to debar (negatively or positively) from benefit or inj… · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
corn
בָּ֭רbar
H1250
grain of any kind (even while standing in the field) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
people
לְא֑וֹםle.'om
H3816
a community · noun, common masculine singular absolute
curse
נָקַבnâqab
H5344
to puncture
blessing
וּ֝בְרָכָ֗הu.ve.ra.Khah
H1293
benediction · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute
head
לְרֹ֣אשׁle.Rosh
H7218
the head (as most easily shaken) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
selleth
מַשְׁבִּֽירmash.Bir
H7666
to deal in grain · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Genesis 42:6 And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down…
Job 29:13 The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
Amos 8:4-6 Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,
Proverbs 24:24 He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 11:26
See here, 1. What use we are to make of the gifts of God's bounty; we must not hoard them up merely for our own advantage, that we may be enriched by them, but we must bring them forth for the benefit of others, that they may be supported and maintained by them. It is a sin, when corn is dear and scarce, to withhold it, in hopes that it will still grow dearer, so to keep up and advance the market, when it is already so high that the poor suffer by it; and at such a time it is the duty of those that have stocks of corn by them to consider the poor, and to be willing to sell at the market-price, to be content with moderate profit, and not aim to make a gain of God's judgments. It is a noble an…
Another example of the truth of Pro 11:23; the miser loses reputation, though he saves corn.
selleth it--that is, at a fair price.
John Gill on Proverbs 11:26
He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him,.... That hoards it up for a better price, in hopes of a better market; and does not bring it out, and expose it to sale, when there is a scarcity of it; so the Targum adds, "in famine"; or, "in straits", as the Syriac version; in a time of distress through, famine: this will bring the curse of the poor upon him, who will imprecate the most dreadful things on him and his family. Jarchi interprets it of the law, and of withholding the teaching of it; but it may be better applied to the Gospel, and the withholding the ministration of that, and so causing a famine, not of bread and of water, but of hearing the word of the Lord; which is done…
The following proverbs are especially directed, as connected with this כן, against the contradiction of the external appearance and of the masked internal nature.
20 An abomination to Jahve are the crookedly dishonest of heart,
And they who are of honest walk are his delight.
The Church Fathers
It is well said through Solomon, "He that hideth corn shall be cursed among the people." For to hide corn is to retain with one's self the words of sacred preaching. And every one that does so is cursed among the people, because through his fault of silence only he is condemned in the punishment of the many whom he might have corrected.
It is written, "Men speak evil of him who withholds wheat." One who withholds is without mercy. He does not gather for the sake of mercy. For, unless he gathers, with what can he bestow mercy? Is it not also true that men bless the person who expends and gives, as it is written here and there in the pages of sacred Scripture?
He who hides grain in time, etc. He who keeps the words of holy preaching to himself will be cursed among the people, because for the fault of silence alone, he is condemned for the punishment of many whom he could have corrected. He is the wicked and slothful servant, cast into outer darkness for keeping the talent which he received (Matthew 25). But they sell the grain who impart the word of life to those who hear it, from whom they receive the price of faith and confession, as the Lord says, "Trade until I come" (Luke 19). Blessing descends upon their head, while the Lord says to each one returning with such business, "Well done, good and faithful servant; because you have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many; enter into the joy of your Lord" (ibid.).
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Corn — The word so rendered (dagan) in Gen. 27:28, 37, Num. 18:27, Deut. 28:51, Lam. 2:12, is a general term representing all the commodities we usually describe by the words corn, grain, seeds, peas,…
Covetousness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Monopoly · Of food — Of food
Selfishness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 11:24-26
Generous people who give freely to others will prosper, but those who hoard their money will lose it (see 28:27; 2 Cor 9:6-9).
Rashi on Proverbs 11:26
He who keeps back grain [who refrains] from teaching Torah.
