Proverbs 22:7

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

The rich ruleth over the poor; And the borrower is servant to the lender.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

עָ֭שִׁיר בְּרָשִׁ֣ים יִמְשׁ֑וֹל וְעֶ֥בֶד לֹ֝וֶ֗ה לְאִ֣ישׁ מַלְוֽ͏ֶה׃

Transliteration

'āšîr in rāšîm yimšôl and 'ebed lōweh to 'îš malweh.

Grammar Details

• *'āšîr*: adjective used as noun, masculine singular - rich man
• in: preposition, *bĕ* - in/among/over
• *rāšîm*: adjective used as noun, masculine plural - poor ones
• *yimšôl*: verb, Qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular - he rules/will rule
• *'ebed*: noun, masculine singular construct - servant/slave of
• *lōweh*: verb, Qal participle, masculine singular - borrower/one who borrows
• to: preposition, *lĕ* - to/for
• *'îš*: noun, masculine singular construct - man of
• *malweh*: verb, Hiphil participle, masculine singular - lender/one who lends

Word Meanings

• *'āšîr*: rich (person)/wealthy one
• *rāšîm*: poor (people)/impoverished ones
• *yimšôl*: rules/governs/dominates
• *'ebed*: servant/slave/subordinate
• *lōweh*: borrower/debtor
• *'îš*: man/person/individual
• *malweh*: lender/creditor

Referenced Verses

• Prov 18:23 : 23 The poor useth entreaties; But the rich answereth roughly.
• Jas 2:6 : 6 But ye have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you, and themselves drag you before the judgment-seats?
• Jas 5:1 : 1 Come now, ye rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you.
• Jas 5:4 : 4 Behold, the hire of the laborers who mowed your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth out: and the cries of them that reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
• 2 Kgs 4:1 : 1 Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear Jehovah: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two children to be bondmen.
• Neh 5:4-5 : 4 There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king's tribute [upon] our fields and our vineyards. 5 Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage [already]: neither is it in our power to help it; for other men have our fields and our vineyards.
• Prov 14:31 : 31 He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker; But he that hath mercy on the needy honoreth him.
• Prov 22:16 : 16 He that oppresseth the poor to increase his [gain], [And] he that giveth to the rich, [shall come] only to want.
• Prov 22:22 : 22 Rob not the poor, because he is poor; Neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:
• Isa 24:2 : 2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the creditor, so with the debtor; as with the taker of interest, so with the giver of interest to him.
• Amos 2:6 : 6 Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Israel, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes—
• Amos 4:1 : 1 Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, that oppress the poor, that crush the needy, that say unto their lords, Bring, and let us drink.
• Amos 5:11-12 : 11 Forasmuch therefore as ye trample upon the poor, and take exactions from him of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink the wine thereof. 12 For I know how manifold are your transgressions, and how mighty are your sins— ye that afflict the just, that take a bribe, and that turn aside the needy in the gate [from their right].
• Amos 8:4 : 4 Hear this, O ye that would swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail,
• Amos 8:6 : 6 that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
• Matt 18:25 : 25 But forasmuch as he had not [with which] to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and sons, and all that he had, and payment to be made.