Proverbs 28:22

22 A man that hasteth to be made rich, and hath envy to other men (and hath envy of others), knoweth not that neediness shall come [up]on him.

Proverbs 28:22 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 28:22

He that hasteth to be rich
As every man that is eagerly desirous of riches is; he would be rich at once F26, and cannot wait with any patience in the ordinary course of means: [hath] an evil eye;
on the substance of others, to get it, right or wrong; is an evil man, and takes evil methods to be rich F1; see ( 1 Timothy 6:9 1 Timothy 6:10 ) ; or an envious one; is an envious man; as the Septuagint and Arabic versions; he envies others, as the Vulgate Latin version, the riches of other men; he grudges everything that goes beside himself; and that makes him in haste to be rich, that he may be equal to or superior to others: or he is a sordid, avaricious, illiberal man, that will not part with anything for the relief, for others, and is greedy of everything to amass wealth to himself; an evil eye is opposed to a good or bountiful one, that is, to a man that is liberal and generous, ( Proverbs 22:9 ) ( Matthew 20:15 ) ; and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him;
for wealth gotten hastily, and especially wrongfully, diminishes, wastes, and comes to nothing in the end; it sometimes flies away as fast as it comes; it has wings to do the one, as well as the other: this the man in haste to be rich does not consider, or he would have taken another method; since this is not the true way of getting and keeping riches, but of losing them, and coming to want; see ( Proverbs 13:11 ) ( 20:21 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F26 "Nam dives qui fieri vult, et cito vult fieri", Juvenal. Satyr. 14. v. 176.
F1 "Sed quae reverentia legum? quis metus, ant pudor est unquam properantis avari?" Juvenal, ib.

Proverbs 28:22 In-Context

20 A faithful man shall be praised much; but he that hasteth to be made rich, shall not be innocent. (A faithful person shall be much praised; but he who hasteneth to be made rich, shall not be innocent.)
21 He that knoweth a face in doom, doeth not well; this man forsaketh truth, yea, for a morsel of bread. (He who knoweth the person whom he is judging, doeth wrongly; this person deserteth the truth, yea, for a morsel of bread.)
22 A man that hasteth to be made rich, and hath envy to other men (and hath envy of others), knoweth not that neediness shall come [up]on him.
23 He that reproveth a man, shall find grace afterward with him (He who rebuketh someone, shall find favour afterward with him); more than he that deceiveth by flatterings of (the) tongue.
24 He that withdraweth anything from his father and from his mother, and saith that this is no sin, is partner of a man-queller (is the partner of, or no better than, a murderer).
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.