Proverbs 3:27

3:27-35 Our business is to observe the precepts of Christ, and to copy his example; to do justice, to love mercy, and to beware of covetousness; to be ready for every good work, avoiding needless strife, and bearing evils, if possible, rather than seeking redress by law. It will be found there is little got by striving. Let us not envy prosperous oppressors; far be it from the disciples of Christ to choose any of their ways. These truths may be despised by the covetous and luxurious, but everlasting contempt will be the portion of such scorners, while Divine favour is shown to the humble believer.

Proverbs 3:27-28 . Withhold not good — Do not deny it, but readily and cheerfully impart it; from them to whom it is due — Hebrew, מבעליו , literally, from the lords, or owners of it: which some refer to the restitution of goods gained unjustly; but the connection requires that we understand the clause in a more extensive sense. The good here spoken of must be considered as being applicable to any thing that is good, either counsel, comfort, reproof, or the good things of the present life. And by the lords, or owners of it, we must understand those who have any kind of right to it, whether by the law of justice and equity, or by the great and sovereign law of love, which God hath written on the hearts of men by nature, and hath frequently and solemnly enjoined in his word. So that this place not only commands the payment of just debts, and the restitution of things taken from others by fraud or violence, or of things committed to our trust; but it obliges every man, according to his ability and opportunity, to pity and relieve such as are in real want or misery, and to do all the good in his power, temporal or spiritual, to his fellow-creatures.

Say not, &c. — The preceding verse forbade the denial, and this forbids the delay of this duty; unto thy neighbour — Unto any man, as the word neighbour is commonly used in Scripture; Go, and come again to-morrow, and I will give — Namely, what is thy due, in the manner before expressed, or what thou needest; for the word נתן , here used, is generally meant of free or charitable gifts, and not of debts due in justice or equity.

(f) Sixth Discourse: — Exhortation to Charity, Peace, Contentment ( Proverbs 3:27-35 ). (27) Them to whom it is due—i.e., the poor and needy. An exhortation to us to make to ourselves “friends of the mammon of unrighteousness” (uncertain riches, Luke 16:9), remembering that we are not absolute owners, but “stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1Peter 4:10), so that when we “fail,” i.e., die, “they,” the friends we have made by our liberality, may welcome us to heaven.

27 . them to whom it is due ] Lit. the lords, or owners thereof , as A.V. marg. This may be either a precept of honesty, pay your just debts; or of benevolence, you are a steward and your wealth belongs not to you but to the poor and needy, for whose benefit you hold it. Comp. 1 Peter 4:10 . So LXX. μὴ ἀπόσχῃ εὖ ποιεῖν ἐνδεῆ ; and the Vulg. benefacere .

Withhold not good; do not deny it, but readily and cheerfully impart it, which is implied in the contrary, as above, Proverbs 3:11 , and oft in this book, as we shall see. Good ; any thing which is good; either spiritually, as counsel, comfort, reproof, &c.; or civilly, the good things of the present life, as good is taken, Psalm 4:6 , called this world’s good , 1Jo 3:17 . From them to whom it is due, Heb. from the lords or owners of it ; from those who have any kind of right to it; either, 1. By the law of justice and equity, prescribed both by the natural and written laws of God, and by the civil laws of men. So this place commands the payment of just debts, and the restitution of things either found or committed to our trust, or taken from others by fraud or violence.

Or, 2. (which seems to be chiefly intended by comparing this with the next verse, though the former is not to be excluded,) By that great and sovereign law of love or charity, which God hath written in the hearts of men by nature, and frequently and severely enjoined in his word, whereby every man is obliged according to his ability and opportunity, to pity and relieve such as are in real want or misery; who in that case are here called the owners of our goods, not in respect of men, as if men in want might seize upon the riches of others, but in respect of God, who is the sovereign Lord and only true Proprietary of all men’s estates, who giveth them when and to whom he pleaseth, and who doth not give away his right, nor make men absolute lords of them to dispose them as they will, but only allows them the use and comfort of them upon such conditions, and with such reservations and rent charges, as I may call them, as he hath appointed, whereof this is one, that men should readily and freely communicate them to other men who need and require their help. And such actions, though they be acts of charity and bounty to men, yet, as to God, they are acts of righteousness, as they are called, Proverbs 11:18 2 Corinthians 9:9 , and in many other places. To do it; either, 1. To withhold it. Or, 2. To do good. And this clause may be added, either, 1.

A marked change in style. The continuous exhortation is replaced by a series of maxims. From them to whom it is due - literally, as in the margin. The precept expresses the great Scriptural thought that the so-called possession of wealth is but a stewardship; that the true owners of what we call our own are those to whom, with it, we may do good. Not to relieve them is a breach of trust.

Verses 27-35. - 6. Sixth admonitory discourse. In this discourse the teacher still carries on his object, which is to demonstrate the conditions upon which true wisdom and happiness are to be attained. The discourse differs from the preceding in consisting of detached proverbs, and may be divided into two main sections - the first (vers. 27-30) enjoining benevolence, that love to one's neighbour which is the fulfilling of the Law; the second warning against emulating the oppressor and associating with him, because of the fate of the wicked (vers. 31-35). It is observable that all the maxims have a negative form, and thus present a striking contrast to the form adopted by our Lord in the Sermon on the Mount ( Matthew 5 .), and to the admonitions at the close of St. Paul's Epistles. In one instance in particular (ver. 30), the teaching does not reach the high moral standard of the gospel (see Delitzsch and Lange). Verse 27. - Withhold not good from them to whom it is due. This precept indicates the general principle of beneficence, and not merely, as the words at first sight seem to imply, restitution (as Cajet.). We are to do good to those who are in need or deserving of it, whenever we have the means and opportunity. From them to whom it is due ( nib'alayv ); literally, from its owner , from baal, dominus , "lord" or owner of a thing. Cf.