The man who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will himself one day cry and not be answered.
A reciprocity of mercy and need lands in Proverbs 21:13: He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be answered (v. 13). The verse establishes a moral reciprocity.
The man who could have heard and refused to hear will eventually be the one calling out and not heard. The mechanism is the economy of God's world: we do not get to opt out caring for others and then expect community when our own crisis arrives.
The verse is also a quiet expansion of who counts as a neighbor: the cry of the poor may come from someone whose only claim on us is need.
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Proverbs 21:13 meaning
A reciprocity of mercy and need lands in Proverbs 21:13: He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be answered (v. 13). The verse establishes a moral reciprocity.
The man who could have heard and refused to hear will eventually be the one calling out and not heard. The mechanism is the economy of God's world: we do not get to opt out caring for others and then expect community when our own crisis arrives.
The verse is also a quiet expansion of who counts as a neighbor: the cry of the poor may come from someone whose only claim on us is need.