Add parallel Print Page Options

20 A poor person will be disliked[a] even by his neighbors,
but those who love the rich are many.[b]
21 The one who despises his neighbor sins,
but whoever is kind to the needy is blessed.
22 Do not those who devise[c] evil go astray?
But those who plan good exhibit[d] faithful covenant love.[e]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 14:20 tn Heb “hated.” The verse is just a statement of fact. The verbs “love” and “hate” must be seen in their connotations: The poor are rejected, avoided, shunned—that is, hated, but the rich are sought after, favored, embraced—that is, loved.
  2. Proverbs 14:20 tn Heb “Many are the friends of the rich.” The participle of the verb אָהֵב (ʾahev, “to love”) can mean friend.
  3. Proverbs 14:22 sn The verb חָרַשׁ (kharash) means (1) literally: “to cut in; to engrave; to plow,” describing the work of a craftsman; and (2) figuratively: “to devise,” describing the mental activity of planning evil (what will harm people) in the first colon, and planning good (what will benefit them) in the second colon.
  4. Proverbs 14:22 tn The term “exhibit” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is implied by the antithetic parallelism and supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.
  5. Proverbs 14:22 tn Heb “loyal-love and truth.” The two terms חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת (khesed veʾemet) often form a hendiadys: “faithful love” or better “faithful covenant love.”

20 The poor are shunned even by their neighbors,
    but the rich have many friends.(A)

21 It is a sin to despise one’s neighbor,(B)
    but blessed is the one who is kind to the needy.(C)

22 Do not those who plot evil go astray?(D)
    But those who plan what is good find[a] love and faithfulness.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 14:22 Or show