Proverbs 28:8

He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(8) He that by usury . . . increaseth his substance.—See above on Proverbs 6:1.

He shall gather it for him that will pity the poor.—The “pound” is taken from him who knows not how to use it (Luke 19:24), and given to one who does. (Comp. 1Samuel 15:28.)

Benson Commentary

Proverbs 28:8. He that by usury, &c., increaseth his substance — Hebrew, By usury and increase, that is, by any kind of usury whereby the poor are oppressed, or by any unrighteous practices; he shall gather it, &c. — It shall not long continue with him or his, but shall, by God’s righteous and powerful providence, be committed to more just and merciful hands, who will pity, and relieve the poor.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

28:1 Sin makes men cowards. Whatever difficulties the righteous meet in the way of duty, they are not daunted. 2. National sins disturb the public repose. 3. If needy persons get opportunities of oppressing, their extortion will be more severe than that of the more wealthy. 4. Wicked people strengthen one another in wicked ways. 5. If a man seeks the Lord, it is a good sign that he understands much, and it is a good means of understanding more. 6. An honest, godly, poor man, is better than a wicked, ungodly, rich man; has more comfort in himself, and is a greater blessing to the world. 7. Companions of riotous men not only grieve their parents, but shame them. 8. That which is ill got, though it may increase much, will not last long. Thus the poor are repaid, and God is glorified. 9. The sinner at whose prayers God is angry, is one who obstinately refuses to obey God's commands. 10. The success of ungodly men is their own misery. 11. Rich men are so flattered, that they think themselves superior to others. 12. There is glory in the land when the righteous have liberty. 13. It is folly to indulge sin, and excuse it. He who covers his sins, shall not have any true peace. He who humbly confesses his sins, with true repentance and faith, shall find mercy from God. The Son of God is our great atonement. Under a deep sense of our guilt and danger, we may claim salvation from that mercy which reigns through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord. 14. There is a fear which causes happiness. Faith and love will deliver from the fear of eternal misery; but we should always fear offending God, and fear sinning against him. 15. A wicked ruler, whatever we may call him, this scripture calls a roaring lion, and a ranging bear. 16. Oppressors want understanding; they do not consult their own honour, ease, and safety. 17. The murderer shall be haunted with terrors. None shall desire to save him from deserved punishment, nor pity him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Unjust gain - Omit "unjust:" "usury and gain" make up the notion of "gain derived from usury." Ill-gotten gains do not prosper, after a time they pass into hands that know how to use them better.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

8. usury … unjust gain—(Compare Margin). The two terms, meaning nearly the same, may denote excessive interest. God's providence directs the proper use of wealth.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

By usury and unjust gain, Heb. by usury and (or, or) increase, i.e. by any kind of usury, whereby the poor are oppressed, as is implied from the opposite clause; or by any unrighteous practices. See more of these words and of this thing on Exodus 22:25 Leviticus 25:35,36 Psa 15:5 Ezekiel 18:8.

Shall gather it for him that will pity the poor; it shall not long continue with him or his, but shall by God’s righteous and powerful providence be disposed into more just and merciful hands.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance,.... By biting and oppressing the poor; letting him have money at an exorbitant interest, and goods at an exorbitant price, and so increases his substance in this scandalous manner; hence usury is in Leviticus 25:36, called "increase", and by the Greeks a "birth", because money is the birth of money, as Aristotle (e) observes; and so by the Latins "foenus", as if it was "foetus" (f), "a birth". The word for usury here signifies biting; and so usury, with classical writers (g), is said to bite; and while it increases the substance of the usurer, it lessens and devours that of others;

he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor; not for himself, nor for his posterity; but for such, though not intentionally but eventually, as will make a good use of it, and distribute it to the necessities of the poor. The meaning is, that things should be so overruled by the providence of God, that what such an avaricious man gets in his dishonest way should not be enjoyed by him or his; but should be taken out of his hands, and put into the hands of another, that will do good with it, by showing mercy to the poor; see Job 27:16.

(e) Politic. l. 1. c. 10. (f) A. Gell. Noct. Attic. l. 16. c. 12. (g) Plauti Pseudolos, Acts 4. Sc. 7. v. 23, 24. "Habet argentum jam admordere hune mihi lubet", Lucan. l. 1. v. 131. "Vorax usura."

Geneva Study Bible

He that by interest and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather {c} it for him that will pity the poor.

(c) For God will take away the wicked usurer, and give his goods to him that will bestow them well.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

8. unjust gain] Rather, increase, as A.V. marg. and R.V. text, μετὰ τόκων καὶ πλεονασμῶν, LXX. Comp. Leviticus 25:36-37.

The idea of its being “unjust” is implied by the word “usury” with which it is associated. The R.V. gives augmenteth, instead of increaseth, in the former part of the verse, as the Heb. word is not the same, as it there renders increase.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 8. - He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance. "Usury" (neshek) is interest on money lent taken in money; "unjust gain" (tarbith) is interest taken in kind, as if a man, having lent a bushel of corn, exacted two bushels in return. All such transactions were forbidden by the Law of Moses, at any rate between Israelites (see Leviticus 25:36, 37, "Thou shalt not give thy brother thy money upon usury (neshek), nor lend him thy victuals for increase [marbith, equivalent to tarbith, which is used in ver. 36] "). Septuagint, Μετὰ τόκων καὶ πλεονασμῶν, "With interest and usury." (For censure of usury, see Psalm 109:11; Ezekiel 18:13; and, contrast Psalm 15:5; Ezekiel 18:8.) He shall gather it for him that will pity the poor. He shall never enjoy it himself, and shall fall into the hands of one who will hake a better use of it (see on Proverbs 22:16; and comp Proverbs 13:22; Job 27:16, etc.). In our Lord's parable the pound is taken from one who made no good use of it and is given to a more profitable servant (Luke 19:24). Proverbs 28:8

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

This verse continues a series of proverbs (commencing in Proverbs 28:7) beginning with a participle:

He who increaseth his wealth by interest and usury,

Gathereth it for one who is benevolent toward the lowly.

Wealth increased by covetous plundering of a neighbour does not remain with him who has scraped it together in so relentless a manner, and without considering his own advantage; but it goes finally into the possession of one who is merciful towards the poor, and thus it is bestowed in a manner that is pleasing to God (cf. Proverbs 13:22; Job 22:16.). The Kerı̂, which drops the second ב, appears to wish to mitigate the sharpness of the distinction of the second idea supposed in its repetition. But Leviticus 25:35-37, where an Israelite is forbidden to take usury and interest from his brother, the two are distinguished; and Fleischer rightly remarks that there נשׁך means usury or interest taken in money, and תרבית usury or interest taken in kind; i.e., of that which one has received in loan, such as grain, or oil, etc., he gives back more than he has received. In other words: נשׁך is the name of the interest for the capital that is lent, and מרבּית, or, as it is here called תרבית, the more, the addition thereto, the increase (Luther: ubersatz). This meaning of gain by means of lending on interest remains in נשׁך; but תרבית, according to the later usus loq., signifies gain by means of commerce, thus business-profit, vid., Baba Meza, v. 1. Instead of יקבּצנּוּ, more recent texts have the Kal

(Note: If, as Hitzig, after J. H. Michaelis, remarks, the word were Ben-Asher's יקבּצנּוּ, then it would be thus rightly punctuated by Clodius and the moderns. Kimchi, in the Wrterbuch under קבץ, adduces this word as Ben-Asher's. But the Masora knows nothing of it. It marks יקבּצנּוּ, Jeremiah 31:10, with לית as unicum, and thus supposes for the passages before us יקבּצנּוּ, which certainly is found in MSS, and is also marked on the margin with לית as unicum.)

יקבּצנּוּ. לחונן also is, as Proverbs 14:31; Proverbs 19:17, part. Kal, not inf. Poel: ad largiendum pauperibus (Merc., Ewald, Bertheau), for there the person of him who presents the gift is undefined; but just this, that it is another and better-disposed, for whom, without having it in view, the collector gathers his stores, is the very point of the thought.