Don’t withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do it.
Don’t say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again; tomorrow I will give it to you,” when you have it by you.
Parallel Translations
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Don’t withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do it.
Don’t say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again; tomorrow I will give it to you,” when you have it by you.
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Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.
Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.
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Withhold not good from him to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thy hand to do it.
Say not unto thy neighbour: 'Go, and come again, and to-morrow I will give'; when thou hast it by thee.
Cross-references (14)
- Galatians 6:10 (v27) So then, as we have opportunity, let’s do what is good toward all men, and especially toward those who are of the household of the faith.
- James 2:15-16 (v27) 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…
- Romans 13:7 (v27) Therefore give everyone what you owe: if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if customs, then customs; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
- Leviticus 19:13 (v28) “ ‘You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. “ ‘The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.
- Deuteronomy 24:12-15 (v28) If he is a poor man, you shall not sleep with his pledge. You shall surely restore to him the pledge when the sun goes down, that he may…
Show all 14 cross-references
- James 5:4 (v27) Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you have kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of those who reaped have…
- 2 Corinthians 8:11 (v28) But now complete the doing also, that as there was the readiness to be willing, so there may be the completion also out of your ability.
- Ecclesiastes 9:10 (v28) Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor plan, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where you are…
- Ecclesiastes 11:6 (v28) In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening don’t withhold your hand; for you don’t know which will prosper, whether this or that, or…
- 1 Timothy 6:18 (v28) that they do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute, willing to share;
- 2 Corinthians 9:3 (v28) But I have sent the brothers that our boasting on your behalf may not be in vain in this respect, that, just as I said, you may be prepared,
- Genesis 31:29 (v27) It is in the power of my hand to hurt you, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful that you don’t speak to…
- Proverbs 27:1 (v28) Don’t boast about tomorrow; for you don’t know what a day may bring.
- Micah 2:1 (v27) Woe to those who devise iniquity and work evil on their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (21 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v27 Not only from them to whom the possession belongeth,…
Not only from them to whom the possession belongeth, but also thou shalt not keep it from them which have need of the use thereof.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv27–28 Pro 3:27 Withhold not good from them to whom…
Pro 3:27 Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do [it].
Ver. 27. Withhold not good from them to whom it is due.] Either by the law of equity, or of charity. For there is a debt of love {Rom 13:8} that we must ever be owing and ever pay. And as we say of thanks, gratiae habendae et agendae, thanks must be given, and held as still due; so must this debt of love. Quicquid clerici habent, pauperum est, saith Jerome. It is true, in a sense, of others, as well as of ministers. The poor (God’s poor) are the owners of that we have; we are but stewards and dispensers of God’s bounty to his necessitous servants. Now if our receipts be found great, and our layings out small, God will cast such bills back in our faces, and turn us out of our stewardship. They are fools that fear to lose their wealth by giving, but fear not to lose themselves by keeping it.
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When it is in the power of thy hand.] When thou hast opportunity and ability; for we must not stretch beyond the staple; that were to mar all; neither, when "a price is put into our hands," {Pro 17:16} may we play the fools and neglect it. But wheresoever God sets us up an altar, we must be ready with our sacrifice of alms, "for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." {Heb 13:16} See my "Common Place of Alms."
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 On vv27–28 Withhold not good; do not deny it, but readily…
Withhold not good; do not deny it, but readily and cheerfully impart it, which is implied in the contrary, as above, Pro 3:11, and oft in this book, as we shall see. Good; any thing which is good; either spiritually, as counsel, comfort, reproof, &c.; or civilly, the good things of the present life, as good is taken, Psa 4:6, called this world’s good, 1Jo 3:17.
From them to whom it is due, Heb. from the lords or owners of it; from those who have any kind of right to it; either,
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1. By the law of justice and equity, prescribed both by the natural and written laws of God, and by the civil laws of men. So this place commands the payment of just debts, and the restitution of things either found or committed to our trust, or taken from others by fraud or violence. Or,
2. (which seems to be chiefly intended by comparing this with the next verse, though the former is not to be excluded,) By that great and sovereign law of love or charity, which God hath written in the hearts of men by nature, and frequently and severely enjoined in his word, whereby every man is obliged according to his ability and opportunity, to pity and relieve such as are in real want or misery; who in that case are here called the owners of our goods, not in respect of men, as if men in want might seize upon the riches of others, but in respect of God, who is the sovereign Lord and only true Proprietary of all men’s estates, who giveth them when and to whom he pleaseth, and who doth not give away his right, nor make men absolute lords of them to dispose them as they will, but only allows them the use and comfort of them upon such conditions, and with such reservations and rent charges, as I may call them, as he hath appointed, whereof this is one, that men should readily and freely communicate them to other men who need and require their help. And such actions, though they be acts of charity and bounty to men, yet, as to God, they are acts of righteousness, as they are called, Pro 11:18; 2Co 9:9, and in many other places.
To do it; either,
1. To withhold it. Or,
2. To do good. And this clause may be added, either,
1. As a limitation, to intimate that God expects from men according to what they have, and not according to what they have not, as is said, 2Co 8:12. Or,
2. As an argument to persuade them to partake the present season to perform this duty, when they are capable of so doing, because by the changes of this world, and the course of Divine providence, they may be disenabled from the performance of this great and necessary duty, and then they will be without excuse.
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 On v27 True wisdom consists in the due discharge of our…
True wisdom consists in the due discharge of our duty towards man, as well as towards God, in honesty as well as piety, and therefore we have here divers excellent precepts of wisdom which relate to our neighbour.
I. We must render to all their due, both in justice and charity, and not delay to do it (Pro 3:27, Pro 3:28): "Withhold not good from those to whom it is due (either for want of love to them or through too much love to thy money) when it is in the power of thy hand to do it, for, if it be not, it cannot be expected; but it was thy great fault if thou didst, by thy extravagances, disable thyself to do justly and show mercy, and it ought to be the greatest of thy griefs if God had disabled thee, not so much that thou art straitened in thy own comforts and conveniences as that thou hast not wherewithal to give to those to whom it is due." Withhold it not; this implies that it is called for and expected, but that the hand is drawn in and the bowels of compassion are shut up. We must not hinder others from doing it, not be ourselves backward to it. "If thou hast it by thee today, hast it in the power of thy hand, say not to thy neighbour, Go thy way for this time, and come at a more convenient season, and I will then see what will be done; tomorrow I will give; whereas thou art not sure that thou shalt live till tomorrow, or that tomorrow thou shalt have it by thee. Be not thus loth to part with thy money upon a good account. Make not excuses to shift off a duty that must be done, nor delight to keep thy neighbour in pain and in suspense, nor to show the authority which the giver has over the beggar; but readily and cheerfully, and from a principle of conscience towards God, give good to those to whom it is due," to the lords and owners of it (so the word is), to those who upon any account are entitled to it. This requires us, 1. To pay our just debts without fraud, covin, or delay. 2. To give wages to those who have earned them. 3. To provide for our relations, and those that have dependence on us, for to them it is due. 4. To render dues both to church and state, magistrates and ministers. 5. To be ready to all acts of friendship and humanity, and in every thing to be neighbourly; for these are things that are due by the law of doing as we would be done by. 6. To be charitable to the poor and necessitous. If others want the necessary supports of life, and we have wherewithal to supply them, we must look upon it as due to them and not withhold it. Alms are called righteousness because they are a debt to the poor, and a debt which we must not defer to pay, Bis dat, qui cito dat - He gives twice who gives speedily.
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II. We must never design any hurt or harm to any body (Pro 3:29): "Devise not evil against thy neighbour; do not contrive how to do him an ill-turn undiscovered, to prejudice him in his body, goods, or good name, and the rather because he dwells securely by thee, and, having given thee no provocation, entertains no jealousy or suspicion of thee, and therefore is off his guard." It is against the laws both of honour and friendship to do a man an ill-turn and give him no warning. Cursed be he that smites his neighbour secretly. It is a most base ungrateful thing, if our neighbours have a good opinion of us, that we will do them no harm, and we thence take advantage to cheat and injure them.
III. We must not be quarrelsome and litigious (Pro 3:30): "Do not strive with a man without cause; contend not for that which thou hast no title to; resent not that as a provocation which peradventure was but an oversight. Never trouble thy neighbour with frivolous complaints and accusations, or vexatious law-suits, when either there is no harm done thee or none worth speaking of, or thou mightest right thyself in a friendly way." Law must be the last refuge; for it is not only our duty, but our interest, as much as in us lies, to live peaceably with all men. When accounts are balanced, it will be found there is little got by striving.
IV. We must not envy the prosperity of evil-doers, Pro 3:31. This caution is the same with that which is so much insisted on, Ps. 37. "Envy not the oppressor; though he be rich and great, though he live in ease and pleasure, and make all about him to stand in awe of him, yet do not think him a happy man, nor wish thyself in his condition. Choose none of his ways; do not imitate him, nor take the courses he takes to enrich himself. Never think of doing as he does, though thou wert sure to get by it all that he has, for it would be dearly bought." Now, to show what little reason saints have to envy sinners, Solomon here, in the last four verses of the chapter, compares the condition of sinners and saints together (as his father David had done, Ps. 37), sets the one over against the other, that we may see how happy the saints are, though they be oppressed, and how miserable the wicked are, though they be oppressors. Men are to be judged of as they stand with God, and as he judges of them, not as they stand in the world's books. Those are in the right who are of God's mind; and, if we be of his mind, we shall see, whatever pretence one sinner may have to envy another, that saints are so happy themselves that they have no reason at all to envy any sinner, though his condition be ever so prosperous. For, 1. Sinners are hated of God, but saints are beloved, Pro 3:32. The froward sinners, who are continually going from-ward him, whose lives are a perverse contradiction to his will, are abomination to the Lord. He that hates nothing that he has made yet abhors those who have thus marred themselves; they are not only abominable in his sight, but an abomination. The righteous therefore have no reason to envy them, for they have his secret with them; they are his favourites; he has that communion with them which is a secret to the world and in which they have a joy that a stranger does not intermeddle with; he communicates to them the secret tokens of his love; his covenant is with them; they know his mind, and the meanings and intentions of his providence, better than others can. Shall I hide from Abraham the thing that I do? 2. Sinners are under the curse of God, they and their houses; saints are under his blessing, they and their habitation, Pro 3:33. The wicked has a house, a strong and stately dwelling perhaps, but the curse of the Lord is upon it, it is in it, and, though the affairs of the family may prosper, yet the very blessings are curses, Mal 2:2. There is leanness in the soul, when the body is fed to the full, Psa 106:15. The curse may work silently and slowly; but it is as a fretting leprosy; it will consume the timber thereof and the stones thereof, Zac 5:4; Hab 2:11. The just have a habitation, a poor cottage (the word is used for sheep-cotes), a very mean dwelling; but God blesses it; he is continually blessing it, from the beginning of the year to the end of it. The curse or blessing of God is upon the house according as the inhabitants are wicked or godly; and it is certain that a blessed family, though poor, has no reason to envy a cursed family, though rich. 3. God puts contempt upon sinners, but shows respect to saints, Pro 3:34. (1.) Those who exalt themselves shall certainly be abased: Surely he scorns the scorners. Those who scorn to submit to the discipline of religion, scorn to take God's yoke upon them, scorn to be beholden to his grace, who scoff at godliness and godly people, and take a pleasure in bantering and exposing them, God will scorn them, and lay them open to scorn before all the world. He despises their impotent malice, sits in heaven and laughs at them, Psa 2:4. He retaliates upon them (Psa 18:26); he resists the proud. (2.) Those who humble themselves shall be exalted, for he gives grace to the lowly; he works that in them which puts honour upon them and for which they are accepted of God and approved of men. Those who patiently bear contempt from scornful men shall have respect from God and all good men, and then they have no reason to envy the scorners or to choose their ways. 4. The end of sinners will be everlasting shame, the end of saints endless honour, Pro 3:35. (1.) Saints are wise men, and act wisely for themselves; for though their religion now wraps them up in obscurity, and lays them open to reproach, yet they are sure to inherit glory at last, the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. They shall have it, and have it by inheritance, the sweetest and surest tenure. God gives them grace (Pro 3:34), and therefore they shall inherit glory, for grace is glory, Co2 3:18. It is glory begun, the earnest of it, Psa 84:11. (2.) Sinners are fools, for they are not only preparing disgrace for themselves, but at the same time flattering themselves with a prospect of honour, as if they only took the way to be great. Their end will manifest their folly: Shame shall be their promotion. And it will be so much the more their punishment as it will come instead of their promotion; it will be all the promotion they must ever expect, that God will be glorified in their everlasting confusion.
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 On vv27–28 Withhold not good from them to whom it is…
Withhold not good from them to whom it is due,.... Honour, reverence, and tribute, to civil magistrates, Rom 13:7; just payment of debts to creditors, and alms to the poor, which, by what follows, seems to be chiefly intended; and the Septuagint render it,
"do not abstain to do well to the needy;''
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and Aben Ezra interprets it of the poor; to them alms are due because of their wants, and by the appointment; of God; hence called "righteousness", in some copies of Mat 6:1; so money kept from the poor "mammon of unrighteousness", Luk 16:9. They are, as the word in the Hebrew text signifies, "the owners thereof" (h): rich men are not so much proprietors of good things as they are God's alms givers or stewards to distribute to the poor; and, as often as men have opportunity, they should do good in this way to all, especially to the household of faith, Gal 6:10; this will hold true, as of temporal good things, so of spiritual; as good advice, exhortation, and doctrine. The Vulgate Latin version is, "do not forbid him to do well that can"; which sense is favoured by Jarchi: and as we should not abstain from doing good ourselves, so neither should we forbid, hinder, or discourage others; but the former sense is best;
when it is in the power of thine hand to do it; not to hinder others, as Jarchi, but to do good; when a man has a sufficiency in his hands to do good with; has not only enough for himself and his family, but something to spare; when he has both opportunity and ability; and when he can do it at once and without delay, as follows.
(h) "a dominis suis", Vatablus, Mercerus, Gejerus, Michaelis.
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 On vv27–28 With-hold not - Do not deny it, but readily…
With-hold not - Do not deny it, but readily and chearfuly impart it. Good - Any thing which is good, either counsel, comfort, reproof, or the good things of the present life. Due - That is, to all men, by that great and sovereign law of love.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv27–28 Verse 27. Withhold not good from them to whom…
Verse 27. Withhold not good from them to whom it is due] מבעליו mibbealaiv, from the lords of it. But who are they? The poor. And what art thou, O rich man? Why, thou art a steward, to whom God has given substance that thou mayest divide with the poor. They are the right owners of every farthing thou hast to spare from thy own support, and that of thy family; and God has given the surplus for their sakes. Dost thou, by hoarding up this treasure, deprive the right owners of their property? If this were a civil case, the law would take thee by the throat, and lay thee up in prison; but it is a case in which GOD alone judges. And what will he do to thee? Hear! "He shall have judgment without mercy, who hath showed no mercy;" Jas 2:13. Read, feel, tremble, and act justly.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v27 Pro 3:27-28. Withhold not good — Do not deny…
Pro 3:27-28. Withhold not good — Do not deny it, but readily and cheerfully impart it; from them to whom it is due — Hebrew, מבעליו, literally, from the lords, or owners of it: which some refer to the restitution of goods gained unjustly; but the connection requires that we understand the clause in a more extensive sense. The good here spoken of must be considered as being applicable to any thing that is good, either counsel, comfort, reproof, or the good things of the present life. And by the lords, or owners of it, we must understand those who have any kind of right to it, whether by the law of justice and equity, or by the great and sovereign law of love, which God hath written on the hearts of men by nature, and hath frequently and solemnly enjoined in his word. So that this place not only commands the payment of just debts, and the restitution of things taken from others by fraud or violence, or of things committed to our trust; but it obliges every man, according to his ability and opportunity, to pity and relieve such as are in real want or misery, and to do all the good in his power, temporal or spiritual, to his fellow-creatures. Say not, &c. — The preceding verse forbade the denial, and this forbids the delay of this duty; unto thy neighbour — Unto any man, as the word neighbour is commonly used in Scripture; Go, and come again to-morrow, and I will give — Namely, what is thy due, in the manner before expressed, or what thou needest; for the word נתן, here used, is generally meant of free or charitable gifts, and not of debts due in justice or equity.
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 On v27 A marked change in style. The continuous exhortation is…
A marked change in style. The continuous exhortation is replaced by a series of maxims.
From them to whom it is due - literally, as in the margin. The precept expresses the great Scriptural thought that the so-called possession of wealth is but a stewardship; that the true owners of what we call our own are those to whom, with it, we may do good. Not to relieve them is a breach of trust.
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Pro 3:28
Procrastination is especially fatal to the giving impulse. The Septuagint adds the caution: “for thou knowest not what the morrow will bring forth.”
Pro 3:29
Securely - i. e., “With full trust,” without care or suspicion. Compare Jdg 18:7, Jdg 18:27.
Pro 3:31
A protest against the tendency to worship success, to think the lot of the “man of violence” enviable, and therefore to be chosen.
Pro 3:32
The true nature of such success. That which people admire is an abomination to Yahweh. His “secret,” i. e., His close, intimate communion as of “friend with friend,” is with the righteous.
Pro 3:33
The thought, like that which appears in Zec 5:3-4, and pervades the tragedies of Greek drama, is of a curse, an Ate, dwelling in a house from generation to generation, the source of ever-recurring woes. There is, possibly, a contrast between the “house” or “palace” of the rich oppressor and the lowly shepherd’s hut, the “sheep-cote” 2Sa 7:8 ennobled only by its upright inhabitants.
Pro 3:34
Surely - Better, If he scorneth the scorners, i. e., Divine scorn of evil is the complement, and, as it were, the condition, of divine bounty to the lowly (compare the marginal reference and the Pro 1:26 note).
Pro 3:35
The margin conveys the thought that “fools” glory in that which is indeed their shame. Others take the clause as meaning “every fool takes up shame,” i. e., gains nothing but that.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Charles Bridges 1846 · Public Domain On v27 The wise man now comes to practical points. He…
The wise man now comes to practical points. He shows the fruit of selfishness — withholding dues. Many are the forms of this dishonesty — borrowing without payment (Psa 37:21 .), evading the taxes;†1 "keeping back the labourer’s hire." (Jas 5:4 . Jer 22:13-17 . Compare Gen 31:7 ; Deu 24:14-15 .) But the rule probes deeper than this surface. If we have no legal debt to any, we have a Gospel debt to all. (Rom 13:8 .) Even the poor is bound by this universal law to his poorer neighbour. (Eph 4:28 . Compare 2Co 8:1-3 .) Every one has a claim upon our love. (Compare Luk 10:29-37 .) Every opportunity of doing good is our call to do so. Our neighbours are the real owners of our good. (Margin). The Lord of all has transferred his right to them, with a special reference to "his own brethren." (Gal 6:10 . Mar 9:41 . Mat 25:31-40 .) Kindness is therefore a matter, not of option, but of obligation; an act of justice no less than of mercy. Not indeed that it may be demanded by our fellow-men. But the obligation lies upon conscience; and to withhold the due will be our eternal condemnation. (Mat 25:41-45 . Compare Deu 23:3-4 .)
Christian benevolence will also do good in the kindest manner. Delay is an offense against the law of love. Too often the cold repulse — Go, and come again — is a cover for selfishness. There is a secret hope that the matter will be forgotten, dropped, or taken up by some other party. Often an application is put off from mere thoughtlessness. We have it by us.†2 But it does not just now suit our convenience. This is a serious injury to the applicant. A little given in time of need is more than a larger sum when the time is gone by. We should cultivate a quick sensibility of the wants and sufferings of others; putting ourselves as much as possible in their place; not only "doing good," but "ready to every good work." (Tit 3:1 . 1Ti 6:18 .) If we are to "do justly" — which sometimes (as in the punishment of criminals) may be our sorrow; we are like our gracious God (Mic 7:18 ), to love mercy (Mic 6:8 . Compare Rom 12:8 ; 2Co 9:7 ); seizing the present, perhaps the only (Pro 27:1 . Gal 6:10 ), opportunity; rather anticipating the need than wantonly or thoughtlessly delaying to relieve it. (2Co 8:10 .) The Gospel presents every neighbour before us as a brother or sister needing our help, and to be loved and cared for "as ourselves." (Lev 19:18 .) Why do we not more readily acknowledge this standard? The Lord raise us from our selfishness, and mold us to his own image of mercy and love!†3
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Footnotes
†1 The example and admonition of Christ are evidently directed against this iniquity. Mat 17:24-27 ; Mat 22:15-21 .
†2 See how Job rebutted his friend’s accusation, Job 22:9, with Job 31:16 . Compare Jas 2:15-16 .
†3 Dr. South’s caustic application may be wholesome probing — ’Was ever the hungry fed, or the naked clothed, with good looks or fair speeches? These are but thin garments to keep out the cold, and but a slender repast to conjure down the rage of a craving appetite. My enemy, perhaps, is ready to starve; and I tell him I am heartily glad to see him, and should be very ready to serve him. But still my hand is closed, and my purse shut. I neither bring him to my table, nor lodge him under my roof. He asks for bread, and I give him a compliment — a thing indeed not so hard as a stone, but altogether as dry. I treat him with art and outside and lastly, at parting, with all the ceremonial of dearness, I shake him by the hand, but put nothing into it. I play with his distress, and daily with that which was not to be dallied with — want, and misery, and a clamorous necessity.’ — Sermon on Mat 5:44 .
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 On vv27–28 Able. Protestants, "withhold not good from them to whom…
Able. Protestants, "withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it." Relieve the distressed. (Haydock) --- They have a title to that wealth, since those who possess it are bound to relieve the indigent. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "refrain not from doing good," &c. (Haydock)
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 On v27 Promptly fulfil all obligations both of justice and charity…
Promptly fulfil all obligations both of justice and charity (compare Jam 2:15-16).
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 On v27 ADVICES TO THE PERFORMANCE OF CERTAIN DUTIES, AND AVOIDANCE…
ADVICES TO THE PERFORMANCE OF CERTAIN DUTIES, AND AVOIDANCE OF CERTAIN EVILS, Pro_3:27-32.
27, 28. Withhold not good… to whom it is due — Literally, to the owners of it. Here we have a change of style. The following five verses contain negative counsels touching duties to our neighbour, as if he had said: In order to enjoy the blessings above named, especially strong confidence in the Lord as thy protector, avoid doing evil to others; of which he gives samples of things “most commonly practised.” Good may mean here an act of justice or of kindness; the payment of a debt, or the bestowment of a favour. The 28th verse is exegetical of the 27th, and explains it more fully. It is one of the bad habits of some men always to postpone the payment of a debt as long as possible, even when they have the full ability to pay. Indeed, some men never pay until they are repeatedly solicited, or forced by law; and if they do a favour at all, they do it slowly and grudgingly. The contrary disposition is what the wise man indirectly commends. “He that gives cheerfully gives double.” The Geneva Bible reads the 27th verse thus: “Withholde not the good from the owners of it, thogh there be power in thine hand to do it.”
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 On vv27–28 27. them to whom it is due] Lit. the…
27. them to whom it is due] Lit. the lords, or owners thereof, as A.V. marg. This may be either a precept of honesty, pay your just debts; or of benevolence, you are a steward and your wealth belongs not to you but to the poor and needy, for whose benefit you hold it. Comp. 1Pe_4:10. So LXX. μὴ ἀπόσχῃ εὖ ποιεῖν ἐνδεῆ; and the Vulg. benefacere.
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 On v27 (f) Sixth Discourse:—Exhortation to Charity, Peace, Contentment (Pro_3:27-35).
(f) Sixth Discourse:—Exhortation to Charity, Peace, Contentment (Pro_3:27-35).
(27) Them to whom it is due—i.e., the poor and needy. An exhortation to us to make to ourselves “friends of the mammon of unrighteousness” (uncertain riches, Luk_16:9), remembering that we are not absolute owners, but “stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1Pe_4:10), so that when we “fail,” i.e., die, “they,” the friends we have made by our liberality, may welcome us to heaven.
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 On vv27–28 Vers. 27-35. Sixth admonitory discourse. In this discourse the…
Vers. 27-35. Sixth admonitory discourse. In this discourse the teacher still carries on his object, which is to demonstrate the conditions upon which true wisdom and happiness are to be attained. The discourse differs from the preceding in consisting of detached proverbs, and may be divided into two main sections the first (vers. 27-30) enjoining benevolence, that love to one"s neighbour which is the fulfilling of the Law; the second warning against emulating the oppressor and associating with him, because of the fate of the wicked (vers. 31-35). It is observable that all the maxims have a negative form, and thus present a striking contrast to the form adopted by our Lord in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5), and to the admonitions at the close of St. Paul"s Epistles. In one instance in particular (ver. 30), the teaching does not reach the high moral standard of the gospel (see Delitzsch and Lange).
Withhold not good from them to whom it is due. This precept indicates the general principle of beneficence, and not merely, as the words at first sight seem to imply, restitution (as Cajet.). We are to do good to those who are in need or deserving of it, whenever we have the means and opportunity. From them to whom it is due (nib"alayv); literally, from its owner, from baal, dominus, "lord" or owner of a thing. Cf. Pro_16:22, "Prudence is a fountain of life to its owner (b"alayv);" Pro_1:19 Pro_17:8; and also Ecc_8:8 Ecc_7:12; in all of which passages proprietorship in the thing or quality mentioned is expressed. The owners of good are those to whom good is due or belongs either by law or by morality, whether by desert or need. The latter qualification is the one emphasized in the LXX, Mh aposch en poiein endeh , "Abstain not from doing good to the needy." So the Arabic pauperi. The Targum and Syriac put the precept in more.general terms, "Cease not to do good," without indicating in particular anyone who is to be the recipient of the good. But the Jewish interpreters generally (e.g. Ben Ezra) understand it of the poor, egentibus. The Vulgate puts an entirely different interpretation on the passage: Noli prohibere benefacere eum qui potest; si vales, et ipse benefac, "Do not prohibit him who can from doing good; if you are able, do good also yourself." It thus implies that we are to put no impediment in the way of any one who is willing to do good to others, and enjoins the duty on ourselves also. Good (tov); i.e. good" under any form, any good deed or act of beneficence. The principle brought forward in this passage is that what we possess and is seemingly our own is in reality to be regarded as belonging to others. We are only stewards of our wealth. In the power of thine hand (lel yad"yka); literally, in the power of thine hands. For the dual, yad"yka, the Keri substitutes the singular, yad"ka, to harmonize it with the similar expression, lel yadi, "in the power of thy hand," which occurs in Gen_31:27 Deu_28:32 Neh_5:5 Mic_2:1. But there is no grammatical need for the emendation. Both the LXX and Targum employ the singular, "thy hand." Power (el); here "strength" in the abstract. Usually it means "the strong," and is so used as an appellation of Jehovah. though, as Gesenius says, those little understand the phrase who would render el here "by God." The l prefixed to el indicates the condition. The meaning of the phrase is, "While it is practicable, and you have the opportunity and means of doing good, do it." Do not defer, but do good promptly. The passage receives a remarkable illustration in the language of St. Paul, "While we have opportunity, let us do good unto all men". (Gal_6:10)
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Vers. 27, 28. Dilatoriness in the payment of just debts.
I THIS DILATORINESS IN MORALLY CULPABLE, AND MOST INJURIOUS TO SOCIETY. Through thoughtlessness in some cases, through deliberate meanness in others, many people postpone the payment of their just debts as long as possible, though they have the money by them, and are perhaps turning it to account for their own advantage. Such needless delay of justice should be regarded as a moral offence. A sad laxity prevails in this matter. It is said that preachers direct their admonitions respecting the business habits of the day too much to one side of the case. The tradesman is accused of greed, dishonesty, deceit, while little is said of the conduct of the customer. But here is an instance where the failing, nay, the sin, lies with the buyer. Most of us little know how much the trading classes suffer from delay and difficulty in calling in the money that is owing to them; how often they pinch themselves and stiffer in silence for fear of losing a customer by giving offence in too much pressing for payment, knowing that the common selfishness of others will readily lead them to court the patronage of the offended client. This delay is grossly unjust to more conscientious people who pay promptly, and yet are made to suffer from the high prices necessitated by the bad debts and postponed payments of others. It is also a direct temptation to those shifty practices which all of us deprecate when we meet with them in trade, Feeling that he cannot recoup himself readily in the regular way, the tradesman is tempted to try some less straightforward method for making his business, thus heavily handicapped, to some extent profitable. A new moral tone is requisite in this matter. People should see that to delay to execute justice is to commit injustice. Time is as valuable as coins. He who robs a man of time is a thief, and should wear the brand of a thief.
II. THE REMEDY FOR THIS DILATORINESS MUST BE FOUND IN A FULLER RECOGNITION OF THE CLAIMS OF HUMAN BROTHERHOOD. It is not enough to prove the abstract justice of prompt payment. The selfishness which withholds it will find some casuistic excuse for further delay. This selfishness, which is at the root of the evil, must be overcome. The spirit of Cain is dishonest as well as murderous. We are too ready to treat those with whom we have merely business dealings according to art entirely different code from that which controls our conduct with our friends. Commercial rules are so much more lax than social laws. The mere business relation is too often robbed of all human consideration, treated from a purely selfish standpoint, almost on a principle of enmity, as though it belonged to a state of war. Does a mart cease to be our brother because we buy and sell with him? When he was a stranger, we felt some tie of common humanity with him. After we have entered into relations of mutual convenience, is the tie broken, and does he become as a heathen and a publican? We must remember that it is our "neighbour" who claims just payment; and are we not required to love our neighbor as ourselves? The golden rule of Christ, that we must do to others as we would that they should do to us, must be applied to business, or we have no right to profess ourselves to be Christians.
Vers. 27, 28. Promptitude in good actions.
I NEGATIVE UNKINDNESS. (Ver. 27)
1. It consists in withholding good which it is in our power to impart.
2. It is analogous to the refusal repay a just debt. Kindness is the "due" of our fellow men. This does not imply the giving to every beggar or borrower. No act is required which, under the show of kindness, involves no real benefit to another or actually involves an injustice to ourself or another. We must carry these precepts to the light of the heart and of the discriminating intelligence. Speaking generally, sullenness, unsociability, extreme taciturnity, self-absorption, are forms of the sin.
II PROCRASTINATION CONDEMNED. (Ver. 28) Remember:
1. That to give promptly is to give twice; that the deferred gift loses its bloom; that unnecessary delay is a fraud on the time and temper of others; that of everything we intend to do we had best make the beginning at once, which, the Roman poet says, is "half the deed.
2. To defer a duty till tomorrow may be to defer it forever. A lost opportunity of doing good is a sad sting in the memory. These negative warnings infer the positive lesson of promptitude.
(1) Now is the acceptable time for ourselves and our own salvation.
(2) It may also be the acceptable time for others" salvation. How admirable to be one of those who, amidst whatever pressure, can find time to listen, to comfort, to help their brethren, today, at once! J.
Vers. 27-32. Four valuable virtues.
There are some graces which, though not of the first importance, are yet far from being unimportant. Many men so fashion their lives that while, upon the whole, they are rightly reckoned among the wise and good, they are much less happy, less honoured, and less useful than they might become if they heeded a few small things. If we had regard to some of the minor moralities which we are apt to neglect, there would be less friction and more beauty in our lives than is now seen of God and felt of man.
I PUNCTUALITY IS THE PAYMENT OF THAT WHICH IS DUE. (Vers. 27, 28) These dues may be
(1) the wages of the workman;
(2) the debt contracted with the tradesman;
(3) the sum promised to the relative or friend.
This may be denied, even when it could be easily rendered, through an "avaricious reluctance" to part with money or a culpable disregard of other men"s necessities and claims. Such default is not worthy of a godly, a Christian man.
II CONSCIENTIOUSNESS TOWARDS OUR FRIENDS. (Ver. 29) Too many men are inclined to abuse the confidence their kindred or friends" put in them, or the generosity they are prepared to show them. Such men draw unscrupulously on the trust or the bounty of others. It is a serious departure from perfect rectitude, and should be disallowed to themselves by all who fear God and would follow Christ. Those who "dwell securely by us," who have confided in us, are those whom every principle of honest self-respect demands that we should treat with scrupulous integrity.
III PEACEABLENESS OF SPIRIT. (Ver. 30) The lives of many are embittered by the quarrelsomeness of their neighbours. Offence, never intended, is taken, bitter words are spoken, a hostile attitude is assumed, all friendly relations are broken off, malicious insinuations are thrown out; in fact, "there is war between the house" of this man and that man, when there is positively nothing on which to found a complaint. A very small allowance of charity would cure this evil spirit, if only taken in time. Charity would hide a multitude of sins in the sense of preventing them altogether, if men would but attribute kind motives to their neighbours, or inquire sufficiently before they condemn, or even wait a while before they strike, to see if there is no other and better way of arranging a dispute. If it be possible and it very often is possible, when men imagine it is not we should "live peaceably with all men". (Rom_12:18)
IV FREEDOM FROM FRETTING ENVY. Many good men are, upon the whole, what God would have them to be, and they have from him all that they can reasonably ask at his hand; their well being is such as to constitute the condition of thankfulness and joy. Yet the cup of their life is made bitter and unpalatable because they are envious of the successful oppressor (ver. 31); they "fret themselves because of evil doers," and are envious against the workers of iniquity. (Psa_37:1, 8 73:3) They think, perhaps, that if bad men are as prosperous as they seem to be, they (the good) ought to be far more successful than they find themselves to be. Surely this is both sinful and foolish.
1. It is discontentment with God"s arrangement, and a querulous challenging of his administration of human affairs.
2. It is forgetfulness of the fact that God"s severest anger rests on the oppressor, and that he is therefore the last man to be envied; he is "abomination to the Lord" (ver. 32). Would we change places with him?
3. It overlooks the fact that the righteous man is enjoying the friendship of God surely an advantage that immeasurably outweighs the wealth or honour which the oppressor has stolen. "The secret of the Lord" is with him. He is God"s trusted servant, Christ"s intimate friend. C. (see Psa_25:14 Joh_15:14, 15 14:23)
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 On vv27–28 Withhold not good from them to whom it is…
Pro_3:27
Withhold not good from them to whom it is due.
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A plea for the shop-men
When the first man had fallen into sin labour was imposed upon him as a punishment. And yet there was mercy mingled with the judgment. That stern necessity which forced man to eat bread in the sweat of his brow became one of his purest and sweetest sources of enjoyment. What would the world be without labour? Do we not owe to it the occupation of time which otherwise would be a burden too heavy to bear? Is it not indispensable to our mental and physical vigour, to the healthy mind in the healthy body? And does it not contribute, directly and indirectly, to our best and most enduring pleasures? But the labour is as God imposed it upon man. Not labour that is incessant, or, in itself, unfriendly to the interests of body or mind. Man has too frequently made labour a curse. To bring back labour to the position which it held after the expulsion from paradise, to guard its rights, and to render industrial occupation a help rather than a hindrance to the progress of humanity are objects of noble and Godlike enterprise.
I. This purpose is good.
1. It is good personally. Putting wise limitations on labour is good for the body, for the mind, for the soul.
2. It is good relatively. Good for employers--good for their interests, for their consciences. It is good for the commonwealth and for the Church.
II. This movement for the limitation of labour is just. Young men have a right to a fair portion of time to be used as they think best. We speak not now of expediency, but of lawful claim. They have a right to be happy. It is a sin to stop any fellow-creature from being happy. We commit this sin if we help to place impediments in his way so that he cannot obtain his share of joy. They have a right to advance their own interests. Young people may have no golden opportunities because they have no leisure. They have a right to fulfil some moral design. What this should be, each young man should find out specifically for himself. He is then bound to effectuate it. And he has a right to demand from society opportunity to obey the divinely implanted impulse. He must have breathing time, time for moral achievements.
III. The demand for shorter hours of labour is also practicable. It can be done. Late hours are not indispensable. A little domestic arrangement would make it just as easy to purchase in the broad daylight as in the dark evening hour. (W. M. Whittemore, S.C.L.)
Withholding dues
Many are the forms of this dishonesty, borrowing without payment, evading the taxes, keeping back the labourers hire. But the rule probes deeper than this surface. If we have no legal debt to any, we have a gospel debt to all. Even the poor is bound by this universal law of his poorer neighbour. Every one has a claim upon our love. Every opportunity of doing good is our call to do so. (C. Bridges, M. A.)
Beneficence
I. Human beneficence has its claimants.
1. What you have is given in trust.
2. It is given you for distribution.
II. Human beneficence is only limited by incapacity. Our power is the measure of our obligation.
III. Human beneficence should ever be prompt in its services.
1. Because the postponement of any duty is a sin in itself.
2. Because the neglect of a benevolent impulse is injurious to self.
3. Because the claimant may seriously suffer by a delay of your help.
IV. Human beneficence excludes all unkindness of heart. True charity thinketh no evil. A selfish heart is an evil desire. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
The duty of charity
I. Charity, as of moral obligation, stands at the head of religious practice. It is not a duty purely of positive command and institution, but in its own nature, and by a constant and eternal obligation. The Jews easily confounded things morally good and evil with things made good and evil by positive command. The distinction was vigorously set forth by the prophets. Charity, then, is the principal duty of our religion, as being universal and indispensable and a perfection in its own nature.
II. Charity is the nearest imitation of the divine nature and perfections that we are capable of. The Divine perfections are not imitable by us, as to the degree and extent of them. They are all infinite in God. We may do good according to our power and in our sphere. God will accept according to that a man hath.
III. This good disposition of mind is made of the immediate conditions of our future happiness. The virtue of charity is an immediate gospel-condition of our future happiness, and it is a natural cause of it, or such a temper of mind as may be called beatific. In the nature of things, it prepares men for admission into the quiet regions of peace and love. This is also a virtue proper and necessary to this life, without which the world cannot subsist. This earth is the only stage where this virtue can and must be exercised. It is not easy to prescribe rules, measures, and proportions to mens charity, but neither is it necessary. (Francis Astry, D. D.)
The duty of charity stated and enforced
That charity in general is a duty nobody will deny. But many, on account of particular circumstances, think themselves entirely discharged from the performance of it. Many, though they own the obligation, yet disown it in its due degrees.
I. Who are the persons obliged to give to charitable uses, and in what proportion? By charitable uses is meant the relief of the helpless, the sick, the needy, etc. The great, the opulent, and the able should undertake the principal share in this duty. They are stewards, and must give an account. Their good deeds ought to bear proportion to their abilities. Everybody looks with abhorrence upon a man who is ever amassing riches without laying anything out in charitable uses; as greedy as the sea and as barren as the shore. Those whose circumstances are but just easy, who can only just meet the demands of their families, claim to be totally exempted from the performance of this duty. But often such persons have secret indulgences, which form their real excuse. Those in straitened circumstances think they have nothing to do in the works of charity. Rich and poor are equally concerned in the duty, but in proportion to their circumstances. He that has little is as strictly bound to give something out of that little as he that has more is obliged to give more. Charity consists in doing the best we can and doing it with a willing mind. The smallest present imaginable may be the greatest bounty. The only persons who have a fair right of pleading an entire exemption from this duty are those whose circumstances are deeply involved; for until we can satisfy our creditors we ought not to relieve the poor. It would be unjust to give away what is not our own. There is much difficulty in pitching upon any fixed and stated proportion short of which our charity ought not to fall. Where the determinate measure of duty is not or cannot be assigned, there mens interests or covetousness will be ever suggesting excuses for the non-performance of it. In this we ought to follow the rule laid down in all doubtful cases, i.e., to choose the part which is least dangerous. In the exercise of charity we should rather exceed than fall short, for fear of incurring the guilt of uncharitableness. The Jews had to appropriate the tenth part of their revenue every three years to charitable uses. This was a thirtieth part of their yearly revenue. We should not at any time fall short of this measure.
II. Who are the persons qualified to receive our charity?
1. We ought rather to succour the distressed than increase the happiness of the easy, because we are to do the most good we can. Even the bad are to be relieved in cases of extreme necessity.
2. The best charity we can give to the poor that have ability and strength is to employ them in work, that they may not contract an habit of idleness.
3. Those suffering reverse of fortune are proper objects of charity.
4. Fatherless children demand our care. Charity is misplaced upon vagrants and common beggars, who may be counterfeits.
5. The sick have claim upon our charity.
III. The manner in which we are to dispense our charity. Acts of mercy should be both public and private. If charity were entirely secret, removed from the eye of the world, it would decay and dwindle into nothing. If charity were always done in public, it would degenerate into mere hypocrisy, formality, and outward show. Care is necessary not to be influenced by ostentation or any sinister motive. An action good in itself is greatly recommended by an agreeable manner of doing it, an agreeable manner being to actions what a lively manner o| expression is to our sense--it beautifies and adorns it, and gives it all the advantage whereof it is capable. It is our duty not only to have virtue, but to make our virtue truly amiable. A delicacy of this kind is most chiefly to be observed with those who have not been used to receive charity.
IV. The motives to charity.
1. Compassion. As ingrafted in us this is mere instinct; as cultured and cherished it becomes a virtue.
2. The pleasure of benevolence. He that centres all his regard upon himself, exclusively of others, has placed his affections very oddly; he has placed them on the most worthless object in the world--himself.
V. The recompense of the reward. At the last day the question will not be whether you have been negatively good, whether you have done no harm, but what good have you done? Our Saviour has made the poor His representatives. The riches that we have given away will remain with us for ever. When we have shown mercy to our fellow-creatures we may safely expect it from our Creator. (J. Seed, M. A.)
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 On v27 Pro_3:27. Withhold not, &c., literally “hold not good back…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Pro_3:27. Withhold not, &c., literally “hold not good back from its master,” i.e., from him to whom it belongs.
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MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Pro_3:27-29
DOING JUSTICE AND LOVING MERCY
True wisdom in the heart will show itself in right dealing between man and man. He who holds back any good thing by which it is in his power to bless another man is a thief. The withholding is a crime for which God will visit. This is true in relation not only to debts of justice (Jas_5:4) but to so-called debts of mercy. When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, there will be some against whom He will bring the charge—“I was an hungred, and ye gave Me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave Me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took Me not in; naked, and ye clothed Me not; sick and in prison, and ye visited Me not” (Mat_25:42-43). There are five reasons against the postponement of any act of justice or mercy until the morrow.
1. The person who is in need to-day may be beyond your reach to-morrow. Death may remove him from your reach, and he may go into eternity your creditor. Men and women have been saved from taking a step which would have been their ruin, by a kindly word or act which would have come too late on the morrow.
2. If your needy friend do live to be helped on the morrow, you may not live to give him help, and you will then enter the presence of God a debtor to your brother. To-morrow is God’s property, to-day is man’s.
3. If your brother is not beyond your reach to-morrow, his need has been increased by the delay. If a man’s condition calls for medical aid to-day, and it is withholden, the disease will have a firmer hold to-morrow and will be harder to cure. What physician would say to a sick man in such a case, “Go, and come again?” Human need is a disease that is increased by delay in dealing with it. It is a weed that grows apace. What is only a seed to-day will be a sapling soon. If you delay the moral and intellectual training of the ignorant, the chains that bind them will be harder to break to-morrow than they are to-day. So that delay makes the demand greater, and the debt which might have been easily paid when it was due becomes hard to meet by withholding.
4. To do the good to-morrow which might be done to-day is not to be an imitator of God. The Divine Father makes His sun to shine to-day upon the evil and the good. He does not say, “To-morrow I will give thee,” but “now is the accepted time.”
5. The postponement of that which is due is “a devising of evil in the heart against thy neighbour” (Pro_3:29). Our Lord, in his parable of the good Samaritan, has answered for us the question, Who is my neighbour? (Luke 10). It is the man who is in need, and whose need we can relieve. It is not merely a negative, but a positive sin to withhold help to such a one—it is a violation of that rule of life which Christ Himself declares “is the law and the prophets” (Mat_7:12).
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Pro_3:27. The borrower is then to repay his debt to the lender; the finder to restore that which he hath taken up to the loser; he which hath received anything into his custody, is to bring it forth to him who reposed trust in him; the master is to pay the servant his wages. Finally, everyone is to practise that precept of the Apostle (Rom_13:8).—Muffet.
This practical injunction may be applied:
1. To all lawful debts, for articles purchased or work performed.
2. To government taxes, which ought to be regarded as debts due to the community.
3. To debts of charity and benevolence. For such debts there are. They cannot indeed be claimed; they cannot be made good in law. But they are due—due on the principle of the “royal law” (Mat_7:12).—Wardlaw.
Here Solomon passes from general recommendations of wisdom to particular precepts of it. He reverts to instances of “mercy and truth” (Pro_3:3). He who is in need has a claim of ownership upon our property by the law of love, which is the law of God. Need makes the poor the owner, and God makes thee the dispenser of the goods which thou hast and which he needs: so such benefits are called “righteousness,” i.e., a righteous debt or obligation (2Co_9:9; Mat_6:1, “alms;” Greek, “righteousness”). The same principle applies in the case of spiritual knowledge which thou hast and thy neighbour has not.—Fausset.
With the luxuries of grace, the wise man mixes in its conditions. They are rugged like those of the Apostle (1 Corinthians 13). If we enjoy the good of the Gospel, we are to render again according to the benefits shown us.—Miller.
It is the hungry man’s bread which we hoard up in our own barns. It is his meat on which we glut, and his drink which we guzzle: it is the naked man’s apparel which we shut up in our presses, or which we exorbitantly ruffle and flaunt in: it is the needy person’s gold and silver which we closely hide in our chests, or spend idly, or put out to useless use. We are, in thus holding, or thus spending, not only covetous, but wrongful, or havers of more than our own, against the will of the rightful owners.—Barrow.
1. They who have had much experience in the world may be of infinite use by giving salutary advice.
2. If we are afraid of being thought meddling, we can benefit others by a good example.
3. By vindicating the characters of those who have been unjustly defamed.
4. By not only giving alms, but attention, care, and friendship to the needy.
5. By recommending our brethren to God in prayer.—Bishop Porteous.
Pro_3:28. This conduct is too common. It may arise—
1. From an avaricious reluctance to part with the money. The avaricious man is so loath to part with the object of his idolatry that even a day’s delay pleases him.
2. From indolent listlessness. The man is not in a mood to be troubled. He is occupied about something else, or he is not disposed to be occupied at all.
3. From insolent superciliousness. This is often discovered towards inferiors, or towards persons against whom there exists a grudge. It is the vice of little minds—ungenerous, unjust, unmanly.—Wardlaw.
He gives twice to one in need who gives at once.—Publius Syrus.
Keep as few good intentions hovering about as possible. They are like ghosts haunting a dwelling. The way to lay them is to find bodies for them.—Arnot.
Pro_3:29. This evil may be practised in a great variety of ways. As, for instance—A man in business does what he can to obtain another’s confidence; or, whether he acts from this view or not, he knows that he has that confidence, and he takes advantage of it to obtain large quantities of goods from him, when aware that his own affairs are precarious and his credit sinking. There are not wanting cases in which the most nefarious crimes have been perpetrated through the medium of unsuspecting confidence. The wife of a man’s bosom, or the child of his paternal love, has been seduced by the unwitting confidence he has reposed in a seeming friend. It is the very sin by which “the devil beguiled Eve through his subtilty.” … All therefore who act such a part are of “their father the devil.”—Wardlaw.
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 On v27 Warning Against Evil
Warning Against Evil
v. 27. Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, to whom it belongs by reason of his need, whether he really deserves it or is so destitute that he can no longer help himself, when it is In the power of thine hand to do it.
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v. 28. Say not unto thy neighbor, Go and come again, and tomorrow I will give, thus putting him off and discouraging him, when thou hast it by thee. Cf Jas 2:15-16.
v. 29. Devise not evil against thy neighbor, by meditating upon wickedness and contriving it, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee, without suspicion.
v. 30. Strive not with a man without cause, thus increasing litigation, both within the Church and without, if he have done thee no harm, both the taking of the initiative in quarreling and of seeking revenge for a supposed insult being condemned here.
v. 31. Envy thou not the oppressor, the man of violence or mischief, no matter how successful his methods may seem, and choose none of his ways, in the hope of rising in the world by such methods.
v. 32. For the froward, the malicious person, the deceiver, is abomination, an abhorrence, to the Lord, wherefore his lot will be that of everlasting destruction; but His secret is with the righteous, literally, "toward the upright His secret compact," they enjoy His friendship, the intimate fellowship with Him.
v. 33. The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked, in spite of all outward semblance of prosperity and happiness; but He blesseth the habitation of the just, His blessing abiding with them.
v. 34. Surely He scorneth the scorners, that is, if there is a person who believes himself entitled to scorn, He heaps scorn upon him; but He giveth grace unto the lowly, to the humble, who seek only His grace and mercy and claim no merit and worthiness for themselves.
v. 35. The wise shall inherit glory, they will finally be given the honor which their attitude merits; but shame shall be the promotion of fools, that will be the reward which they will carry away with them, the portion properly pertaining to them. That is the consolation of the righteous, that in the end they will be honored by the Lord in the presence of the whole world; this thought enables them to bear many of the afflictions of this present time.
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 On v27 Do not withhold good
Do not withhold good
"Do not withhold good things" or "Do not withhold good actions"
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when it is in your power to act
"when you are able to help"
when you have the money with you
"when you have the money with you now." The meaning here is that the person has the money to help today, but tells his neighbor to come back tomorrow.
translationWords
good
power
neighbor
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v27 3:27-28 A wise person is a kind and helpful…
3:27-28 A wise person is a kind and helpful neighbor. Proverbs strongly emphasizes helping the financially needy (11:24; 28:27; 29:7, 14).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.