Proverbs 22:7

King James 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 intreaties; but the rich answereth roughly.
• Jas 2:6 : 6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
• Jas 5:1 : 1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
• Jas 5:4 : 4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are 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 the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.
• Neh 5:4-5 : 4 There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king's tribute, and that upon our lands and 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 unto bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards.
• Prov 14:31 : 31 He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.
• Prov 22:16 : 16 He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come 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 lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.
• Amos 2:6 : 6 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes;
• Amos 4:1 : 1 Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.
• Amos 5:11-12 : 11 Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens 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 wine of them. 12 For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.
• Amos 8:4 : 4 Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make 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; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
• Matt 18:25 : 25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.