This saying, like 10.15 and 14.20, contrasts the behavior of the rich and the poor.

“The poor use entreaties”: “Use entreaties” renders an expression that means asking or begging for favors. It is from “the rich” that “The poor” ask favors or beg for help.

“But the rich answer roughly”: “Answer” is the response of “the rich” to the entreaties of “The poor”; that is, “when the rich answer them” or “when the rich speak to the poor.” “Roughly” means to speak in an impolite or rude manner. For the whole saying, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy says “The poor person speaks with pleas; the rich person responds with haughtiness.” In one Pacific translation this is rendered “The poor person speaks humbly to the person with money, but that person with money gives him back hard talk.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .