The rich and the poor share a common bond as creatures of the same Maker, which keeps the wealthy from contempt and the poor from despair.
A short verse with a long horizon arrives in Proverbs 22:2: The rich and the poor have a common bond, the LORD is the maker of them all (v. 2). Solomon places economic difference inside a deeper sameness.
The rich and the poor sit on opposite sides of most human ledgers. They eat, sleep and fear differently. Solomon does not pretend the difference is small. He names a fact that runs underneath it.
The LORD is the maker of them all. The same Creator gave both their breath, their image-bearing, and their accountability. Proverbs 14:31 develops the implication: "He who oppresses the poor taunts his Maker." A man's treatment of someone economically beneath him is treatment of one whom God has made. The verse keeps the wealthy from contempt and the poor from despair.
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Proverbs 22:2 meaning
A short verse with a long horizon arrives in Proverbs 22:2: The rich and the poor have a common bond, the LORD is the maker of them all (v. 2). Solomon places economic difference inside a deeper sameness.
The rich and the poor sit on opposite sides of most human ledgers. They eat, sleep and fear differently. Solomon does not pretend the difference is small. He names a fact that runs underneath it.
The LORD is the maker of them all. The same Creator gave both their breath, their image-bearing, and their accountability. Proverbs 14:31 develops the implication: "He who oppresses the poor taunts his Maker." A man's treatment of someone economically beneath him is treatment of one whom God has made. The verse keeps the wealthy from contempt and the poor from despair.