Sunday, November
25, 2018 – Proverbs 22:22-23
The Wise Care
for & Protect the Poor & Afflicted
Grace Fellowship Church
Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard
Proverbs 22
1. The wise discipline themselves to follow God in
everything, vs. 1-16.
2. Wisdom tells us when to speak and when to be silent, vs.
17-21.
3. The wise ones care for and protect
the poor, vs. 22-29.
This section also begins a Decalogue of “Sayings” about
wealth, Prov 22:22-23:11. There is
an inclusion proscribing taking advantage of the poor, Prov 22:22, and of the “fatherless,” Prov 23:10, with threats the Lord will plead their cause, Prov 22:23; 23:11, frames the
Decalogue.
Apart from the 9th Saying, Prov 23:9, all the sayings pertain to wealth.
a. Sayings 1-4
prohibit illegitimate forms of money making, Prov 22:22-28.
b. Only the positive
5th Saying presents a legitimate form of success, and that to serve kings, not
to make money for self, Prov 22:29.
c. Sayings 6-8
escalate these prohibitions against overt acts to prohibitions against greed, Prov 23:1-8.
1) At their
center, Saying 7 strikes at the heart, the desire to become rich, Prov 23:4-5.
d. The 9th
Saying, Prov 23:9, forms an inner
frame with the 2nd, Prov
22:24-28; both pertain to avoiding socializing with fools, as the 9th
forbids speaking to fools to convert them, preparing the way for the second
unit of the Thirty Sayings.
e. The 10th
Saying goes back to the court room regarding property treachery.
Vs. 22-23
Prov 22:22-23, “Do
not rob the poor because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate; 23For
the LORD will plead their case, and take the life of those who rob them.”
This first “Saying,” is the first that forbids enriching
oneself through unjust acts. This first admonition after the prologue, vs. 17-21, again picks up the theme
that ran through the first half of this Chapter, vs. 1-16, “Do not plunder the poor, (DAL).” We are reminded of the
integrity and fairness we should have within our society, especially in a court
of law, (i.e., “at the gate,” SHA’AR
that was the place of legal proceedings), as we noted in vs. 10-16. “Since the gate is
one of the places in which wisdom stands ready to teach all who will listen
(1:21; 8:3), justice is a primary concern of wisdom, not merely legal
niceties.” (Complete Biblical Library Commentary.)
The ones that are to be insured justice and fairness are the
“poor,” DAL, used twice in the first
sentence. Amenemope 4.4-9, gives us further definition of what or who the DAL
entail, as it prohibits the same injustice in its second saying: “Beware of robbing a wretch,/Of attacking a
cripple;/Don’t stretch out your hand to touch an old man,/Nor open your mouth
to an elder./Don’t let yourself be sent on a mischievous errand,/Nor be friends
with him who does it.” So, to name a few, it includes: the wretch, cripple,
elderly, and those lacking financial resources to protect or defend their legal
rights.
If there is unfairness, it is considered “robbing,” them, GAZAL, “to tear away,
take away, or rob,” cf. Prov 28:24.
This verb means robbery or seizure on any level, and in the Qal Jussive it
means, “to actively desire to rob or steal someone.” It refers to taking
something from someone else by unlawful force and to continue forcibly and
illegally to withhold it from its rightful owner. By definition “poor” entails
being vulnerable to an economic predator. And, linked to the Adverb AL, “not,”
it means, “Do not actively desire to rob or steal from the poor,” as an urgent,
personalized prohibition. Because the poor are defenseless, they can be easily
robbed. This makes the crime not only contemptible, but tempting as well. Therefore,
it is not just speaking about the act of injustice in the court room, but the
thought about doing it. Both are prohibited.
In the second half of vs.
22, injustice is also called “crushing”
with the Verb DAKA in the Piel Jussive which is an intensive desire to, “crush,
beat down, bruise, oppress, or take advantage of someone.” And, again with the
Adverb AL, it means, “Do not crush, beat down, etc.” Just because someone is
poor or weak in society, should not make them an easy target or prey for the
more powerful to take advantage of them. There should be fairness and equity in
the entire process. By picturing robbing the poor as “crushing” them, it points
to the rich merchants who manipulate the economy in cahoots with just as
corrupt magistrates who deprive the poor of justice when they plead their case in
the gate, cf. Ex 23:1-9; Ex 22:20f,
22:24f; 23:25f.; Lev 19:13; Deut 27:25; Ezek 18:7ff.; Micah 2:1-11; 3:1-12;
6:9-16; 7:1-6; etc.
Isa 3:15, “‘What do
you mean by crushing My people and grinding the face of the poor?’ Declares the
Lord GOD of hosts.”
By “crushing,” the already poor, it may depict the
extinction of their status as a free citizen, where they are brought to a state
of inability to pay and therefore pressed into a state of dependence or
slavery, cf. vs. 7.
So, the “crushing” in this case, is not only physical but
social and economic oppression by leaders or the powerful. The oppression
pictured here may be in bounds legally, but it is out of bounds morally, (e.g.,
similar to modern business ethics).
The one who would be wise is advised not “to cause to be
crushed” the poor or weak at the gate; the scene of legal decisions. In this
part, the “poor” are also called “afflicted,”
which is the Adjective ANI used as a Noun here that means, “unfortunate,
afflicted, poor, or humble.” Like DAL, it is used for the economically
disadvantaged and often occurs in parallel with DAL, Job 34:28; Psa 82:3; Isa 10:2; 11:4; 26; Amos 2:7.
It seems that this word simply refers to a person who is
hampered by a low income and in a difficult life situation. Therefore, it has a
broader perspective than DAL. It broadens the group that is not to be taken
advantage of in a court of law to include: the wretched, cripple, elderly, and
those lacking financial resources to protect or defend their legal rights, as
noted above. It is used in Prov 3:34;
14:24; 15:15; 16:19; 30:14; 31:9-20.
These mandates were given to Israel in the Law of Moses,
especially the “sundry laws,” Ex 23:6-9;
cf. Job 31:16; Zech 7:10; Mal 3:5.
And, Job 24:2 combines in a single
verse both robbery and the moving of boundary stones, the 10th
Saying prohibition.
Ex 23:6-9 “You shall
not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute. 7Keep
far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for I
will not acquit the guilty. 8And you shall not take a bribe, for a
bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of the just. 9And
you shall not oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the feelings of a
stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
Job 24:2, “Some
remove the landmarks; they seize and devour flocks.”
Malachi 3:5, “Then I
will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the
sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and
against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the
orphan, and those who turn aside the alien, and do not fear Me," says the
LORD of hosts.”
Vs. 23
Prov 22:23, “For the
LORD will plead their case and take the life of those who rob them.”
In this verse, the Lord steps in to the situations where oppression
of the poor is rampant, as He has compassion on the afflicted, Isa 49:13, saves the afflicted, Psa 34:6; 35:10, provides for the
poor, Psa 68:10, and maintains the
cause of the oppressed, Psa 140:12.
And in our passage, “For the LORD will
plead their case and take the life of those who rob them.”
Psa 35:10, “All my
bones will say, ‘LORD, who is like You, Who delivers the afflicted from him who
is too strong for him, and the afflicted and the needy from him who robs him?’”
Psa 140:12, “I know
that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted and justice for the
poor.”
“For or because,” KI, tells us the reason for
this prohibition. What is interesting about this passage is that it uses both
the Verb and Noun of RIYB and Verb QABA twice, to go along with the doubling up
of DAL in vs. 22.
“Plead their case” uses
RYIB for both words and is another one of the legal terms we have in Chapter 22 that means to, “conduct a
lawsuit, contend, dispute, or strive.” It denotes some kind of argument or
conflict between people. Most uses of this verb have a legal setting, such as
when someone feels wronged and accuses another of breaking an agreement or
going against the community standards in some way. In our passage, the Qal
future Perfect Verb is used for “will
plead,” and the Noun that means, “lawsuit or contention,” is used for “case.”
Ex 23:2, “You shall
not follow the masses in doing evil, nor shall you testify in a dispute
so as to turn aside after a multitude in order to pervert justice.”
And, the One pleading or defending the case of the poor and
afflicted is YHWH, “the Lord.” The
“robbers” deceive themselves if they think the poor have no protector. The
Protector of the poor is none other than the Lord himself. Therefore, if the
ways of justice are perverted, let those who render a false and oppressive verdict
remember that the supreme Judge in heaven is observing all. And, He “will render to every man according to his
deeds,” Rom 2:6; cf. Psa 62:12; Prov 24:12; Mat 16:27; Rev
22:12.
Next, we have the double use of the Verb QABA that means,
“rob, to take the life and/or property of another, to cheat, or plunder.” It is
a less used word for “rob,” compared to GAZAL in vs. 22. In Mal 3:8-9, it
means, “to keep back what belongs properly to God.” Therefore, in our verse, it
can also apply to keeping back or stealing what legally belongs to someone
else.
In the first use, it is in the Qal future Perfect for the
Lord’s execution of the sentence He will bring to the one who steals or cheats
the poor and afflicted in the perversion of justice. The sense is that the Lord
will take their “life,” NEPHESH,
“soul, life, breath,” here “life,” or “to rob the soul,” which ends physical
life when removed from the body. In context, it means the execution of Divine
capital punishment, which we also call the Sin Unto Death, the third stage of
God’s Divine discipline, 1 Cor 11:30;
cf. 1 John 5:16-17.
1 Cor 11:30, “For
this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.”
Therefore, as the robbers dealt out death to the
defenseless, the great Protector of the poor, who has in His hands the life and
death of all people, will hand down a death sentence on the contemptible
offenders.
In the second use of QABA, “those who rob them,” it is in the Qal active Participle and refers
to the ones who are doing the cheating or robbing of the poor or afflicted
inside the court of law. It is referring to those who keep back or steal what
legally belongs to the weak, poor, or afflicted.
So, we see that the poor have a Defender Who will protect them
and execute judgment upon the offender, cf. Prov 23:10f. When Israel’s judicial system failed in the city gate,
the insulted Maker of the poor, Prov
14:21; 17:5; 22:2, takes up their case and gives voice to those too weak to
have a voice, and avenges them in the heavenly court, cf. Ex 22:22-24; Deut 10:17-18; Isa 1:23; 10:1-2; 11:4; 25:4; Jer 5:28;
Amos 2:6; 4:1; 5:12; Micah 3:11; Psa 72; cf. Prov. 15:25.
Isa 11:4, “But with
righteousness He will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the afflicted
of the earth; and He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with
the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.”
Isa 25:4, “For You
have been a defense for the helpless, a defense for the needy in his distress, a
refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is
like a rain storm against a wall.”
Psa 72:12-14, “For He
will deliver the needy when he cries for help, the afflicted also, and him who
has no helper. 13He will have compassion on the poor and needy, and
the lives of the needy He will save. 14He will rescue their life
from oppression and violence, and their blood will be precious in His sight.”
Righteous judgment is precious in His sight because it
reflects the integrity of His Divine throne, a great white throne, untarnished
by iniquity.
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