t answer them.
- Psalms 58:4 Their poison is like the poison of a snake, like a deaf cobra that stops its ear,
- Zechariah 7:9-13 “Thus has Yahweh of Armies spoken, saying, ‘Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother. Don’t oppress the widow, nor the fatherless, the foreigner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.’ But they refused to listen, and turned their backs, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear. Yes, they made their hearts as hard as flint, lest they might hear the law, and the words which Yahweh of Armies had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from Yahweh of Armies. It has come to pass that, as he called, and they refused to listen, so they will call, and I will not listen,” said Yahweh of Armies;
- Matthew 25:41-46 Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in; naked, and you didn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ “Then they will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t help you?’ “Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
- Deuteronomy 15:7-11 If a poor man, one of your brothers, is with you within any of your gates in your land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother; but you shall surely open your hand to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need, which he lacks. Beware that there not be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, “The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,” and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing; and he cry to Yahweh against you, and it be sin to you. You shall surely give, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because it is for this thing Yahweh your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you put your hand to. For the poor will never cease out of the land. Therefore I command you to surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor, in your land.
- Acts 7:57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears, then rushed at him with one accord.
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 21:13 Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry…
Pro 21:13 Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.
Ver. 13. Whoso stoppeth his ear at the cry, &c.] This was fulfilled in Pharaoh; Haman; the rich glutton; Hatto, archbishop of Mentz; Mauricius, the emperor, and many others, who might have better provided for their own comfort in sickness, and other exigencies, had they been more pitiful to poor people. Whereas now, when they shall lie tossing and tumbling upon their sick beds, roaring as bulls, and "tabering upon their breasts," {Nah 2:7} God will not hear them; men will say, It is good enough for them. All hearts, by a divine hand, will be strangely set off from the merciless, as it befell Sejanus.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the…
Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, when they cry out by reason of oppression or want, and beg relief from him, he also shall cry himself unto God or men, in his straits which God will bring upon him.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Here we have the description and doom of an…
Here we have the description and doom of an uncharitable man. 1. His description: He stops his ears at the cry of the poor, at the cry of their wants and miseries (he resolves to take no cognizance of them), at the cry of their requests and supplications - he resolves he will not so much as give them the hearing, turns them away from his door, and forbids them to come near him, or, if he cannot avoid hearing them, he will not need them, nor be moved by their complaints, no be prevailed with by their importunities; he shuts up the bowels of his compassion, and that is equivalent to the stopping of his ears, Act 7:57. 2. His doom. He shall himself be reduced to straits, which will make him cry, and then he shall not be heard. Men will not hear him, but reward him as he has rewarded others. God will not hear him; for he that showed no mercy shall have judgment without mercy (Jam 2:13), and he that on earth denied a crumb of bread in hell was denied a drop of water. God will be deaf to the prayers of those who are deaf to the cries of the poor, which, if they be not heard by us, will be heard against us, Exo 22:23.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the…
Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor,.... For want of bread; or, "of the weak", as the Septuagint and other versions; for want of help and protection, when in the greatest distress; and, with the most pressing importunity, entreats his assistance, and yet refuses to hear him out: or, if he does, will not relieve him, which is all one as if he heard him not, or denied him a hearing;
he also shall cry himself; the Targum and Syriac version add, "unto God". The sense is, that even such an one shall be brought into the like distressed circumstances, when he shall make application to God, and to his fellow creatures, for relief and assistance:
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but shall not be heard; a deaf ear will be turned to him by both: the same measure he has measured shall be measured to him again; no mercy shall be shown to an unmerciful man, either by God or man; see Jam 2:13.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 13. Whoso stoppeth his ears] See the conduct…
Verse 13. Whoso stoppeth his ears] See the conduct of the priest and Levite to the man who fell among thieves; and let every man learn from this, that he who shuts his ear against the cry of the poor, shall have the ear of God shut against his cry. The words are quite plain; there is no difficulty here.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Pro 21:13. Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry…
Pro 21:13. Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor — When they cry out by reason of oppression or want, and beg relief from him; he also shall cry himself — Unto God or men, in his straits which God shall bring upon him; but shall not be heard — Shall be denied his requests.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles Bridges 1846 · Public Domain If there were no poor, much of the word…
If there were no poor, much of the word of God, applying to their comfort, and directing our obligations, would have been written in vain. The obligation implies not only an helping hand, but a feeling heart; hearing the cry of the poor with sympathy,†1 cheerfulness,†2 self-sacrifice.†3 The stopping the ears implies cruelty or insensibility;†4 turning away from real and known distress;†5 any kind of oppression; beating down "the hire of the laborer" (Jas 5:4 .) beyond the power of earning the necessaries of life; and neglecting, so far as is in our power, to defend them against oppression. (Luk 18:2-4 .)
Sometimes indeed it might be our duty to stop our ears. The law of God discountenances the trade of begging, with all its pathetic cries and appeals. (2Th 3:10 .) To retain therefore the poor in idleness, however compassionate or self-pleasing the motive, is to encourage, if not to participate in, sin. Considerate discretion, not feeling, should direct our charity. (Pro 29:7 .) Honest distress taxes most of us to the utmost of our power, considering our responsibility to put out all that we have, whether it be little or much, to the most profitable use. Yet ever let the withholding of charity be a constraint upon our feeling, not the indulgence of our selfishness. Count it a privilege, no less than an obligation, to minister to the poor. Ponder it as conformity to our Divine Master’s spirit and work. (Mat 14:14-21 .) Consider niggardliness in giving; the useless expenses that abridge our power of helping; luxuries, while our brethren are starving around us; restraining the full extent of what we ought and might give — all this as virtually stopping our ears against their cry. Covetousness and sensuality harden the heart; and when the heart is hard, the ear is deaf.†6 This sin was wrongfully charged upon Job.†7 But wherever it be found, the stamp of divine displeasure is fearfully marked;†8 and even the sin of omission the great day will openly mark as the ground of condemnation.†9
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And now, as the selfish hardness shews the man has no love to God,†10 he will find no love from God. "With the same measure that he meted withal, it shall be measured to him again."†11 Did he stop his ears at the cry of the poor? God will stop his ears against his cry.†12 He that would not give a crumb on earth, was denied a drop of water in hell.†13 "He shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy." (Jas 2:13 .) Christian professor! study the character of thy God — "pitiful and of tender mercy" (Jas 5:11 ); and be like him. Remember — "bowels of mercies, kindness" are the ornament of "the elect of God." (Col 3:12 .)
Footnotes:
†1 Deu 15:7-11. Isa 58:6-9 .
†2 Rom 12:8. 2Co 9:7 .
†3 2Co 8:1-4 . Howard’s rule, so nobly expounded by his own self-denying devotedness — is a fine comment on this example. ’That our superfluities give way to other men’s convenience; that our conveniences give way to other men’s necessaries; and that even our necessaries sometimes give way to other men’s extremities.’ See his Life.
†4 Pro 29:7. Neh 5:1-8 .
†5 Luk 10:30-32.
†6 1Sa 25:10-11 .
†7 Job 22:5-7, with Job 29:16 ; Job 31:16-17, Job 31:20 .
†8 Pro 11:24, Pro 11:26 ; Pro 28:27 . Jer 34:10-22 . Mat 18:30-34 .
†9 Mat 25:41-45.
†10 1Jn 3:17 .
†11 Luk 6:38. Jdg 1:6-7 . 1Sa 15:33 .
†12 Job 34:24-28. Zec 7:9-13 . See Sir 4:4-6 .
†13 Luk 16:21, Luk 16:24-25 .
Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain The principles of retribution, often taught (compare Psa 18:26;…
The principles of retribution, often taught (compare Psa 18:26; Mat 7:1-12).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 13. Whoso stoppeth his ears — Refuseth to listen…
13. Whoso stoppeth his ears — Refuseth to listen to entreaty.
Shall not be heard — His “cry” shall not be answered. It is implied that this shall happen because of his stopping his ears. Compare Mat_18:23-35; Mat_25:41, et seq.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (13) He also shall cry himself, but shall not…
(13) He also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.—Because he showed no mercy. (Comp. Mat_5:7; Mat_18:30; Jas_2:13.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the…
Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor. A twofold retribution is threatened on the unmerciful man. He also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard. He himself shall tall into distress, and shall appeal to his neighbours for help in vain. "With the same measure that ye mete withal, it shall be measured to you again". (Luk_6:38) This is true also in spiritual matters and in the final judgment. (see on Pro_14:21 and Pro_19:17; and comp. Mat_18:28, etc.; Mat_25:41, etc.; Jam_2:13)
Ignoring the cry of the poor.
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I THE SIN.
1. The cry of the poor is exceedingly bitter. It may not be clamorous, but it is grievous. There is no more pressing problem for society in the present day than the question how to deal with the wretched, overcrowded, poverty-stricken quarters of our great cities.
(1) The evil is widespread. It concerns the misery of tens of thousands of people.
(2) It is intense. No one who has not inquired into the subject can conceive of the depth of misery that it represents pale children crying for bread, weary women heartsick with despair, strong men enfeebled with hunger and embittered with the sight of wealth that seems to mock their misery. The wonder is that the poor bear their hard lot so patiently that the world of wealth scarcely heeds it.
(3) It is moral. Overcrowding, ignorance, and despair, lead to gross moral degradation, drunkenness, reckless animalism, brutality, hatred, and outrage.
1. It is our duty to bear this bitter cry. The very poor are our fellow men our brothers and sisters. Only the Caius among us can dare to ask, "Am I my brother"s keeper?" Christ has hidden us to love our neighbour as ourselves, and in the parable of the good Samaritan he has shown who is our neighbour. We cannot pass by on the other side without guilt in the sight of God.
2. The neglect of this bitter cry is willful. The sin is that of a man who "stoppeth his ears." It is true ha does not now hear the cry. But he is not the less guilty, for he refuses to hear it. There is a culpable ignorance. Well-to do people may say that they do not know of the miserable condition of their brethren. It is the more shameful that they are thus ignorant. It is their duty to inquire into it. If the West End luxuriates in pleasures while the East End toils and starves in misery, the more fortunate section of society has ample means of ascertaining the condition of the unhappy portion. Heedless indifference is cruel selfishness.
II THE PUNISHMENT. "He also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.
1. His own circumstances may bring him into distress. We see strange reverses of fortune. Some of the most wretched denizens of the lowest quarters were once in affluent circumstances. The breaking of a bank, the failure of a mine, the losses of speculation, the ruin of gambling, may bring a wealthy man down to destitution. Then if he has encouraged the neglect of the poor by his conduct in more fortunate days, he will suffer from the bad social custom that he has helped to foster.
2. A social revolution may bring fearful punishment on the scornful who now neglect the cry of their brethren. So it was in France a hundred years ago. There are not wanting signs that the whole civilization of Europe may be endangered by a huge social upheaval. The scandalous inequality of lots is glaringly apparent to all, and the privileges of the few may be ruthlessly torn from them in the interest of the many. If the volcano, overflows there will be little respect for vested interests, abstract rights, or personal claims. But if we dread a violent revolution which might shatter the whole fabric of civilization, we must attend to the cry of poverty. To disregard this is to sit on the safety valve while we wait for the coming explosion.
3. In the future world the cry of the cruel and negligent will be unheeded. Dives in torment cries in vain for Lazarus to cool his burning tongue. He is the very type of those who stop their cars against the cry of the root. His punishment is to suffer from a similar neglect.
Sowing and reaping.
It is true, indeed, that as we sow we reap. It is not only true that God will in some way or other cause iniquity to suffer and righteousness to be recompensed, but we find that sin meets with its appropriate penalty, and worth with its appropriate reward. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." We have an illustration of this in the text, as we find many others elsewhere.
I INHUMANITY AND PITY. "Whoso stoppeth his ears," etc. Men will have no mercy on the merciless. Let a man be known to be hard-hearted, selfishly and cruelly indifferent to the distress of his neighbours, and when the time of his calamity comes he will discover that there is no eye to pity and no hand to help him. On the contrary, his misfortune will give a secret if not an open satisfaction. But let a man be pitiful and generous in the day of his prosperity, then when adversity overtakes him the hearts and the hands of many will open to sympathize and succour. The same principle, is applicable to an evil which is similar though not quite so serious, and to its corresponding virtue, viz.
II SEVERITY AND LENIENCY. Our fellow men will be sure to treat us with the same severity we impose on them. Austerity constantly begets austerity; it is not long before it hears the echo of its own harshness. Be down with rigid particularity on every offence you detect in your child, or your servant, or your neighbour, and you may reckon confidently on having the same unbending rigorousness of judgment applied to any deviation that can be discovered in yourself. But leniency brings forth leniency; charity is the beautiful mother of charity. Make every kind and just allowance as you judge your brother, and you shall have every extenuation granted you when your infirmity leads you into error. We have the same thing showing itself, the appropriateness and correspondence of the penalty or the reward to the offence or the virtue in
III GROSSNESS AND PURITY. "He that soweth to the flesh, of the flesh reaps corruption; and he that soweth to the Spirit, of the Spirit reaps life everlasting". (Gal_6:8) Bodily indulgence means bodily degeneration; spiritual culture means spiritual enlargement.
IV GODLESNESS AND GODLINESS. The man who lives without God has to do without God in life and at the end of life as well as he can. He has to dispense with all the comfort and support of the consciousness of God"s favour and that Divine indwelling which only comes with faith and love. But he who walks with God and lives unto him enjoys all the unspeakable and inestimable advantages of the near presence, the gracious power, the continual comfort and succour of the Divine Spirit. As he sows, he reaps. C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the…
Pro_21:13
Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.
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The cry of the poor
I. Social distress. The cry of the poor. The poor may be divided into two classes.
1. The deserving. There is a poverty that comes on men by circumstances over which they have no control: infirm bodies, diseased faculties, social oppression, untoward events. Such poverty is often associated not only with great intelligence, but with virtue and piety of a high order.
2. The undeserving.
II. Social heartlessness. Whoso stoppeth his ears.
1. The wealthy.
2. The legislating. In the name of heaven, what is the good of a government if it cannot overcome pauperism?
III. Social retribution. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
An unmerciful disposition
1. We may always expect, both in general society and in the Church of God, the rich and poor to meet together. Wherever there has been property it has been in various portions; and were there an equal division of property to-day, there would be a difference to-morrow. There are varieties of poverty; for poverty is a relative and comparative term. And among the indigent and dependent poor there are also varieties--the industrious and the indolent; the sober and the intemperate; the virtuous and the vicious, the deserving and the undeserving.
2. Nothing can be of greater consequence than marking this distinction, and regulating our charity accordingly. There is a stopping of the ears that is at times a virtue--requiring an effort of self-denying principle in opposition to the mere emotion and impulse of present pity. Charity must be exercised judiciously.
3. The sin here reproved is an unmerciful disposition; unfeeling hardness of heart; pitiless, avaricious, griping selfishness. This may be exemplified in beating down the wages of the poor labourer and artisan; in the denial of protection to the poor when it is pleaded for against oppression, and when we have it in our power to afford it. (R. Wardlaw, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_21:13
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_21:13
THE CRY OF THE POOR
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I. The cry of the poor may always be heard. “The poor,” said the Saviour, “ye have always with you” (Joh_12:8), and so long as sin is in the world it must be so. There are many whom sickness and bereavement makes poor, and many who are in need because of the sin of others, besides those who have been brought to poverty by their own wrong-doings. And from all these creatures of need there comes a cry—a direct appeal, it may be, for help, or the voice of lamentation because of their distress. This cry may be around us even when no appeal comes from the lip, and when no word of complaint is uttered. The wrongs of the oppressed and the miseries of the needy cry still when there is no speech nor language, and when no voice is heard.
II. No human creature can afford to stop his ears to this cry. Not one of the millions who walk the earth can reckon upon being always independent of the pity and help of his fellow-creatures. He may be almost certain that he will not be so. He is not sure, however rich he is now, that he may not have to cry for bread, or he may have to cry for help in sickness or for sympathy in sorrow. It is quite certain that he will at some period of his existence cry to God for mercy. If, therefore, he is deaf to the cry of those whose distress he can relieve, he is as unwise as that servant of whom our Lord speaks in His parable, who refused to have compassion on his fellow-servant to the amount of a hundred pence, while he himself stood in need of the forgiveness of a far heavier debt. (Mat_18:23; Mat_18:35). He who stops his own ears at the cry of the poor stops the ears of God against his own, for in the day when the favour of the King of the universe will be more precious than the wealth of ten thousand worlds, the charge will be brought against him, “I was an hungred and ye gave Me no meat; I was thirsty and ye gave Me no drink,” etc. (Mat_25:42).
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
When we have reason to complain that we cry and shout, but God shutteth our prayer, let us consider our ways; perhaps we have shut our ears on some occasions against the cries of the poor. This was one reason why God accepted not the prayers and fasts of those people whom Isaiah speaks of in the fiftieth chapter of his book.—Lawson.
Did a rich man know for certain, that himself should be a beggar before he died, it would make him give to the poor when they cried, that others might give to him when he cried. Now the wise man here assureth every hard churl, that although now he be never so rich, yet shall he be a beggar.… The cries of the poor are but God’s proclamation, whereby He publisheth His pleasure for the relieving of them. It is God therefore Himself that is not heard when they are denied; it is God that is not heard in His command, as well as the poor in his necessity. And, therefore, being made deaf as it were with the loudness of His own crying, He doth not hear the uncharitable when they cry unto him.—Jermin.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain v. 13. Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry…
v. 13. Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, deliberately and hard-heartedly ignoring their appeals for help, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard, thus being punished in the manner in which he transgressed.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 The one who shuts his ears to the cry…
The one who shuts his ears to the cry of the poor
This is an idiom. AT: "The one who will not listen when poor people ask for help" (See: Idiom)
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he will not be answered
The word "answered" is a metonym for a person hearing another person ask for help and acting to help. This can be translated in active form. AT: "no one will do anything to help him" (See: Metonymy and Active or Passive)
appeases anger
"makes an angry person feel better so he is no longer angry"
translationWords
gift
anger
wrath
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.