A faithful man's blessings accumulate, while the man who hastens to be rich does not escape punishment.
The man who endures is contrasted with the man who hurries in Proverbs 28:20: A faithful man will abound with blessings, but he who makes haste to be rich will not go unpunished (v. 20). Two motivations produce two outcomes.
A faithful man will abound with blessings. Faithfulness is sustained reliability over time. The faithful man's blessings accumulate gradually because he keeps his commitments and serves well across years. The blessings are real, even when they arrive slowly.
He who makes haste to be rich will not go unpunished. The man whose primary motivation is to get rich quickly cannot maintain integrity. To accelerate the timeline, he must cut corners somewhere: in honesty, in care for others, in attention to long-term consequences. Solomon's verdict is that he will not escape punishment. 1 Timothy 6:9 carries the same warning forward: "Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare".
Proverbs 28:20
20 A faithful man will abound with blessings,
But he who makes haste to be rich will not go unpunished.
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Proverbs 28:20 meaning
The man who endures is contrasted with the man who hurries in Proverbs 28:20: A faithful man will abound with blessings, but he who makes haste to be rich will not go unpunished (v. 20). Two motivations produce two outcomes.
A faithful man will abound with blessings. Faithfulness is sustained reliability over time. The faithful man's blessings accumulate gradually because he keeps his commitments and serves well across years. The blessings are real, even when they arrive slowly.
He who makes haste to be rich will not go unpunished. The man whose primary motivation is to get rich quickly cannot maintain integrity. To accelerate the timeline, he must cut corners somewhere: in honesty, in care for others, in attention to long-term consequences. Solomon's verdict is that he will not escape punishment. 1 Timothy 6:9 carries the same warning forward: "Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare".