Proverbs 21:13

Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
stoppeth	אֹטֵ֣ם 'o.Tem	H331	to close (the lips or ears) · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
ears	אָ֭זְנוֹ 'a.ze.no	H241	broadness. i.e. (concrete) the ear (from its form in ma… · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
cry	מִזַּעֲקַת mi.za.'a.kat-	H2201	a shriek or outcry · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
poor	דָּ֑ל Dal	H1800	properly · adjective, masculine singular absolute
cry	יִ֝קְרָ֗א yik.Ra'	H7121	to call out to (i.e. properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
heard	יֵעָנֶֽה ye.'a.Neh	H6030	properly · verb, niphal 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 1:28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
Proverbs 28:27 He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse.
Matthew 6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
James 2:13-16 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
Jeremiah 34:16-17 But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasu…
Matthew 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
Matthew 18:30-35 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
Isaiah 1:15-17 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 21:13

Here we have the description and doom of an uncharitable man. 1. His description: He stops his ears at the cry of the poor, at the cry of their wants and miseries (he resolves to take no cognizance of them), at the cry of their requests and supplications - he resolves he will not so much as give them the hearing, turns them away from his door, and forbids them to come near him, or, if he cannot avoid hearing them, he will not need them, nor be moved by their complaints, no be prevailed with by their importunities; he shuts up the bowels of his compassion, and that is equivalent to the stopping of his ears, Act 7:57. 2. His doom. He shall himself be reduced to straits, which will make him cry…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 21:13

The principles of retribution, often taught (compare Psa 18:26; Mat 7:1-12).

John Gill on Proverbs 21:13

Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor,.... For want of bread; or, "of the weak", as the Septuagint and other versions; for want of help and protection, when in the greatest distress; and, with the most pressing importunity, entreats his assistance, and yet refuses to hear him out: or, if he does, will not relieve him, which is all one as if he heard him not, or denied him a hearing; he also shall cry himself; the Targum and Syriac version add, "unto God". The sense is, that even such an one shall be brought into the like distressed circumstances, when he shall make application to God, and to his fellow creatures, for relief and assistance: but shall not be heard; a deaf ear will b…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 21:13

13 He that stoppeth his ear at the cry of the poor he also calls and is not heard. Only the merciful find mercy, Mat 5:7; the unmerciful rich man, who has no ear for the cry of the דל, i.e., of him who is without support and means of subsistence, thus of one who is needing support, will also remain unheard when he himself, in the time of need, calls upon God for help. Cf. the parable of the unmerciful servant of the merciful king, Mat 18:23. מן in מזּעקת, as Isa 23:15; Gen 4:13; Gen 27:1; no preposition of our [German] language [nor English] expresses, as Fleischer here remarks, such a fulness of meaning as this מן does, to which, after a verb of shutting up such as אטם (cf. Pro 17:28), the…

The Church Fathers

He will not be able to merit the mercy of God who himself has not been merciful, nor will [he] gain any request from the divine love by his prayers who has not been humane toward the prayer of the poor.
— Cyprian, Treatise VIII. On Works and Alms 5

Benefactions to the needy, financed by unjust gains, are not acceptable with God. Even one who refrains from committing injustices, and yet does not share the goods he possesses with anyone, is not deserving of praise.… If you will make an offering to God from the fruits of injustice and rapine, it would be better not to possess such wealth and not to make an offering.
— Basil of Caesarea, ON MERCY AND JUSTICE

Do you not agree that poverty, as I said, is more cruel than any beast of prey? Therefore you must aid those who are fallen under it. Incline your ear to the poor and listen to them, as it is written: "For he who stops his ears that he may not hear the feeble shall also cry, and there shall be none to listen." Give so that you may receive; hear so that you may be heard; sow the little you have so that you may reap much. Besides, the pleasure of the body is short and temporary and ends in rottenness. But almsgiving and charity to the poor crown those who practice them with glory from God and lead to that incorruptible happiness which Christ bestows on those who love him.
— Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 103

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

Ear, The · Not to be stopped at cry of the poor — Not to be stopped at cry of the poor
Poor · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Poor, The · Punishment for: Refusing to assist — Punishment for: Refusing to assist
Prayer, Answers To · Denied to those who: Are deaf to the cry of the poor — Denied to those who: Are deaf to the cry of the poor

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).

Proverbs 21:13

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 21:13

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 21:13

John Gill on Proverbs 21:13

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 21:13

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 21:13

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 21:13

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 21:13

John Gill on Proverbs 21:13

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 21:13

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 21:12

Rashi on Proverbs 21:12