Wealth gathered through interest and usury eventually goes to the man who is gracious to the poor.
Solomon names the eventual destination of wrongly gathered money: He who increases his wealth by interest and usury gathers it for him who is gracious to the poor (v. 8). Proverbs 28:8 traces money's eventual destination.
The picture is of a man who lends to the desperate at exploitative rates, accumulating wealth on the backs of those least able to repay: He who increases his wealth by interest and usury. The Mosaic Law prohibited charging interest to fellow Israelites in distress (Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:35-37). The man here has ignored that limit.
His wealth, eventually, ends up in the hands of someone who will use it to help the poor he exploited: Gathers it for him who is gracious to the poor. The mechanism is left general. Death, judgment, providence, or simple inheritance can move wealth from the wicked to the just. Job 27:16-17 names the same pattern: "Though he piles up silver like dust, the just will wear it". The verse encourages the wise reader to leave the long-term math of injustice to the LORD.
Proverbs 28:8
8 He who increases his wealth by interest and usury
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Proverbs 28:8 meaning
Solomon names the eventual destination of wrongly gathered money: He who increases his wealth by interest and usury gathers it for him who is gracious to the poor (v. 8). Proverbs 28:8 traces money's eventual destination.
The picture is of a man who lends to the desperate at exploitative rates, accumulating wealth on the backs of those least able to repay: He who increases his wealth by interest and usury. The Mosaic Law prohibited charging interest to fellow Israelites in distress (Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:35-37). The man here has ignored that limit.
His wealth, eventually, ends up in the hands of someone who will use it to help the poor he exploited: Gathers it for him who is gracious to the poor. The mechanism is left general. Death, judgment, providence, or simple inheritance can move wealth from the wicked to the just. Job 27:16-17 names the same pattern: "Though he piles up silver like dust, the just will wear it". The verse encourages the wise reader to leave the long-term math of injustice to the LORD.