properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
poor
דָּ֑לDal
H1800
properly · adjective, masculine singular absolute
lendeth
מַלְוֵ֣הmal.Veh
H3867
properly · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular construct
LORD
יְ֭הוָהYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
given
וּ֝גְמֻל֗וֹu.ge.mu.Lo
H1576
treatment · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
again
יְשַׁלֶּםye.sha.lem-
H7999
to be safe (in mind · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
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
Proverbs 28:27 He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse.
Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the s…
Luke 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For…
2 Corinthians 9:6-8 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
Matthew 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren,…
Ecclesiastes 11:1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.
Isaiah 58:7-11 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou…
Matthew 10:41-42 He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 19:17
Here is, I. The duty of charity described. It includes two things: - 1. Compassion, which is the inward principle of charity in the heart; it is to have pity on the poor. Those that have not a penny for the poor, yet may have pity for them, a charitable concern and sympathy; and, if a man give all his goods to feed the poor and have not this charity in his heart, it is nothing, Co1 13:3. We must draw out our souls to the hungry, Isa 58:10. 2. Bounty and liberality. We must not only pity the poor, but give, according to their necessity and our ability, Jam 2:15, Jam 2:16. That which he has given. Margin, His deed. It is charity to do for the poor, as well as to give; and thus, if they have th…
(Compare Pro 14:21; Psa 37:26).
hath pity--shown by acts (compare Margin).
John Gill on Proverbs 19:17
He that hath pity unto the poor lendeth unto the Lord,.... A man, whose heart is full of compassion to the poor, and whose hands distribute to their necessities, from a true principle of love and charity to men, and with a view to the glory of God, and not from any selfish principle and with a end; such a man's gift to the poor is a loan to the Lord; it is not cast away upon the creature, but is a "depositum" in the hands of God, and shall be returned with advantage;
and that which he hath given will, he pay him again; either in this life, in things temporal and spiritual, increasing his worldly substance, blessing his posterity, granting him larger measures of grace, indulging him with his…
These verses we take together. But we have no other reason for making a pause at Pro 19:21, than that Pro 19:22 is analogous to Pro 19:17, and thus presents itself to us as an initial verse.
Pro 19:17
17 He lendeth to Jahve who is compassionate to the lowly,
And his bounty He requites to him.
As at Pro 14:31, חונן is part. Kal. The Masoretically exact form of the word is חונן (as ואוזל, Pro 20:14) with Mercha on the first syllable, on which the tone is thrown back, and the העמדה on the second. The Roman legal phrase, mutui datione contrahitur obligatio, serves to explain the fundamental conception of לוה, mutuo accipere, and הלוה, mutuum dare (vid., Pro 22:7). The construction, Exo 22:24, "t…
The Church Fathers
If you help a poor person in the Name of the Lord, you are making a gift and at the same time granting a loan. You are making a gift because you have no expectation of being reimbursed by that poor person. You are granting a loan because the Lord will settle the account. It is not much that the Lord receives by means of the poor, but He will pay a great deal on their behalf.
The lesson, therefore, which he teaches us is love for the poor, which is precious in the sight of God. Do you feel pleasure in being praised when you have any friends or relatives feasting with you? I tell you of something far better: angels shall praise your bounty, and the rational powers above, and holy men as well; and he too shall accept it who transcends all, and who loves mercy and is kind. Lend to him fearing nothing, and you will receive with interest whatever you gave, for "he," it says, "who has pity on the poor lends unto God."
"He who has mercy on the poor lends to the Lord," etc. The Lord himself proves the truth of this statement, when he predicts that he will say to those who give alms: "Insofar as you did it to one of these least of my brethren, you did it to me" (Matt. XXV). "Discipline your son, lest you despair; but do not set your heart on putting him to death." Be diligent in chastising any subject whom you see erring. But if he refuses correction, act towards him with such caution and temperance that he may find nothing in your words or actions wherewith he might sin more. The following also supports this sense:
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
Lending · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Liberality · 1:2-4; — 1:2-4;
Poor · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
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).
Keeping God’s commandments (i.e., the law of Moses) protects one’s life (see Deut 28:15-68).
Rashi on Proverbs 19:17
He who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord, and He will repay him his reward When he becomes ill and is close to death, his charity defends him before the Divine standard of justice, saying, “The poor man’s soul was struggling to leave him because of hunger, and this one sustained it. I, too, will return his soul to him.”
