Oppressing the poor to gain or flattering the rich for favor are two paths that both end in poverty.
The last verse of Solomon's main collection lands on economic sin in Proverbs 22:16: He who oppresses the poor to make more for himself or who gives to the rich, will only come to poverty (v. 16). Solomon names two routes to the same end.
He who oppresses the poor to make more for himself is the businessman, official, or master who squeezes those beneath him to enlarge his own pile. He thinks he is winning. Solomon says he is sowing the seeds of his own ruin.
Or who gives to the rich. The man who funnels resources upward to those who already have plenty, hoping to gain favor or position by it, is making the same mistake. He is investing in the wrong direction. Both paths will only come to poverty. The verse closes the first major collection of Solomonic proverbs with a warning that the LORD's accounting is not the world's accounting.
Proverbs 22:16
16 He who oppresses the poor to make more for himself
Or who gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.
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Proverbs 22:16 meaning
The last verse of Solomon's main collection lands on economic sin in Proverbs 22:16: He who oppresses the poor to make more for himself or who gives to the rich, will only come to poverty (v. 16). Solomon names two routes to the same end.
He who oppresses the poor to make more for himself is the businessman, official, or master who squeezes those beneath him to enlarge his own pile. He thinks he is winning. Solomon says he is sowing the seeds of his own ruin.
Or who gives to the rich. The man who funnels resources upward to those who already have plenty, hoping to gain favor or position by it, is making the same mistake. He is investing in the wrong direction. Both paths will only come to poverty. The verse closes the first major collection of Solomonic proverbs with a warning that the LORD's accounting is not the world's accounting.