Proverbs 18:23

23 [With] supplications doth the poor speak, And the rich answereth fierce things.

Proverbs 18:23 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 18:23

The poor useth entreaties
Or "supplications" ^F1; he is an humble supplicant to others for favours he asks in a submissive and lowly manner; he does not demand anything, nor prescribe what shall be done for him, but modestly tells his case, and submits it; so such who are poor in spirit are humble supplicants at the throne of grace; but the rich answereth roughly;
being proud and haughty, lifted up with their riches, and in fear of none, they answer others with hard and rough words, especially their inferiors, and particularly the poor. This is not what ought to be, but what commonly is. This verse and ( Proverbs 18:24 ) are not in the Arabic version.

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 (Mynwnxt) "supplicationes", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Mercerus, Michaelis.

Proverbs 18:23 In-Context

21 Death and life [are] in the power of the tongue, And those loving it eat its fruit.

22 [Whoso] hath found a wife hath found good, And bringeth out good-will from Jehovah.

23 [With] supplications doth the poor speak, And the rich answereth fierce things.

24 A man with friends [is] to show himself friendly, And there is a lover adhering more than a brother!