Proverbs 28: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

This chapter is a collection of short, self-contained proverbs, most of them built on a contrast between the wicked and the righteous. Repeated topics include rulers and the people under them, money gained honestly or dishonestly, keeping or abandoning the law, and what happens when the wicked take power and when they fall. It opens with the wicked fleeing when nobody is chasing them while the righteous are as bold as a lion, and closes with the wicked gone and the righteous growing in number.

Claim by Claim

1. 28:1
   • The wicked flee when no one is pursuing them.
   • The righteous are as confident as a young lion.
2. 28:2
   • When a land transgresses, it has many rulers.
   • By a man of understanding and knowledge, right order is prolonged.
3. 28:3
   • A poor man who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain.
   • That rain leaves no food behind.
4. 28:4
   • Those who forsake the law praise the wicked.
   • Those who keep the law contend against the wicked.
5. 28:5
   • Evil men do not understand justice.
   • Those who seek the LORD understand everything.
6. 28:6
   • A poor man who walks in his integrity is better than a man perverse in his ways.
   • The perverse man in the comparison is rich.
7. 28:7
   • One who guards the law is a discerning son.
   • One who keeps company with gluttons brings shame on his father.
8. 28:8
   • One who increases his wealth by interest and usury gathers it up for someone else.
   • The one for whom he gathers it is a person who is gracious to the poor.
9. 28:9
   • Some turn their ear away from hearing the law.
   • Even the prayer of such a person is an abomination.
10. 28:10
    • One who leads the upright astray into an evil way will himself fall into his own pit.
    • The blameless will inherit good.
11. 28:11
    • A rich man is wise in his own eyes.
    • A poor man who has understanding sees through him.
12. 28:12
    • When the righteous rejoice, there is great glory.
    • When the wicked rise, a man is searched out, which may mean either that people hide themselves or that a man is hunted down.
13. 28:13
    • One who covers over his transgressions will not prosper.
    • One who confesses his transgressions and forsakes them will receive mercy.
14. 28:14
    • Happy is the man who is always in fear.
    • One who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.
15. 28:15
    • A wicked ruler over a poor people is like a roaring lion.
    • A wicked ruler over a poor people is like a bear charging after prey.
16. 28:16
    • A ruler who lacks understanding is a great oppressor.
    • One who hates unjust gain will prolong his days.
17. 28:17
    • A man burdened with the blood of a person will flee to the pit.
    • No one is to support him.
18. 28:18
    • One who walks blamelessly will be saved.
    • One who is perverse in his ways will fall all at once.
19. 28:19
    • One who works his land will be satisfied with bread.
    • One who chases empty things will be filled with poverty.
20. 28:20
    • A faithful man will abound with blessings.
    • One who hurries to get rich will not go unpunished.
21. 28:21
    • Showing partiality is not good.
    • For a piece of bread a man will do wrong.
22. 28:22
    • A man with a grudging eye rushes after wealth.
    • He does not know that want will come upon him.
23. 28:23
    • One who rebukes a man will afterward find favor.
    • He finds more favor than one who flatters with the tongue.
24. 28:24
    • Some rob their father or their mother.
    • Such a person says it is no transgression.
    • Such a person is a companion of a destroyer.
25. 28:25
    • A greedy man stirs up strife.
    • One who trusts in the LORD will be made prosperous.
26. 28:26
    • One who trusts in his own heart is a fool.
    • One who walks in wisdom will escape.
27. 28:27
    • One who gives to the poor will not lack.
    • One who hides his eyes from the poor will receive many curses.
28. 28:28
    • When the wicked rise, people hide themselves.
    • When the wicked perish, the righteous increase.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

28:1

The Bible calls people "wicked" when they choose to do wrong on purpose and keep doing it. "Righteous" means the opposite: people who do what is right.

28:2

"Princes" in the King James does not mean royal sons; it means rulers or high officials generally. The picture is political instability, one regime toppling another in quick succession, which ancient readers would recognize as the mark of a country in revolt.

28:3

The Hebrew here is difficult. The word rendered "poor" normally means destitute, which makes the line a paradox (a pauper crushing paupers); many translators suspect a copying slip for a similar word meaning "ruler," giving "a ruler who oppresses the poor." Both readings are defensible. The rain image depends on farming: rain is normally the blessing that makes a crop, so a downpour that batters the grain flat and washes out the soil is help turned destructive.

28:4

"The law" translates Hebrew *torah*, which covers both the law of Moses and instruction or teaching more broadly, a parent's or teacher's, as elsewhere in Proverbs. The word carries both senses here and in verses 7 and 9.

28:5

"Judgment" in the King James does not mean a punishment here. It means justice: knowing what is fair and right.

28:6

"Perverse" in the King James means twisted or crooked. It describes a person who bends the rules, not someone who is strange.

28:7

The King James "riotous men" translates a word for gluttons, people who squander money and health on food and drink. "Riotous" in 1611 English meant dissolute or wasteful, not violent.

28:8

"Usury" in the King James simply means lending at interest, not the modern sense of extortionate rates. Israelite law forbade charging a fellow Israelite interest on a loan made in need (Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:36), so interest-taking was itself the offense, not merely the size of the rate.

28:9

"Abomination" is the standard King James word for something repulsive and unacceptable to God, the term used of unclean food and of defective sacrifices. The point is that the prayer is rejected as unfit to be presented, not merely disliked.

28:10

The "pit" is a hunting trap: a hole dug in a path and covered over, to catch an animal that walks across it. The trapper falling into his own pit was a stock image for a scheme rebounding on its maker.

28:11

"Conceit" in 1611 English meant one's own opinion or estimate, not vanity as it does now; "wise in his own conceit" means wise as he judges himself to be.

28:12

This line is repeated almost word for word in verse 28. Such near-duplicate proverbs are common in the collection and were probably preserved from different sources rather than being an error. The King James "a man is hidden" reflects a Hebrew verb that can mean either that people go into hiding or that a person must be searched out.

28:13

Mercy means being kind and forgiving instead of punishing.

28:14

"Feareth" here is the standard biblical phrase for reverence, awe and taking something seriously, not fright. The Hebrew does not name what is feared; it has long been read as the fear of the LORD, and the second half of the verse, about a stubborn heart, points that way. "Mischief" in 1611 English meant serious harm or disaster, far stronger than the modern word.

28:15

"Ranging" means roaming or prowling in search of prey. Both animals were real hazards in the hill country of Israel: lions survived there into the biblical period, and the Syrian brown bear was more dangerous still, especially a female with cubs.

28:16

"Wanteth" means lacks. "Covetousness" translates a Hebrew word for gain got by extortion or bribery, dishonest profit specifically, not desire in general.

28:17

The phrase behind "doeth violence to the blood of any person" describes a man burdened with bloodguilt, the standing liability of someone who has killed. Israelite law let an accidental killer flee to a designated city of refuge for protection from the victim's avenging relative (Numbers 35), but a deliberate murderer was to be given no shelter. "The pit" here means the grave or the underworld, the fugitive's actual destination. "Stay him" is ambiguous in the Hebrew: it may mean hold him back, or support and shelter him.

28:18

"At once" in the King James means suddenly, all in a moment, not "at the same time."

28:19

"Vain persons" is ambiguous. The Hebrew word means empty or worthless things, so the line may mean chasing worthless schemes and fantasies, or keeping company with worthless people. The proverb sets either against the slow, certain return of working one's own field.

28:20

"Shall not be innocent" renders a Hebrew legal idiom meaning "will not be held guiltless": that is, will not escape punishment.

28:21

"Respect of persons" is a King James idiom for partiality: judging by who someone is (rich, well-connected, a relative), rather than by the case. It was the classic charge against a corrupt judge. "A piece of bread" names the smallest imaginable bribe.

28:22

"An evil eye" is a Hebrew idiom for being grudging and tight-fisted; its opposite, "a good eye," means generous. It does not refer to cursing someone with a look, which is what the phrase suggests in later English usage.

28:23

"Rebuketh" means telling someone honestly that they are wrong. "Flattereth" means saying nice things you do not mean, usually to get something.

28:24

"It is no transgression" is the robber's own excuse: he reckons that taking from his parents is not really theft, since the property will come to him eventually. Probably in view is a grown son seizing the family land or goods from aging parents before their death. A "destroyer" is a violent plunderer, the proverb puts the respectable son in the same class as a bandit.

28:25

The King James "proud heart" translates a phrase literally meaning "wide of appetite," which can mean arrogant or, as many read it, greedy and grasping; the Hebrew allows both. "Made fat" is an idiom for prospering, in a society close to hunger, being well-fed was the plain image of doing well.

28:26

Heart here means the part of you that thinks and chooses.

28:27

"Hideth his eyes" means deliberately looking away from someone in need so as not to have to respond. The "curses" are the words of the people refused; a curse spoken by the wronged poor was taken to carry real force.