The rich and the poor have this in common: Yahweh is the maker of them all.
Parallel Translations
-
The rich and the poor have this in common: Yahweh is the maker of them all.
-
The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all.
-
The rich and the poor meet together — the LORD is the maker of them all.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Proverbs 22:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Job 31:15 Didn’t he who made me in the womb make him? Didn’t one fashion us in the womb?
- 1 Samuel 2:7 Yahweh makes poor and makes rich. He brings low, he also lifts up.
- Proverbs 14:31 He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for his Maker, but he who is kind to the needy honors him.
- Job 34:19 He doesn’t respect the persons of princes, nor respect the rich more than the poor; for they all are the work of his hands.
- Proverbs 29:13 The poor man and the oppressor have this in common: Yahweh gives sight to the eyes of both.
- James 2:2-5 For if a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes into your synagogue, and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in, and you pay special attention to him who wears the fine clothing and say, “Sit here in a good place;” and you tell the poor man, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool” haven’t you shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him?
- 1 Corinthians 12:21 The eye can’t tell the hand, “I have no need for you,” or again the head to the feet, “I have no need for you.”
- Psalms 49:1-2 Hear this, all you peoples. Listen, all you inhabitants of the world, both low and high, rich and poor together.
- Luke 16:19-20 “Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day. A certain beggar, named Lazarus, was taken to his gate, full of sores,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (21 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Live together, and have need the one of the…
Live together, and have need the one of the other.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 22:2 The rich and poor meet together: the…
Pro 22:2 The rich and poor meet together: the LORD [is] the maker of them all.
Ver. 2. The rich and the poor meet together.] They have mutual need one of another, and meet many times, as it were, in the midway, by an alteration of their condition. "They that were full were hired forth for bread, and the hungry are no more hired." {1Sa 2:5} "The mighty are put down from their seats, and those of low degree are exalted." {Luk 1:53}
Read full note →
The Lord is the maker of them all.] The maker of the men, the maker of their estates, and the maker of that change and alteration which often happeneth, that the one might become grateful, the other humble. See Job 31:15.
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 The rich and poor meet together; either,
The rich and poor meet together; either,
1. In a way of hostility or opposition, as this word is sometimes used; the rich contemning and oppressing the poor, and the poor envying and purloining from the rich; and so the following words are a reason why that hostility should cease. Or,
Read full note →
2. In the way of mutual converse; they live together, and need one another.
The Lord is the Maker of them all; not only as they are men, but also as they are poor or rich, which difference comes wholly from God’s providence; they have one common Creator, and Lord, and Judge, and the one cannot despise nor grudge at the other without a reflection upon God.
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 Note, 1. Among the children of men divine Providence…
Note, 1. Among the children of men divine Providence has so ordered it that some are rich and others poor, and these are intermixed in societies: The Lord is the Maker of both, both the author of their being and the disposer of their lot. The greatest man in the world must acknowledge God to be his Maker, and is under the same obligations to be subject to him that the meanest is; and the poorest has the honour to be the work of God's hands as much as the greatest. Have they not all one Father? Mal 2:10; Job 31:15. God makes some rich, that they may be charitable to the poor, and others poor, that they may be serviceable to the rich; and they have need of one another, Co1 12:21. He make some poor, to exercise their patience, and contentment, and dependence upon God, and others rich, to exercise their thankfulness and beneficence. Even the poor we have always with us; they shall never cease out of the land, nor the rich neither. 2. Notwithstanding the distance that is in many respects between rich and poor, yet in most things they meet together, especially before the Lord, who is the Maker of them all, and regards not the rich more than the poor, Job 34:19. Rich and poor meet together at the bar of God's justice, all guilty before God, concluded under sin, and shapen in iniquity, the rich as much as the poor; and they meet at the throne of God's grace; the poor are as welcome there as the rich. There is the same Christ, the same scripture, the same Spirit, the same covenant of promises, for them both. There is the same heaven for poor saints that there is for rich: Lazarus is in the bosom of Abraham. And there is the same hell for rich sinners that there is for poor. All stand upon the same level before God, as they do also in the grave. The small and great are there.
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 The rich and poor meet together,.... In an hostile…
The rich and poor meet together,.... In an hostile way, as some; they rush upon one another; the rich despise the poor, and the poor envy the rich; they cannot speak well one of another, as the Arabic version; or they are dependent on one another, they cannot do without each other; as in the natural body one member cannot say to another, I have no need of thee; so, in the body politic, the rich and the poor cannot say they have no need of one another; the rich stand in need of the poor to till their land, to plough and sow, and do all other servile works for them; and the poor have need of the rich to employ them; have need of their money as their wages for their work, to support themselves and families with: or they sometimes change conditions, and so meet; the poor grow rich, and the rich become poor; the one goes uphill and the other downhill, and so meet in their passage. They meet together in all places of the earth; go where you will, there are rich and poor. The godly rich and poor meet together in one place to worship God; they meet together in a Gospel church state, enjoying the same privileges and ordinances; and will all meet the Lord, and all meet together at his judgment seat; and they will meet in heaven, and be together to all eternity, where the distinction will cease: and the wicked rich and poor meet together to commit sin; and they meet together in the grave (q), where there is no difference; and they will meet at the bar of God at the last day, and in hell, where they will be together for evermore;
the Lord is the Maker of them all: not only as men, but as rich men and poor men; God gives riches to whom he pleases, and poverty to whom he pleases; riches and poverty are according to the order of divine Providence; and he can and does change scenes at his pleasure; wherefore the rich should consider themselves as dependent on him, and not despise and crush the poor; and the poor should be content with their state, as being allotted to them by the Lord, who can alter it when he thinks fit.
Read full note →
(q) "Victor cum victis pariter miscebitur umbris--Lydus Delichio, non ditat Croesus ab Iro", Propert. l. 3. Eleg. 5. v. 15, 17.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Meet - They live together, and need one another.…
Meet - They live together, and need one another. The maker - Not only as they are men, but as they are poor or rich, which difference comes from God's providence. They have one common creator, and Lord, and judge, and the one cannot despise nor grudge at the other without reflecting upon God.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 2. The rich and poor meet together] עשיר…
Verse 2. The rich and poor meet together] עשיר ashir the opulent, whether in money, land, or property; רש rash, the man that is destitute of these, and lives by his labour, whether a handicraftsman, or one that tills the ground. In the order of God, the rich and the poor live together, and are mutually helpful to each other. Without the poor, the rich could not be supplied with the articles which they consume; for the poor include all the labouring classes of society: and without the rich, the poor could get no vent for the produce of their laborer, nor, in many cases, labour itself. The poor have more time to labour than the mere necessaries of life require; their extra time is employed in providing a multitude of things which are called the superfluities of life, and which the rich especially consume. All the poor man's time is thus employed; and he is paid for his extra labour by the rich. The rich should not despise the poor, without whom he can neither have his comforts, nor maintain his state. The poor should not envy the rich, without whom he could neither get employment, nor the necessaries of life.
The Lord is the Maker of them all.] Both the states are in the order of God's providence, and both are equally important in his sight. Merely considered as men, God loves the simple artificer or labourer as much as he does the king; though the office of the latter, because of its entering into the plan of his government of the world, is of infinitely greatly consequence than the trade of the poor artificer. Neither should despise the other; neither should envy the other. Both are useful; both important; both absolutely necessary to each other's welfare and support; and both are accountable to God for the manner in which they acquit themselves in those duties of life which God has respectively assigned them. The abject poor - those who are destitute of health and the means of life - God in effect lays at the rich man's door, that by his superfluities they may be supported. How wise is that ordinance which has made the rich and the poor! Pity it were not better understood!
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 22:2. The rich and the poor meet together…
Pro 22:2. The rich and the poor meet together — “The world doth not consist all of rich, nor all of poor; but they are mixed together, and have need one of another; and will agree well, and not clash one against another, if they both consider that there is one Lord, who is the Creator of both; and hath, by his providence, ordered their inequality for their mutual good.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Compare the margin reference. Another recognition of the oneness…
Compare the margin reference. Another recognition of the oneness of a common humanity, overriding all distinctions of rank.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Charles Bridges 1846 · Public Domain There is great diversity in the several stations and…
There is great diversity in the several stations and circumstances of mankind. Yet the difference is mainly superficial, and the equality in all important matters manifest. The rich and the poor, apparently so remote from each other, meet together. All have the same birth.†1 All enter the world naked,†2 helpless, unconscious beings; all stand in the same natural relation to their God; dependent on him for their birth;†3 the children of his Providence;†4 the creatures of his moral government.†5 All are subject to the same sorrow, sickness, infirmities, and temptations.†6 At the gate of the invisible world the distinction of riches and poverty is dropped. "All go to one place"†7 — alike having kindred with worms and corruption. And when they shall come forth from the long home at the final consummation, all — "small as well as great — shall stand before God." (Rev 20:12 .)
We meet together also on the same level as sinners. All are tainted with the same original corruption.†8 "All, like sheep, have" personally "gone astray." (Isa 53:6 .) All need alike the same new birth to give them life, the same precious blood to cleanse them, the same robe of righteousness to cover them. (Rom 3:21-22 .) It is in fact a common need,†9 and a common salvation. (Jud 1:3 .) In all these matters the rich and the poor are as one. "God is no respecter of persons."†10 The difference appears only as the outward garment.†11 Yet what a distance it makes! The one scarcely hears of or knows the other!
Read full note →
And when redeemed into the family of God, is not every member of the family our brother?†12 Here then rich and poor meet on equal standing at the same throne of grace, in the same spiritual body,†13 at the same holy table.†14 We communicate to each other the same blessed hopes, feel the same sympathies, and anticipate the same home.
Nor is this a constitution of accident, or of mechanical arrangement. The LORD is the maker of them all. Not only does he make us as men; but he makes us rich and poor. (1Sa 2:7 .) Adored be that divine arrangement, that has knit the rich and the poor together so closely in mutual dependence, that neither can live without the other (Ecc 5:9 ); neither can say to the other, "I have no need of thee." (1Co 12:21 .) The lower rank may be the feet and the hands, which work out the purposes of the mind. The higher may be the head, the seat of counsel, absolutely necessary for the direction and preservation of the social system. Truly indeed — in contemplating the balance, by which perfect order is educed from the selfish passions of men, we must acknowledge of the moral, no less than the natural, system — "In wisdom hast thou made them all." (Psa 104:24 .)
Yet this Christian equality before God does not annihilate the gradation of rank before men. "The servants under the yoke must not despise their believing masters, because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved." (1Ti 6:2 .) In equality of rank, could men continue for a single day? Difference of mind and talents, industry, self-denial, Providences, would shake the balance before the morning was gone. God never meant to level the world, any more, than the surface of the earth. The distinction of rich and poor still remains in his appointment, and all attempts to sink it must end in confusion. To each of us are committed our several talents, duties, and responsibilities both to God and man. Let each of us therefore be given to our own work, and "abide in our calling with God." (1Co 7:24 .) "Let the brother of low degree rejoice, in that he is exalted; but the rich, in that he is made low." (Jas 1:9-10 .) Soon shall we all be one family in our Father’s house — to "go out no more." (Rev 3:12 .)
Footnotes:
†1 Job 31:15. Mal 2:10 . Act 17:26 .
†2 Job 1:21. Ecc 5:15 .
†3 Job 12:10. Act 17:25, Act 17:28 .
†4 Psa 145:9, Psa 145:15-16.
†5 Dan 4:35.
†6 Heb 13:3.
†7 Job 3:19. Psa 89:48 . Ecc 2:16 ; Ecc 3:20 ; Ecc 6:6 ; Ecc 9:11 . Heb 9:27 .
†8 Gen 5:3. Job 25:4 . Psa 51:5 .
†9 In the ordinance of redemption all were to give alike, as an acknowledgment of equal need. Exo 30:15 .
†10 Act 10:34. Job 34:19 .
†11 Luk 16:19-20.
†12 Gal 3:28. Col 3:11 .
†13 See this implied in the rebuke, Jas 2:2-5 .
†14 1Co 10:17 ; 1Co 12:13 .
Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Another. They stand in need of one another. (St.…
Another. They stand in need of one another. (St. Chrysostom, hom. xxxiv. in 1 Corinthians.) --- They are equal in God’s sight, who only values real virtue. He disposes of riches, so that the poor may one day become rich. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Before God all are on the same footing (Pro…
Before God all are on the same footing (Pro 14:31; Pro 17:5).
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 2. Rich and poor meet together — Perhaps, in…
2. Rich and poor meet together — Perhaps, in the sense of adaptation to each other. By the ordinance of God, they each have their place, sphere, duties, and use in the world. The rich have obligations and duties with respect to the poor, and the poor in respect to the rich. Moreover, they are mutually dependent upon each other. The rich need the poor and the poor need the rich. They are complements of each other. Capital needs labour, and labour needs capital.
The Lord is the maker of them all — Both are equally his workmanship. Their several conditions, so far as they are providential, are his ordinance, and are equally important in his sight. The rich, therefore are not to despise the poor, nor the poor to envy the rich. They are both on probation for the formation of virtuous character. One finds his discipline in riches; the other in the want of them. He who attains to the highest virtue will in the end be the richest. Compare Pro_14:31; Pro_17:5; Pro_29:13; Job_31:13; Job_31:15.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 2. Comp. Pro_29:13. The true remedy for social inequalities…
2. Comp. Pro_29:13. The true remedy for social inequalities is not to abolish them, but to recognise Who it is that has appointed them, and the obligations of mutual consideration and respect which they involve.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (2) The rich and poor meet together.—Are thrown together…
(2) The rich and poor meet together.—Are thrown together in the world in order to aid each other in the path through life, remembering that they are brethren, sons of one Father. (Comp. 1Co_12:27.)
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 The rich and poor meet together: (Pro_29:13) the Lord…
The rich and poor meet together: (Pro_29:13) the Lord is the Maker of them all. (Job_34:19) God has ordained that there shall be rich and poor in the world, and that they should meet in the intercourse of life. These social inequalities are ordered for wise purposes; the one helps the other. The labour of the poor makes the wealth of the rich; the wealth of the rich enables him to employ and aid the poor. Their common humanity, their fatherhood in God, should make them regard one another as brethren, without distinction of rank or position: the rich should not despise the poor, (Pro_14:31 Pro_17:5 Job_31:15) the poor should not envy the rich, (Pro_3:31) but all should live in love and harmony as one great family of God.
Social distinctions.
Read full note →
I THE SAD CONDITION OF SOCIAL DISTINCTIONS.
1. These distinctions are very marked. There is an enormous separation between the condition of the rich and that of the poor. The one class is overwhelmed with luxury, the other pinched with penury. There seems to be a tendency to an aggravation of this separation. As wealth grows, poverty does not perceptibly recede. Three millions are on the borders of starvation among the riches of England.
2. These distinctions are not determined by desert. No doubt honest industry tends to prosperity, while idleness and dissipation lead to poverty. But there are bad rich men and good poor men.
3. These distinctions are grossly unjust. It is impossible to maintain that there is equity in the present distribution of property throughout the community, though it may be urged that most attempts at remedying the injustice that have been proposed hitherto would be worse than the disease.
4. These distinctions generate greater evils. They destroy the sense of human brotherhood, fostering a spirit of pride on the part of the rich, and rousing passions of hatred among those who feel themselves to be robbed of their share of the world"s wealth. One man is not to be thought of as necessarily superior to his neighbour simply because he is in possession of more property; nor, on the other hand, should the owner of wealth be regarded as a wholesale brigand.
II THE MEANS OF RECONCILING SOCIAL DISTINCTIONS. "The rich and poor meet together.
1. It is desirable that there should be more intercourse between the various classes of society. Very much of the antagonism of the classes arises from ignorance. The simple, honest, poor man, seeking his rights in the rough style natural to his circumstances, is regarded as a red-handed revolutionist by the fastidious upper-class person, who, in turn, is treated by his indigent neighbour as a monster of cruelty and selfishness, a very ogre. The first step towards a better understanding is more freedom of intercourse. It is the same with the quarrel between capital and labour. Mutual conferences might bring about a common understanding.
2. In the Church of God rich and poor meet on common ground. Here pride of class is utterly inexcusable. Happily, the old distinction between the curtained, carpeted, and cushioned squire"s pew, and the bare benches of the villagers, is being swept away. But the spirit that this distinction suggested is not so easily exorcised. Christian brotherhood should bring all together in a common family spirit. It was so in early ages, when the slave might be a privileged communicant, while the master was a humble catechumen on the threshold of the Church.
3. Death levels all class distinctions. Rich and poor meet together in the grave. After death new distinctions emerge. Dives cannot scorn Lazarus in Hades.
III THE MOTIVE FOR OVERCOMING SOCIAL DISTINCTIONS. This is to be discovered in a consideration of the common relation of men to their Maker. Nothing short of religion will heal the fearful wounds of society. Forcible methods will not succeed; e.g. in the French Revolution. A universal redistribution of property would soon be followed by the old distinctions. Socialism would destroy virtues of independence and energy. But faith in God will work inwardly towards a reconciliation.
1. All classes are equally low before God. The highest earthly mountains vanish in astronomy.
2. Our common relation to God is the ground of our mutual relations with one another. All men have one Father; therefore all men must be brethren. The recognition of the Fatherhood of God will lead to the admission of family duties and claims among men. Christ, who teaches the Fatherhood of God, inspires the "enthusiasm of humanity.
"Rich and poor.
The great problem of excessive wealth and pitiable poverty confronts us still, and seems likely to task our united wisdom for many years, if not for several generations. We may regard
I THE BROAD AND NAKED FACT VISIBLE TO EVERY EYE. The fact that, while this world is stored with wealth beneath the ground, and is capable of bringing forth upon its surface ample supplies for all the need of the race, there is found amongst us vast mass of miserable indigence. Children are born into the world in homes where parents do not know how to feed and clothe them, where an early death would seem to be the happiest fate; and other children are born into and brought up in homes where parents have a great deal more than they need to provide for their necessities, and where life offers every opportunity for enjoyment with no necessity for labour.
II HOW FAR THIS DISTINCTION IS OF GOD.
1. Such deep and wide distinctions as now exist must be contrary to his purpose. We cannot possibly suppose that it is in accordance with his mind that thousands of his children should be starving, unclad or ill clad, homeless, exposed to the saddest sufferings and the darkest evils, while other thousands of his children have more than they need or know how to make good use of.
2. These distinctions are the ultimate result of the laws which he ordained. Poverty has its origin in sin; it is one of the penalties of wrong doing. All the evil we see and sigh over, of every kind, we must trace to sin and to the consequences which sin entails. It is a Divine law that sin and suffering go together.
3. Some inequalities amongst us are directly due to his Divine ordering. He creates us with very different faculties. Some are fitted and enabled to do great things, which raise them in position and in circumstance above their brethren; others are not thus qualified Much, though very far indeed from everything, depends upon our natural endowments.
III THE UNDESIRABLE SEPARATION WHICH EXISTS BETWEEN THE RICH AND THE POOR. We do not know our neighbours as we should. We pass one another with cold indifference. Too often men turn away from their inferiors (in circumstance) with a contemptuous disregard which signifies that the poor man is beneath their notice; too often men fail to appeal to their fellows because they think themselves unworthy to address them. Between man and man, between brother and brother, there is a gulf of isolation which must be painful and pitiful in the sight of the common Father, the Maker of them both.
IV THE OCCASIONS WHEN THEY MEET.
1. Those on which they must feel the distinction between them in business and in society.
2. Those on which they should not do so when they meet in public worship or for Christian work, then all differences of a material and social kind should be forgotten and ignored.
(1) What are these in presence of that which separates both rich and poor from the Infinite and Almighty One?
(2) What are these in comparison with the question of moral and spiritual Worth? In the sight of God, the poor but holy man is far more acceptable than the rich but unholy man. With him all questions of income or of title are utterly insignificant, positively invisible in presence of the questions of moral rectitude and spiritual worth.
3. One on which they will not do so. (Rev_20:12)
4. Do your best to bridge the gulf, or, still better, to fill up the chasm which separates one class from another.
5. Take care to have that distinction which will survive the shocks of time and change. 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 The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is…
Pro_22:2
The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the maker of them all.
Read full note →
The mixture of rich and poor
I. In all civil societies there are rich and there are poor people. This is the unavoidable consequence of the constitution of things. It will appear so if we examine whence ariseth wealth and whence poverty. Riches arise from three causes.
1. The virtues and abilities of men.
2. From the vices of men.
3. From chance or good-fortune; from events towards which the rich man himself contributes little or nothing.
To the same three causes poverty may also be ascribed. Not only nations are necessarily divided into rich and poor, but there must be also a perpetual fluctuation of property, by which the rich becomes poor, and the poor become rich, so that neither state is of a fixed and permanent nature. The poor will always be far more numerous than the rich. Whilst there is human liberty, whilst there are virtues and vices, whilst there are vicissitudes of fortune and revolutions of affairs, there must be in all times and places a mixture of high and low, rich and poor. Providence permits it, and in some sense may be said to appoint it, since it results from the nature and constitution of this world.
II. The moral reflection made by Solomon upon this inequality. The Lord is the maker of them all. They have one common parent. In that respect they are equal. If so, there should be no great difference as to real happiness between them. Is there much disparity in point of happiness between the great and the small, the master and the servant, the gentleman and the labourer, the rich and the poor? Superficial observers of human nature and human life will judge without hesitation that the rich have every advantage on their side. But to have honour and authority, unless it be honestly acquired and decently supported, is to be raised to splendid infamy. Power wantonly exercised is the undesirable opportunity of doing mischief. Wealth used for vile purposes, or for no good purposes, can be no real blessing to the master or the hoarder of it. Independency rightly understood is sometimes a blessing, but it is sometimes a calamity. The poor are, or may be, more free from uneasiness than the rich. They have fewer desires, fewer false and artificial wants, more moderate expectations, etc., and these sorts of cares and commotions are no small abatements of human happiness. The poor have usually better health. The extremes either of plenty or of indigence usually occasion various distempers, and shorten the thread of human life. They therefore who are in a middle state between wealth and want should be thankful for their lot, and instead of envying those who ere above them, should consider how many are placed below them. If the whole property and revenue of a country were equally divided amongst the inhabitants, they would be reduced to a state approaching very nearly to poverty. If all the inhabitants of a Christian nation were to live up exactly to the precepts of our Lord and the exhortation of His apostles, excessive wealth and extreme indigence would hardly be found among them. There are three precepts or laws of Christianity which tend directly to remove these extremes; and they are the law of charity, the law of industry, and the law of temperance. (J. Jortin, D.D.)
The ranks of rich and poor
The constitution of things being such that the labour of one man, or the labour of several, is sufficient to procure more necessaries than he or they stand in need of, this immediately gave room for riches to arise in the world, and for mens acquiring them by honest means. Thus some would acquire greater plenty of necessaries than they had occasion for; and others, by contrary means, or by cross accidents, would be in want of them. A family with more than was wanted for necessaries would soon develop secondary wants, and inventions for the supply of them, the fruits of leisure and ease, came to employ much of mens time and leisure. Hence a new species of riches came into the world. By and by the superfluities of life took in a vastly larger compass of things than the necessaries of it. Then luxury made its inroad, and all the numerous train of evils its attendants, of which poverty is far from being the worst. If riches had continued to consist only in things necessary or luxurious, this must have embarrassed trade and commerce, and kept riches in the hands of a few. It was agreed to substitute something more lasting and portable, Which should pass everywhere in commerce for real natural riches. Money was to answer for all things. The improvement of trade and commerce has, very happily, enlarged the middle rank of people, who are, in good measure, free from the vices of the highest and the lowest part of mankind. The ranks of rich and poor being thus formed, they meet together--they continue to make up one society. Their mutual want unites them inseparably, but they meet upon a footing of great inequality. The superiority on the one hand, and the independence on the other, are in no sort accidental, but arise necessarily from a settled providential dispensation of things for their common good. This implies duties to each other. The lower rank of mankind go on for the most part in some tract of living, into which they got by direction and example; and to this their understanding and discourse, as well as labour, are greatly confined. Then what influence and power their superiors must have over them! The rich have the power of doing a great deal of good, but this power is given them by way of trust, in order to their keeping down that vice and misery with which the lower people would otherwise be quite overrun. The rich are charged by natural providence, as much as by revealed appointment, with the care of the poor. This is not a burden, but a privilege attached to riches. Observations on public charities:
1. What we have to bestow in charity being a trust, we must satisfy ourselves that we bestow it upon proper objects of charity.
2. Public charities are examples of great influence.
3. All public charities should be regarded as open to counsels of improvement.
4. Our laws and whole constitution, civil and ecclesiastical, go more upon supposition of an equality amongst mankind than the constitution and laws of other countries.
5. Let our charity towards men be exalted into piety towards God, from the serious consideration that we are all His creatures. (Bp. Butler.)
The rich and poor meet together
In the distinction between the rich and the poor there is something not altogether pleasant to the human mind. We are apt to recoil from it. Frequently the dissatisfaction increases as we can discover no just rule for the unequal distribution of riches. The mind of the author of this proverb was led away from the distinctions between these two classes to notice agreements between these classes.
1. There is a substantial agreement between rich and poor in their origin and their situation as they enter the world. They are equally dependent, equally helpless, equally miserable.
2. In their training and preparation for after-life.
3. A value is set upon riches as a means of enjoyment or usefulness. With the rich and poor alike there is a desire for wealth which arises from the hope of making it useful to ones own.
4. But for cherished erroneous notions, the rich and the poor would act together with more efficiency and more good-will. Public good would be more promoted.
5. Between rich and poor there is a substantial agreement in all the organs of perception and enjoyment. The poor mans organisation throughout is as perfect as the rich mans.
6. In the intellectual faculties there is a strong resemblance.
7. And in the original passions of men.
8. They are alike in their natural and equal dependence upon one another. Neither class can dispense with the other and stand independent and alone.
9. There is a nearly equal distribution of the disappointments, vexations, and distresses of life. 10. There is perfect equality among men in their capabilities for religion. (J. S. Spencer, D.D.)
The relative duties of the rich and poor
Nothing is made for itself, or made to terminate in its own being.
I. The foundation of the relative duties of the rich and poor.
1. They have one Creator, who is also the Father of all.
2. They are brought together into the same society or department of being. Society is a Divine constitution, and an important ingredient of happiness. In society mankind exists in different relations to each other. In respect to them the law of dependence, which pervades the whole universe, prevails.
II. What are the relative and reciprocal duties of rich and poor?
1. One duty of the rich is benevolent bestowment; to supply the need of the poor, to aid them in their necessities.
2. Another duty is that of employment.
3. The enactment of just laws.
4. The practical recognition of the great fact of an universal religious equality. The poor owe--
(1) Gratitude to their benefactors.
(2) Contentment with reasonable wages.
(3) Regard to the interests of their employers. (F. A. Cox, D.D., LL.D.)
Points of agreement in the state of the rich and the poor
I. In the participation of a common nature. Poor and rich have equally the power of ascertaining general principles; their moral sensibilities are the same; in devotion the two classes meet. They are alike in the primary passions of the human mind. The more we analyse actions, and trace them to their primary elements, the more we shall perceive the identity between the rich and the poor as to their intellectual, moral, accountable, and devotional capacities.
II. In the process of the same social economy.
III. In the house of God. In the presence of the great and good Being men should forget all their distinctions, and recollect their essential relation to Him who is equally the Father of all mankind.
V. In the circumstances of their entrance into this world, and in the circumstances of their exit out of it. Learn--
1. That those who are rich should recollect that they are rich for the purpose of benefiting their generation. Let such persons consider seriously whether they are living to themselves or to God.
2. Not to repine if we are poor and yet partakers of true piety springing from the faith of the gospel. (Robert Hall.)
The doctrine of human equality
There are great points of resemblance between all men sufficient to constitute a true equality.
1. All possess an intellectual and immortal nature. Mind is a common possession. The immortality of the soul stamps all men with equal honour.
2. The fact of a common possession among all classes of the social and domestic affections establishes the doctrine of human equality. The same heart of love towards friends and kindred beats in the breast of the highest and lowest.
3. The doctrine of human equality is established by the universal distribution of vice and virtue. Everywhere you will find sin. That is a common heritage. So with virtue. You will find grand specimens of piety and goodness in the dwellings of the rich, the middle class, and the poor.
4. The doctrine of human equality is established by our common inheritance of infirmities, suffering, bereavements, sorrow, and death. The same physical weakness enfeebles rich and poor. They are subject to the same diseases. They experience the same mental anguish. Learn--
(1) To see the mischief--the sin--of those who endeavour to sever, ill thought and sympathy, man from man. What is specially needed now is sympathy between the various classes of society.
(2) That this doctrine of human equality supplies a basis for the adaptation of the gospel to our needs. (W. Walters.)
Rich and poor
1. According to the very constitution of human nature, great social distinctions do and must exist. While we acquiesce in this fact as inevitable, it is important that we take a right view of it.
2. The rich and poor, with many outward differences, meet together in the possession of a common nature, which is greater than all the circumstances of life.
3. The rich and poor meet together in a large intermediate class. The blending of classes is not less remarkable than their separation.
4. The rich and poor meet together in the common enjoyment of all the greater blessings of life. The most valuable blessings of life are those which are scattered broadcast over the world, and which come to all alike, as does the bright shining of the sun.
5. The rich and poor meet together in all the more important and deeper experiences of life. The great events, which stir the deepest feelings of mans heart--birth, marriage, death--occur in every household.
6. The rich and poor meet together in that they are all alike, and without exception, sinners, involved in one common ruin, exposed to one common doom. This is one of the most unpalatable truths of the Bible.
7. The rich and poor meet together in this--they have presented unto them a common salvation. There is only one gospel for rich and poor. Social and national distinctions find no place in the gospel of Christ. If men are to be saved at all they can only be saved in one way, by the exercise of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the one Saviour. (T. M. Morris.)
Rich and poor
I. Various ways in which rich and poor cannot avoid meeting together.
1. They belong to the same creation. They meet together, then, as brethren--all one Mans sons, who will have His children live together in unity.
2. They are placed together by their common Maker in the same world, and in a state of necessary dependence on each other.
3. Although there is a wide separation between rich and poor in point of education, habits, and manners, yet these outward differences are as nothing in comparison with their common nature, to which they bear the same relation as the clothes to the body. View them in regard to their natural appetites, bodily and mental capacities, social and domestic affections; in all these things they meet together as equals, and we plainly see that one Lord is the Maker of them all.
4. If now, dismissing worldly considerations, we contemplate them as they must appear to their Maker, we shall see the distance between them absolutely vanish, and nothing to prevent their meeting together on a footing of perfect equality. All souls are alike, and religion addresses itself to all alike.
5. Rich and poor, thus meeting together in the enjoyment of the same Christian privileges, should also meet together in the exhibition of a renewed heart and a gracious character, the fruits of a common faith.
II. Exhort both rich and poor to a voluntary meeting of each other; not only as being brought together by the appointment of Providence, but as seeking and making advances towards each other.
1. It is not enough that the rich should not oppress the poor; thanks to the equity of our laws, this is not to any serious extent in their power; nor that they should not despise the poor, which we hope is not in their inclination; but the rich must protect and assist and honour and sympathise with their poorer brethren.
2. But if it be the duty of the rich thus to meet the poor, it is no less incumbent on the poor to make advances towards the rich, and meet them half-way. (J. H. Burn, B.D.)
Social relations
Rich and poor meet together in their relation and dependence on each other, as members of society and common heirs of Christs salvation. They meet together in their duties. They meet together in their joint properties. They meet together in their dearest interests, both of this life and of that which is to come. The rich man may be reminded that the city cannot be inhabited without the artisans and smiths and labours. The poor man should be told that the capacity of his superiors is of another order from his own, and that the duty of different stations is different; each has his own opportunities, and his own responsibilities. Rich men are necessary to the well-being of the poor, and the poor are essential to the existence of wealth. The necessities of all ranks connect all. The wants of the rich convey comforts to the poor; the wants of the poor minister to the abundance of the rich. Such are the gracious dispensations of a kind Providence. Let us all be thankful for what we have, and not repine that we have no more. (G. D. Hill, M.A.)
The poor and the rich
All through the Scriptures the point of view is Gods, not mans. To understand any part of the Bible we must look at it from the Divine standpoint. This applies to the text. In that day the contrast between rich and poor was far greater than now. If man had spoken he would have said, The rich and poor are divided; their interests are at war, and cannot be made to harmonise. The rich have manifest advantages.
1. They have opportunities for improvement which the poor have not.
2. They have means of influence which the poor have not. In other respects observe the essential sameness of these two classes.
(1) The faculties of the mind in both rich and poor are essentially the same.
(2) The same moral natures are in both.
(3) They are alike responsible.
(4) In the eye of God they meet together in their destiny.
(5) They meet together in their sinfulness.
(6) They are the same in their relation to the plan of salvation.
Both are one at the centre. God equalises. The differences are slight. The differences are reciprocal and transient, while the points of agreement are permanent. Those who set the one class against the other are moving backward toward the feudal ages, whether they know it or not--a time when the poor was servant to the rich. The glory of our age is that the differences between the classes are being obliterated. They are meeting together. Our souls are being lifted to a comprehension of this exalted ideal of the Scriptures. (R. S. Storrs, D.D.)
The equality of men
I. Clearly state the subject.
II. Show that it is the will of God that there should be distinctions of rich and poor in the world.
1. Evident from Scriptures.
2. It is not inconsistent with Gods justice, and is an argument for His wisdom.
III. Applications.
1. The rich should always acknowlege God in all their enjoyments.
2. The poor should be contented.
3. Apart from riches and poverty, all men are equal--they have the same nature, the same care of Providence, the same Christian privileges, and the same judgment. (H. Grove.)
Ultimate Divine impartiality
The idea of ultimate impartiality is what is chiefly suggested by the latter part of this verse, the Lord is the Maker of them all. He is so by creation. They alike owe to Him their being, and owe to Him every moment the maintenance of that being--the rich man and the honourable, as well as the poorest and meanest on earth. Where is the monarch on the throne that, more than the lowest of his subjects, can draw a breath independently of God? He is so by providential allotment. The same Lord makes them what they are, and could at His pleasure reverse their conditions, making the rich the poor and the poor the rich. The Lord being the Maker of them all implies also the equal distance of them all, as alike His creatures, from their common Creator and Governor. The distance is the same. In both it is infinite. When God is the object of common comparison, the distance between the highest and the lowest of mankind measures not a hairs breadth; it is annihilated. All the distinctions of which men make so much sink into nothing before His infinite majesty. (R. Wardlaw, D.D.)
The true corrective of social inequalities
The text does not mean that both rich and poor are mingled in society, that they oppose or encounter one another, but rather that they are alike, that with all their differences there is still something common to both. What is this common ground, the point of contact and agreement? Not an absolute identity or sameness of condition, but participation in a certain good common to both, and independent of external qualities. The true corrective of all social inequalities, so far as they are evil, must be furnished, not by human institutions and arrangements, but derived from a higher and independent source. Consider how and why the religion of the Bible is adapted to exert this influence. Mens schemes for the practical solution of this great problem are three.
1. The idea of obliterating social inequalities by a coercive distribution of all property. This method is condemned by its violent injustice, by the meanness of its aims, by the hypocrisy of its professions.
2. The idea of securing an equality of civil rights in spite of personal and social disadvantages. As a positive means of correcting the effects of providential inequalities, this is as worthless as the other.
3. The idea of remedying the evil by means of intellectual increase and knowledge and refinement of taste. The objection to this remedy is that when applied alone its influence is not necessarily or wholly good.
(1) Christianity distinctly recognises the existence and necessity of some providential inequalities in the external situation of mankind.
(2) Its remedy is the direct mitigation of the evils of society by the change wrought in the tempers and affections of the parties. And true religion attaches to the various degrees of wealth, refinement, knowledge, influence, and leisure their corresponding measures of responsibility. It makes each party, to some extent, content with his actual condition, aware of its peculiar obligations, and spontaneously disposed to discharge them.
(3) By a process of moral elevation men are first taught to surmount their disadvantages, and then by one of intellectual elevation the classes are brought nearer together. Impress the necessity for popular religious education, not only as the means of personal improvement and salvation, but also as the grand corrective and perhaps the sovereign cure of the disorders which now prey upon society, and eat as doth a canker. Religious education has a social and secular as well as an exclusively religious use. The true Secret of the healing of the nations. (J. A. Alexander, D.D.)
Relations of rich and poor
The man in want murmurs that God has given him so little; the man in affluence forgets that God has given him so much. A want of sympathy arises between the different classes; they meet in jealousy, not in love. Differences ought to be viewed, not as specially hurtful to any, but as generally good for all. One man is not nearer God or farther from God than another. God is not only the maker of all men as men, He is the maker of all as rich and poor. He fixes their civil conditions. The unequal state is the appointment of His providence. Men meet together by nature as equal; in the eye of the world as unequal; in both cases for good. None is in prosperity or adversity without affecting others. What, then, are the duties which each owes the other, and which both owe to God? (Canon Harvey, M.A.)
Seeing men as God sees them
How the scales seems to fall away from ones eyes directly we are enabled to see things as God sees them! The sacred worth of humanity shines far brighter than any of its tinsel happiness. We learn to estimate ourselves aright, undisturbed, and unabashed by the false estimates which are current in the world. Our true distinction is that we are men, that we belong to a race which was made in the image of God, was dear to His heart, and is redeemed by His love. The equality we claim for men is not a levelling down--it is quite the reverse; it is raising them up to the higher level, which they have deserted and forgotten. It is giving men self-respect instead of self-esteem. (R. F. Horton, D.D.)
The common humanity
I. Rich and poor meet together in their ordinary allotments of life.
II. In the ordinary characteristics of their nature.
1. The body has the same number of bones and muscles, nerves and sinews, in any of which disease may fasten and pain may enter.
2. Nor is our exposure any the less in our minds.
3. Our sensibilities are the same.
III. In their destinies in the common hereafter.
1. We all meet at the grave.
2. We all meet at the judgment.
3. We all meet in eternity.
IV. In their rights under the gospel.
1. There is the same need in the fallen nature.
2. The same supply furnished in the inexhaustible mercy of a crucified Redeemer.
3. The same clear condition annexed to the call.
4. The same unalterable pledge annexed to the promise.
5. The same fulness of fruition held out in answer to every hope at the last.
There is no property qualification whatsoever for citizenship in the kingdom of God. (Chas. S. Robinson, D.D.)
The ordination of wealth and poverty
God makes some rich that they may be charitable to the poor; and others poor that they may be serviceable to the rich; and they have need of one another. He makes some poor to exercise their patience, and contentment, and dependence on God; and others rich to exercise their thankfulness and benevolence. All stand upon the same level before God. (Matthew Henry.)
Diverse social conditions
No dispensation of Providence appears, at first sight, more advantageous to mankind than the diversity of conditions. The prince has need of his people, and the people have need of their prince; the politician has need of the soldiers, and the soldiers have need of the politician. This consciousness of the need which we have of our fellow-creatures is the strong tie which binds us to them. Yet, by the depravity of the human race, this useful order has been miserably abused. On one side the great have been dazzled by their own splendour, and hence have become haughty, disdainful, and oppressive. On the other, the low, forgetting the dignity which naturally cleaves to a reasonable soul, have become fawning and mean; have bowed down to imaginary divinities and crouched before phantoms of grandeur. Both parties have acquired their erroneous ideas from neglecting to consider themselves in a proper point of view. The nature of man consists of a spirit united to a body; and this description applies to the whole race. The soul of the poor man, as well as that of the rich, has the power of considering principles, of drawing consequences, of discerning truth from falsehood, of choosing good or evil, of seeking for the most glorious and useful attainments. His body, too, bears the same characters of skill and exquisite contrivance: it is harmonious in its parts, just in its motions, and proportioned in its powers. As their powers are the same, so too are their weaknesses. The soul of the rich, like that of the poor, is subject to the influence of the passions. Nor do their privileges differ more; for though a poor man cannot exercise the authority of the great, nor obtain the reputation of immortal heroes, yet he may aspire to honours infinitely greater. He has a right of raising himself to God by the ardour of his prayers; and he can assure himself, without danger or delusion, that the great God will regard and answer his prayers. Nothing shows so much the meanness of the great as the value which they set on exterior advantages, for thus they renounce their true and proper grandeur. The glory of man consists not in that he is rich, noble, a lord, or a king, but in that he is a man, a being formed after the image of God, and capable of the sublimest attainments. What are the views of God with regard to men? What end does He propose in placing us on this planet, thirty, forty, or fourscore years? He intends it as our time of trial. On this principle, what is the most glorious condition? It is not that which raiseth us in society; nor that which procures us the greatest honours and accommodations of life, for it is more glorious to be a good subject than a wicked king, to be a good disciple than a profligate teacher. There is no profession shameful if it is not vicious. There is, indeed, something more noble in the objects of some professions than of others. There is something much greater in the design of a magistrate making and executing laws for the good of mankind and in that of a mechanic practising the simplest arts. But God will not determine our everlasting state according to the design of our professions, but according to the execution; in that respect all professions are equal, and all men have the same destination. Mankind, then, are essentially equal in their nature, their privileges, and their destination. Above all this, equality is eminently conspicuous in their end. We may labour to acquire a portion of honest fame, to augment our fortune, to establish our reputation, and sweeten, as far as we can, the cares of life, for this the morality of the gospel does not condemn; but still we must carry this labour no farther than it deserves; it must not be our chief care. God has given to the great ones of the earth an exterior glory, transient and superficial; but to the humble and the patient He has given that glory which is real, solid, and permanent; and what is there difficult to a wise man in submitting to this order of Providence? It may, in some respects indeed, be mortifying to lurk in the lowest ranks of society when one feels sentiments of greatness and elevation in the soul. But those things will soon pass away; soon shall we enter on a world where those distinctions shall be abolished, and all that is great in the immortal mind shine forth in full splendour. (A. Macdonald.)
The diversity of station and outward prosperity among mankind
I. The diversity of station, of power, of authority, of wealth, and the like is inherent in the nature of man. Men are diverse in their natural capacities, abilities, and inclinations. But this diversity rests not altogether on chance or on injustice of mankind, since it originates, if not in the very nature of the soul, yet surely in the constitution of the body which it inhabits, the external objects by which man is environed, the early education that he receives and the climate allotted him for his abode, and which cannot possibly be everywhere the same.
II. The proof, however, that the difference of station is necessarily inherent in our nature will not pacify the discontented man. He will probably complain of this necessity, that he is subjected to it against his will. But will he justly do so if we prove to him that God in this institution had the wisest and kindest designs in view, and that it is in reality calculated to procure to every one in particular and to all in general manifold and important benefits?
1. Certain it is that without the diversity of estates and conditions of life, we should be absolutely obliged to forego very many of the conveniences which we may enjoy. We should be more independent, but we should also have less support in weakness, less protection in dangers, less help in misery, less relief in distress. And how burdensome would life become if every one were obliged to provide himself necessaries alone, every one to procure and prepare for himself whatever he wanted for his maintenance, for his food and clothing, for his recreation and his amusement!
2. By this regulation established by the Deity mankind have the best opportunity for employing their several capacities, faculties, and endowments, and of carrying them to the highest degree of perfection which they can here attain. The difference of states and conditions of life introduces a great variety of projects and designs, of occupations, exertions, labours, and amusements.
3. By means of this Divine economy every species of satisfaction and pleasure is enjoyed whereof mankind are capable, and these satisfactions and pleasures, taken together, constitute unquestionably the greatest possible sum of happiness or of agreeable sensations that could have place in the present state of man. How few the species of pleasure to which mankind would be restricted if they were in all respects equal!
4. This diversity of station and outward prosperity are excellent means of exercising us in virtue, and so of rendering us capable of the perfection and happiness of another life.
Conclusion:
1. Let every one of us be contented with his situation. Acquire the habit of viewing it on the most agreeable side--that God knows us far better than we know ourselves, and is uniformly consulting our welfare.
2. Let each of us only act up to his station with all possible fidelity in every particular.
3. Let us with extraordinary diligence strive after a superior station in a future world. (G. J. Zollikofer.)
The poor not to be despised
Leslie, the painter, tells us of his hearing the preference expressed by Rogers for seats in churches without pews opposed by a gentleman who preferred pews, and said, If there were seats only, I might find myself sitting by my coachman. Rogers replied, And perhaps you may be glad to find yourself beside him in the next world. (Francis Jacox.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain "The rich and the needy meet together; The Lord…
CHANNEL 23
THE TREATMENT OF THE POOR
Read full note →
"The rich and the needy meet together; The Lord is the maker of them all."- Pro_22:2
"He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed, for he giveth of his bread to the poor."- Pro_22:9
"He that oppresseth the poor, it is for his increase; he that giveth to the rich it is for want."- Pro_22:16
"Rob not the poor because he is poor, neither oppress the humble in the gate; for the Lord will plead their cause and despoil of life those that despoil them."- Pro_22:22-23
IF we would understand and lay to heart the very striking lessons of this book on the treatment of the poor, it will he well for us to observe that there are four words in the Hebrew original which are rendered by our English words "poor" or "needy." These words we will try to discriminate and to use with more exactness in the present lecture, that we may not miss any of the teaching by the blur and obscurity of careless language. First, there is a word (ld;) for which we will reserve our English word "poor"; it signifies a person who is weak and uninfluential, but not necessarily destitute or even in want. The "poor" are those who form the vast majority of every society, and are sometimes described by the word "masses." Secondly, there is a word (Vl;) which may be rendered "needy." It covers those who are in actual want, people who through bereavement, or infirmity, or unavoidable calamity are unable to secure a sufficiency of the necessaries of life. Thirdly, there is a word which we may perhaps render by "humble," for though it more literally describes the afflicted and sad, it contains within it a hint of moral commendation which suggests a transition from the idea of simple weakness and helplessness to that of patient and humble dependence on God. Lastly, there is a word which we will render "destitute." If we keep these notions-"poor," "needy," "humble," "destitute"-distinct, and yet combined, to form one conception, we shall find that the proverbs before us refer to that large section of mankind who are in a worldly and material sense considered the least fortunate; those to whom it is a lifelong effort merely to live; those who have no margin of security on which to fall hack in case of disaster or sickness; those who are engaged in precarious employments or in casual labor; those who may keep their heads above water by diligence and unremitting exertions, but may at any time go under; those who owing to this constant pressure of the elementary needs have but little leisure to cultivate their faculties, and little opportunity to maintain their rights. We are to think of the large class of persons who in more primitive times are slaves, who in feudal times are serfs, who in modern times are called the proletariat; those in whose interest the laws of society have not hitherto been framed, because they have not until quite recently been admitted to any substantial share in the work of legislation; those who have always found it peculiarly difficult to secure justice, because justice is a costly commodity, and they have no means to spare since "the destruction of the poor is precisely their poverty." {Pro_10:15} We are not to think of the idle and the vicious, who are so often classed with the poor, because they, like the poor, are without means, -we must rigorously exclude these, for they are not in the mind of the writer when he gives us these golden precepts. We must remember that it is part of our peculiar English system, the result of our boasted Poor Law, to discredit the very word poverty, by refusing to discriminate between the poor in the scriptural sense, who are honorable and even noble, and the pauper in the modern sense, who is almost always the scum of a corrupt social order, in four cases out of five a drunkard, and in the fifth case the product of someone elses moral failings. It requires quite an effort for us to see and realize what the Scriptures mean by the poor. We have to slip away from all the wretched associations of the Poor House, the Poor Law, and the Guardians. We have to bring before our minds a class which in a wholesome state of society would be a small, numerable minority, but in our own unwholesome state of society are a large and well-nigh innumerable majority, -not only the destitute and the actually needy, but all the people who have no land on which to live, no house which they can call their own, no reserve fund, no possibility of a reserve fund, against the unavoidable calamities and chances of life, the people who are trodden down-who tread each other down-in the race of competition; all those, too, who, according to the godless dogma of the day, must go to the wall because they are weak, and must give up the idea of surviving because only the fittest must expect to survive. There rise up before our imagination the toiling millions of Europe-of England-worn, pale, despondent, apathetic, and resigned or bitter, desperate, and resentful; not destitute, though they include the destitute; not needy, though they include the needy; but poor, without strength except in combination, and often when combined without light or leading.
I. Now the first thing we have to observe is that the poor, in the sense we have tried to define, are a special concern to the Lord. "Rob not the poor," says the text, "because he is poor, neither oppress the humble in the gate, for the Lord will plead their cause, and despoil of life those that despoil them." "Remove not the ancient landmark, and enter not into the fields of the fatherless; for their Redeemer is strong, He shall plead their cause against thee." {Pro_23:10-11} "The Lord will establish the border of the widow." {Pro_15:25} So intimate is the connection between the Lord and His poor creatures that "he that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker, but he that hath mercy on the destitute honoreth." {Pro_14:31} "Whoso mocketh the needy reproacheth his Maker, and he that is glad at calamity shall not be unpunished." {Pro_17:5} On the other hand, "He that hath pity on the poor lendeth unto the Lord, and his good deed will He pay him again." {Pro_19:17}
Not, of course, that there is any favouritism with God, not that He has an interest in a man because of his means or lack of means; but just because of His large and comprehensive impartiality. "The needy man and the oppressor meet together; the Lord lighteneth the eyes of them both." {Pro_19:13} "The rich and the needy meet together, the Lord is the Maker of them all." {Pro_22:2} His special interest in the poor arises only from their special need, from the mute cry which goes up to Him, from the appeal to Him as their only friend, deliverer, and protector: just as His lesser interest in the rich arises from their self-satisfied independence of Him, from their infatuated trust in themselves, and from their conviction that already all things belong to them. We should make a mistake if we supposed that the Lord recognizes any class distinctions, or that He valued a man because he is poor, just as we value a man because he is rich. The truth rather is that He absolutely ignores the class distinctions, regarding the mingled mass of human beings, rich and poor, oppressor and oppressed, as on a plane of dead equality, and then distinguishing between them on a totally different principle, -on a moral, a spiritual principle; and, if there is any preference, it is on the ground of certain valuable moral effects which poverty sometimes produces that He takes the poor into his peculiar and tender care, honoring them with so close a friendship that service to them becomes service to Him.
This is certainly good news to the masses. "You are undistinguished, and unobserved,"-the voice of wisdom seems to say, -"In this world, with its false distinctions and perverted ideals, you feel at a constant disadvantage. You dare hardly claim the rights of your manhood and your womanhood. This great personage, possessing half a city, drawing as much unearned money every day as you can earn by unremitting toil in fifteen or twenty years, seems to overshadow and to dwarf you. And there are these multitudes of easy, comfortable, resplendent persons who live in large mansions and dress in costly garments, while you and your family live in a couple of precarious rooms at a weekly rental, and find it all you can do to get clean and decent clothes for your backs. These moneyed people are held in much estimation; you, so far as you know, are held in none. Their doings-births, marriages, deaths-create quite stir in the world; you slip into the world, through it, and out of it, without attracting any attention. But be assured things wear a different appearance from the standpoint of God. Realize how you and your fellow-men appear to Him, and you at once recover self-respect, and hold up your head in His presence as a man. That simple truth which the Ayrshire peasant sang you may take as Gods truth, as His revelation; it is the way in which He habitually thinks of you."
How the scales seem to fall away from ones eyes directly we are enabled to see men and things as God sees them! The sacred worth of humanity shines far brighter than any of its tinsel trappings. We learn to estimate ourselves aright, undisturbed and unabashed by the false estimates which are current in the world. Our true distinction is that we are men, that we belong to a race which was made in the image of God, was dear to His heart, and is redeemed by His love. The equality we claim for men is not a leveling down-it is quite the reverse; it is raising them up to the higher level which they have deserted and forgotten; it is teaching then to live as men, distinguished not by their accidental circumstances or possessions, but by their manhood itself. It is giving men self-respect instead of self-esteem, teaching them not to vaunt themselves as one against another, but to claim their high and honorable title, one and all, as the sons of God.
II. But now it follows that, if the Lord Himself espouses the cause of the poor, and even identifies Himself with them, ill-treatment of them, injustice to them, or even a willful neglect of them and disregard of their interests, must be a sin and a very terrible sin. "He that despiseth his neighbor sinneth; but he that hath pity on the humble, happy is he." {Pro_14:21} In the East to this day the proverb, "He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him; but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it," has its full significance. But even in the West, where the name of Christ is borne by the nations, it is a common thing for one or two greedy and selfish capitalists to form a "corner"-as the commercial slang of the day denominates it-in some article of industry, i.e., to secure all the raw material in the market, and to hold it until a famine price can be demanded. Meanwhile, the mills are idle, the looms are silent, the workpeople are unemployed, and their families suffer. Our moral sense is not yet sufficiently cultivated to condemn this hideous selfishness as severely as it deserves, and to regard the perpetrators of it as enemies of the human race. "The people curse" them, that is all. But as we have seen that the cause of the wage-earners is the cause of the Lord, we may rest quite confident that He to whom vengeance belongs enters every action of the kind in His inerasable accounts, and reserves the inevitable punishment for these "oppressors of the poor."
There is another evil of modern industrial life which is alluded to in the Proverbs before us. No oppression of the poor is more terrible than that which is exercised by those who themselves are needy. The system which results from necessity of this kind is termed "sweating." The hungry contractor undertakes the job at the lowest possible price, and secures his profit by getting hungrier and weaker creatures than himself to do the work at a price lower than possible, literally at starvation wages. What force, then, to modern ears is there in the saying, "A needy man that oppresseth the Door is like a sweeping rain which leaveth no food!"
The Divine oversight of these industrial abuses is not, as we sometimes suppose, pretermitted. Wisdom and Justice and Love hold the reins, and though the rapacity and cupidity of men seem to have a wide range, they are inevitably pulled up in the end, if not in this partial and transient life, yet in that long Eternity through which the Eternal will work out His purposes. As He Himself sides with the poor and pities them, and turns with indignation against their oppressors, it follows necessarily that he that augments his substance by usury and increase gathereth it for him that pities the poor. In fact, the merciful and pitiful nature has all the forces that rule the universe on its side, notwithstanding appearances to the contrary: "The merciful man doeth good to his own soul, but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh." {Pro_11:17}
It is the strange paradox of all selfishness that the selfish man is really quite blind to his own true interests. He most conscientiously lives for himself, and seeks his own good, but the good he sought proves to be his evil, and of all his innumerable foes he finds at last that he himself is the worst. The selfish man is always coming to want, while the unselfish man whose whole thought has been for others is richly provided for. "He that giveth unto the needy shall not lack, but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse." {Pro_28:27} "There is that scattereth and increaseth yet more, and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth only to want." {Pro_11:24}
"He that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse!" Yes, nothing is more striking than this truth, that not only positive oppression of the poor, but mere indifference to their state, mere neglect of their sufferings, involves us in sin. There are many who can honestly say that they have not deliberately wronged their fellow men, and will on that ground plead innocent; but that is not enough. We are as members one of another responsible in a degree for all the injustice and cruelty which are practiced in the society to which we belong. If we are drawing an income from invested money, we are responsible for the cruel exactions of excessive work, for the heartless disregard of life and limb, and for the constant under-payment of the workers which makes the dividends so princely. Nay, when we buy and use the cheap goods, which are cheap because they have been made at the cost of health and happiness and life to our brothers and our sisters, their blood is upon our heads, though we choose to forget it. For listen-"Whoso stoppeth ears at the cry of the poor," whoso tries to ignore that there is a labor question, and that the cry for increased or even regular wages, and for tolerable homes, and wholesome conditions of work, is a reality, and in form of unions, or strikes, or low wails of despair, is addressed to us all-"he shall cry and shall not be heard." {Pro_21:13} Such is the inexorable law of God. And again: "Deliver those that are carried away unto death,"-those who are sacrificing the sweetness of life, the sap of the bones, the health of the marrow, to the ruthless exigencies of the industrial machine; "and those tottering to slaughter see thou hold back,"-not leaving them to "dree their own sad weird," helpless and unregarded. "If thou say, Behold we knew not this man,"-how could we make ourselves acquainted with all the toiling masses of the city by whose labor we lived and were maintained in comfort?-"Doth not He that weigheth the hearts consider it; and He that keepeth thy soul, doth not He know it, and shall not He render to every man according to his work?" {Pro_24:11-12} That is to say, if we plead, "When saw we Thee ahungered, or athirst, or sick and in prison, and came not to Thee?" Our Lord will say, "Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to Me." And we "shall go away" into everlasting punishment, while the righteous go into life eternal.
III. For it follows, from the whole consideration of this subject, that those who make their life a ministry to the poor obtain a blessing, -yes, the only true and permanent blessing that life is capable of yielding. "He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor." {Pro_22:9} The very form of the saying is significant. Does it not imply: "It is obvious that to give our bread to the poor is a blessing to ourselves, so obvious that it needs only to be stated to be admitted, and therefore, as the bountiful eye, the philanthropic observation, the readiness to see suffering and to search out the sufferers, necessarily leads to this generous distribution, it must be a blessing to its possessor"? Indeed, this is a true test of righteousness, as the Lord teaches in the parable just quoted. It is "the righteous that takes knowledge of the cause of the poor, while the wicked understands not to know it." {Pro_29:7} A religion which takes no knowledge of the masses is a false religion; a Church and a Ministry which "understand not to know" the condition of the people and the needs of the poor are not Christs Church and Christs Ministry, but flagrantly apostate; and nothing is plainer than this-that from such a Church and Ministry He will accept no orthodoxy of belief or valiant defense of the creed in lieu of obedience to all His plain and unmistakable commandments. If we look at governments, the test is practically the same. "The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established forever." And it is because the Messianic King, alone of all sovereigns and governments, rightly and fully understands and maintains the cause of the poor, that He alone of sovereigns shall be established for ever, and of the increase of His government there shall be no end. And for the flagrant neglect of this vital question on the part of all governing persons and assemblies, that King will call to account those pompous and wordy magnates who have borne the sword in vain, considering all interests rather than those of the poor, whom they were specially appointed to judge; and of the needy, to whose succor they were peculiarly bound to run. And what holds in the state holds in the family. The virtuous woman, and head of the household-she whom God can approve and welcome into everlasting habitations-is emphatically not she who is always striving for social aggrandizement, always seeking for her children wealthy settlements and spurious honors; but is one who "spreadeth out her hand to the poor, yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy." {Pro_31:20} Well may we try to take Gods view of this question, to understand what He means by the poor, and how He regards them, and how He expects us to treat them. For this, if it is not the secret and the center of all true religious life, is at least the infallible test of whether our religious life is true or not. By our treatment of His poor, the Son of Man, who is to judge the world, declares that we shall be judged. "By that we shall be condemned or by that we shall be acquitted."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_22:2
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_22:2
LEVELLING DOWN AND LEVELLING UP
Read full note →
I. The rich and the poor have much in common. They have, in fact, everything in common which is independent of silver and gold. At first sight this seems to include almost everything worth having, and it does include the best and most lasting good, and often much beside. We rejoice in the thought that many a poor man has as large a share of God’s blessed air and sunshine as his richer neighbour—that his bodily frame is as healthful and his home as full of love. But, alas! we cannot forget that poverty in many cases shuts out men and women from the gladdening and healthful influences of pure air and sunlight, and consequently shuts them up to bodily disease, and tends to produce moral unhealthfulness. As civilisation advances, and countries become more populous, the gulf between poverty and wealth in this respect seems to widen, and when we consider how many advantages, not only material but intellectual and moral, the very moderately rich possess over the very poor, we do not find so much in common between them as appears upon a slight view of the case. It is indeed true that all the blessings of life that money cannot buy are as much within the reach of the poor as of the rich; but how many good things—not only for the body, but also for the mind and heart—are not to be gotten without gold and silver. There is, however, one platform upon which they all meet, even in this life—one levelling force which brings them into an absolute equality. In the plan of redemption through Jesus Christ, and in all the blessed effects which flow from it, the rich man has no advantage over the poor man—the brother of low degree is shut out from nothing that his rich brother enjoys. In this sense, as in many others, we may use the prophet’s words: “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low” (Isa_40:4). It does this:
1. By declaring their common and universal sinfulness. Disease of body is a levelling power—fever makes no distinction between king and subject—between master and servant; while they are under its dominion the one has no immunity from the weakness and the pain of the other. So the Gospel plan declares concerning sin what experience testifies—that “there is no difference,” that “all have sinned” (Rom_5:12), and that its debasing and destroying power is alike in prince and peasant.
2. By offering the same conditions of redemption to all. A physician, when he visits his patients with the intention of doing his best to heal them, does not prescribe one kind of treatment to the rich and another to the poor. The conditions of recovery are not regulated by their rank, but by their disease. So with the Gospel remedy for the sickness of the soul. It is the same for every man. The strait road is not made wider for the man with money bags, the gate is opened as wide for the pauper as for the emperor.
3. By providing the same inheritance for all who accept the conditions. Every man who accepts the way of salvation has an equal right to claim God as his Father—has an equal liberty of access to Him (Eph_3:12), at all times—is sealed with the same spirit of promise, and has the same hope of blessedness beyond the grave. To each and to all it is said, “All are yours, and ye are Christ’s (1Co_3:23).
II. To God must be referred the lot to which each man is born. He, as the Creator, calls each man into being, and determines the sphere in which he finds himself when he awakens to consciousness and to a sense of responsibility. Man, as a free agent, has much to do with determining his lot in life when he arrives at mature years, but the circumstances surrounding his birth and earlier years, and the mental gifts with which he is endowed, have much also to do with it, and these are determined for him by God. So that He is not only the Maker of the man’s personality, but largely also of his position in the world.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
In the distinction between the rich and the poor there is something not altogether pleasant to the human mind. We are apt to recoil from it. Without much thought, by the mere spontaneous promptings of our feelings, we are apt to have some dissatisfaction as we behold the advantages of riches so unequally distributed among men. And frequently the dissatisfaction increases, as we can discover no just rule of this distribution; and as we behold more and more of the contrasted advantages and disadvantages of this distinction between the rich and poor. Something like this was, in my opinion, the feeling of the writer of this text. He saw the distinction between rich and poor; he felt amazed; he had a disliking for it which set his mind at work. He thought the matter over patiently and religiously. And when he had done he gathers up the whole substance into this single aphorism and writes it down. That was his satisfaction. There he left the matter.… He had studied it as he studied botany: From the cedar-tree that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that springeth out of the wall. He had contemplated the loftiness of the rich and the lowliness of the poor, wherein they differed, and wherein they agreed, and especially who made them to differ.… His faith in God and constant recognition of Him would lead him to take along with him in all his contemplations the idea of the one Great Maker of all; and then, when he found things strange, dark, or revolting to him growing out of the distinctions between rich and poor, he leaves all that with God. But before he comes to this, and while he is engaged amid things which he can understand, he finds another side of the question which at first disquieted him.… Coming to examine the matter, he finds that distinction is not the real affair after all; that there are more agreements than distinctions—more resemblances than differences: the Maker of all has made the all more alike than unlike.… They meet together in their origin and their situation as they enter the world. They are equally dependent, helpless, miserable.… The two classes are very much alike in their amount of happiness.… The rich man is not necessarily happy nor the poor unhappy … The passions which make men miserable are exercised by both classes without any visible difference in their effects … There is a substantial agreement in all the organs of perception and enjoyment, and much of our felicity here depends upon the organic constitution that makes us men.… In intellectual faculties there is the same strong resemblance. The perception, memory, imagination, reason, which God has given, He has been pleased to give with an impartial hand … There is one common end to our humanity; … among dead men’s bones you can find nothing to minister to human vanity. The rich and poor meet together in the tomb and at the final bar of God.—Dr. Spencer.
They meet often; yea, often is the rich forced to send for the poor, needing as much the help of his labour as the other doth the help of his money. But this maketh them to meet nearer yet, by causing the same who was rich to become poor, and he that was poor to become rich.… And they meet everywhere—there is no place that hath not both of them, and as there are many of the one, so there are many of the other.—Jermin.
For Homiletics on Pro_22:3 see on chap. Pro_14:16, page 364; on Pro_22:4 see on chap. Pro_3:1-18, pages 29, 34, 39.
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. 2. The rich and poor meet together, they…
v. 2. The rich and poor meet together, they are found side by side, in agreement with God’s order in the world; the Lord is the Maker of them all, whence it follows that the poor should not envy the rich, and the rich should not oppress the poor.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 22:2 Remembering that the Lord made them both helps…
22:2 Remembering that the Lord made them both helps prevent the exploitation of the poor.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.