The poor is hated even of his own neighbour
As well as of strangers; that is, he is shy of him; he does not
care to take any notice of him, or be friendly with him, lest he
should be burdensome to him. Poverty brings a man into contempt
and disgrace; the same man, in affluence and indigence, is
respected or disrespected: this is true, as Gersom observes, of a
man that is poor, whether in money or in knowledge, in his purse
or in his understanding; but the rich [hath] many
friends;
or, "many [are] the lovers of the rich" F18: for
the sake of their riches; either for the sake of honour or
profit, or because the rich want nothing of them, or because they
themselves may gain something by them: this also is observed by
the above Jewish commentator to be true of the rich in substance
or in wisdom; but the former sense is best; for a wise man, if
poor in the world, is but little regarded.