Translation commentary on Proverbs 22:22

“Do not rob the poor, because he is poor”: The verb translated “rob” has a wider meaning of “take by force or violence.” A number of commentators and versions take the sense here to be “exploit” (New International Version) or “take advantage of” (Scott, Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). “The poor” is a poor, weak, or helpless person; the parallel term in the next line is the more common term for poor people. As the next expression “because he is poor” shows, the point of this warning is that it is wrong to rob or exploit a person because he or she is helpless or weak. Revised English Bible expresses this line well: “Never rob anyone who is helpless because he is helpless.” Good News Translation is also a good model.

“Or crush the afflicted at the gate”: “Or” renders the Hebrew “and do not,” which introduces the second warning. “The afflicted” is the common Hebrew term for a person who is needy, weak, or humble. The verb “crush” is mostly used, as it is here, in a figurative way; the sense is “oppress” or “treat badly.” Good News Translation renders it “take advantage of,” just as it does the verb in the first line. In translation the most appropriate rendering may depend on the context, which is literally “at the gate”. The town “gate”, or the open space near “the gate”, was the place where justice was dispensed; many translations therefore give as its equivalent “in court” (Revised English Bible, New International Version, Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). The whole line is rendered by Contemporary English Version “or cheat them [the poor] in court” and by Good News Translation “don’t take advantage of those who stand helpless in court.” In some languages this line may be a separate sentence; for example, “And if they [poor people] come to court, you must not put them down [mistreat them]” or “Do not oppress a person who has no defender in court, so that you deprive him of justice.”

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 .

complete verse (Proverbs 22:22)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 22:22:

  • Kupsabiny: “Do not rob the poor of their things on account of them being weak, and do not oppress people who are poor in the council/court.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Do not oppress the poor
    just because you are able to.
    Do not sue the helpless unfairly in court.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “[You (sing.)] do- not -take-advantage of the poor, and do- not -oppress them in the court,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Do not cause-hardship-to the poor simply (lit. only) because they are capable of nothing, and do not cheat-(them) in the place-of-judgment,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 22:22

Paragraph 22:22–23 Saying 1

This saying has two parallel commands to not do something followed by two parallel reasons to obey those commands. Saying 2 has a similar structure.

The four lines of this saying are arranged in the form of a chiasm (A B B A).

(A) 22a Do not rob a poor man because he is poor,

(B) 22b and do not crush the afflicted at the gate,

(B) 23a for the LORD will take up their case

(A) 23b and will plunder those who rob them.

The first command (22a) and the last reason (23b) both refer to forcibly taking something from someone else. The second command (22b) and the first reason (23a) both use words that refer to legal contexts. You will need to decide whether it is effective in your language to keep this chiasm.

22:22

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

22a
Do not rob a poor man because he is poor

22b and do not crush the afflicted at the gate,

Both lines of this verse refer to the same situation. The parallel commands prohibit the son from taking advantage of people who are unable to defend themselves in court due to their poverty.

22:22a

Do not rob a poor man: The verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as rob can mean to literally rob someone or take their possessions by force. Some versions, including the Berean Standard Bible, translate this verb literally. For example:

Do not rob the poor (English Standard Version)

However, the phrase “at the gate” in 22:22b clarifies that the verb does not refer here to literal robbery. It refers to using the legal system to take someone else’s possessions or to deprive them of their rights. Some other ways to translate this figurative meaning are:

Do not exploit the poor (New International Version)
-or-
Don’t take advantage of the poor (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Do not abuse poor people (New Century Version)

a poor man: In Hebrew, this word is singular. It may refer to any poor person or to poor people in general.

In Hebrew, this word for poor refers to people who lack material things. They belong to one of the lower social classes, so they also lack power and significance.

Most versions translate this Hebrew word with the general word “poor.” Some versions use a more specific word because of the context. For example:

anyone who is helpless (Revised English Bible)
-or-
the weak (New Jerusalem Bible)

See the note on 10:4a and the footnote there for information on the other words for “poor” in Proverbs.

because he is poor: This clause probably gives the reason why someone would take advantage of poor people. It is because they are poor and are helpless to defend themselves. An implied reason is that it is easy to cheat them and get away with it. The command in 22:22a prohibits a person from exploiting the poor for such a motive.

In many languages it will be necessary to make some of this implied reasoning explicit. For example:

Don’t take advantage of the poor just because you can (Good News Translation)
-or-
Do not oppress a poor person because of his lack of power to defend/protect himself

22:22b

and do not crush: The verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as do not crush has a figurative meaning here. It means “do not oppress” or “treat badly.” In this context, it probably refers to causing extreme financial hardship.

the afflicted: In Hebrew, this word occurs frequently in poetry as a synonym of the word “poor” in 22:22a. In some contexts, it emphasizes that poor people suffer some kind of distress or disability. Because such people have low status in society, their lives are difficult. They are weak and helpless, especially in a legal situation.

See the note on “the poor” in 14:21b. The footnote there gives more information about this word and the verses where it occurs in Proverbs.

The Berean Standard Bible translates this same word as “oppressed” in 15:15a. Some other ways to translate this word here in 22:22b are:

poor (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
an oppressed person (God’s Word)

at the gate: The Berean Standard Bible translates this Hebrew phrase literally. The gate of a city was the place where people gathered to talk and conduct business, both commercial and legal. Here the context clearly refers to a legal situation, so some versions, including the New International Version, translate it as “in court.” Some other ways to translate 22:22b, using the phrase “in court,” are:

don’t take advantage of those who stand helpless in court (Good News Translation)
-or-
and do not take away the rights of the needy in court (New Century Version)

In some languages, it may be more natural to refer to the legal process in a different way. For example:

and when you judge a helpless person, do not treat him cruelly and unfairly
-or-
in the place where you settle arguments, do not ruin the life of a poor person with no resources/influencea

General Comment on 22:22a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder one or more of the parallel pairs so that the verse clearly refers to the same situation. For example:

Do not cheat helpless poor people just because you can defeat them when a judge decides their case.

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