Amsal 17:5

17:5 The one who mocks the poor ¹  insults ²  his Creator;

whoever rejoices over disaster will not go unpunished.

Amsal 28:27

28:27 The one who gives to the poor will not lack, ³ 

but whoever shuts his eyes to them ⁴  will receive ⁵  many curses. ⁶ 

Amsal 14:21

14:21 The one who despises his neighbor sins,

but whoever is kind to the needy is blessed.

Amsal 20:13

20:13 Do not love sleep, ⁷  lest you become impoverished;

open your eyes so that ⁸  you might be satisfied with food. ⁹ 

Amsal 29:7

29:7 The righteous person cares for ¹⁰  the legal rights ¹¹  of the poor;

the wicked does not understand such ¹²  knowledge.

[17:5]  ¹ sn The parallelism helps define the subject matter: The one who “mocks the poor” (NAB, NASB, NIV) is probably one who “rejoices [NIV gloats] over disaster.” The poverty is hereby explained as a disaster that came to some. The topic of the parable is the person who mocks others by making fun of their misfortune.

[17:5]  ² sn The Hebrew word translated “insults” (חֵרֵף, kheref) means “reproach; taunt” (as with a cutting taunt); it describes words that show contempt for or insult God. The idea of reproaching the Creator may be mistaking and blaming God’s providential control of the world (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 337). W. G. Plaut, however, suggests that mocking the poor means holding up their poverty as a personal failure and thus offending their dignity and their divine nature (Proverbs, 187).

[28:27]  ³ sn The generous individual will be rewarded. He will not lack nor miss what he has given away to the poor.

[28:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “hides his eyes”; “to them” is supplied in the translation to indicate the link with the poor in the preceding line. Hiding or closing the eyes is a metonymy of cause or of adjunct, indicating a decision not to look on and thereby help the poor. It could also be taken as an implied comparison, i.e., not helping the poor is like closing the eyes to them.

[28:27]  ⁵ tn The term “receives” is not in the Hebrew text but is implied, and is supplied in the translation.

[28:27]  ⁶ sn The text does not specify the nature or the source of the curses. It is natural to think that they would be given by the poor who are being mistreated and ignored. Far from being praised for their contributions to society, selfish, stingy people will be reviled for their heartless indifference.

[20:13]  ⁷ sn The proverb uses antithetical parallelism to teach that diligence leads to prosperity. It contrasts loving sleep with opening the eyes, and poverty with satisfaction. Just as “sleep” can be used for slothfulness or laziness, so opening the eyes can represent vigorous, active conduct. The idioms have caught on in modern usage as well – things like “open your eyes” or “asleep on the job.”

[20:13]  ⁸ tn The second line uses two imperatives in a sequence (without the vav [ו]): “open your eyes” and then (or, in order that) you will “be satisfied.”

[20:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “bread” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV), although the term often serves in a generic sense for food in general.

[29:7]  ¹⁰ tn The form is an active participle, יֹדֵעַ (yodea’); it describes the righteous as “knowing, caring for, having sympathetic knowledge for, or considering favorably” the legal needs of the poor. Cf. NAB “has a care for”; NASB “is concerned for.”

[29:7]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew word used here is דִּין (din), which typically means “judgment,” but can also mean “strife” and “cause.” Here it refers to the “cause” of the poor (so KJV, ASV), their plea, their case, their legal rights. A righteous person is sympathetic to this.

[29:7]  ¹² tn The term “such” is supplied in the translation for clarification. It is not simply any knowledge that the wicked do not understand, but the knowledge mentioned in the first colon. They do not understand the “sympathetic knowledge” or “concern” for the cause of the poor.