to give · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
poor
לָ֭רָשׁLa.rosh
H7326
to be destitute · preposition with the article + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
lack
מַחְס֑וֹרmach.Sor
H4270
deficiency · noun, common masculine singular absolute
hideth
וּמַעְלִ֥יםu.ma'.Lim
H5956
to veil from sight · conjunction + verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular absolute
eyes
עֵ֝ינָ֗יו'ei.Nav
H5869
an eye (literally or figuratively) · noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
many
רַבrav-
H7227
abundant (in quantity · adjective, masculine singular construct
curse
מְאֵרֽוֹתme.'e.Rot
H3994
an execration · noun, common feminine plural 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
Proverbs 19:17 He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.
Deuteronomy 15:7 If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt n…
Psalms 41:1-3 Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
Proverbs 11:24 There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.
Deuteronomy 15:10 Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God sha…
Psalms 112:5-9 A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion.
2 Corinthians 9:6-11 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
Proverbs 22:9 He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 28:27
Here is, 1. A promise to the charitable: He that gives to the poor shall himself be never the poorer for so doing; he shall not lack. If he have but little, and so be in danger of lacking, let him give out of his little, and that will prevent it from coming to nothing; as the bounty of the widow of Sarepta to Elijah (for whom she made a little cake first) saved what she had, when it was reduced to a handful of meal. If he have much, let him give much out of it, and that will prevent its growing less; he and his shall not want what is given in pious charity. What we gave we have. 2. A threatening to the uncharitable: He that hides his eyes, that he may not see the miseries of the poor nor rea…
(Compare Pro 11:24-26).
hideth his eyes--as the face (Psa 27:9; Psa 69:17), denotes inattention.
John Gill on Proverbs 28:27
He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack,.... That gives alms unto them, relieves them in their distress, supplies them with money, food, or clothes, and does it cheerfully, largely, and liberally, as the case requires; such an one shall not want any good thing; he shall not be the poorer for what he gives; he shall not miss it, nor his substance be diminished; he shall not come to poverty and want, yea, he shall be enriched, and his substance increased, for more is intended than is expressed. Jarchi interprets this of a wise man not restraining doctrine from a disciple, but giving it to him liberally;
but he that hideth his eyes; that is, from the poor, as the Targum and Syriac version…
27 He that giveth to the poor suffereth no want;
But he that covereth his eyes meeteth many curses.
In the first line the pronoun לּו, referring back to the subject noun, is to be supplied, as at Pro 27:7 להּ. He who gives to the poor has no want (מחסּור), for God's blessing reimburses him richly for what he bestows. He, on the other hand, who veils (מעלּים( sl, cf. the Hithpa., Isa 58:7) his eyes so as not to see the misery which calls forth compassion, or as if he did not see the misery which has a claim on his compassion; he is (becomes) rich in curses, i.e., is laden with the curses of those whose wants he cared not for; curses which, because they are deserved, change by virtue of a divi…
The Church Fathers
Don't forget that rule, where it says, "Whoever gives to the poor will never be in want." Have you already forgotten what the Lord is going to say to those who have given to the poor: "Come, blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom"?
The cry of the hungry person is a challenge in your ears, and the sound of a failing voice from a hungry throat is striking at your door. Why do you not think of that phrase, "Blessed is he that understands concerning the needy and the poor: the Lord will deliver him in the evil day." The businessman who keeps stored away in a sack the money with which he could carry on gainful trading is recognized as being quite a fool.
Whenever you gather the harvest or vintage, calculate your expenses and those of all who pertain to you and include what you will put into your purse. Then, of what remains, because it was not really given to you, as was already said, but was transmitted to you for distribution among the poor, set it all aside or as much as God inspires your heart to give. The result thus will be as though you had put it in God's hand. If, as we believe, you are willing to do this devoutly, your soul will not only be exasperated and saddened by the captives and poor who come to you but will even rejoice and be glad. With the greatest willingness you will bestow what you set aside for the necessities of the poor out of love for God, and there will be fulfilled in you the words "God loves a cheerful giver" and "He that gives to the poor shall never want."
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
Beneficence · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Liberality · 1:2-4; — 1:2-4;
Poor · DUTY TO — DUTY TO
Poor, The · They who in faith, believe: Have promises — They who in faith, believe: Have promises
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).
The one who walks in wisdom listens to the advice of others; those who trust their own insight show themselves foolish.
Rashi on Proverbs 28:27
He who gives to a poor man charity.
will suffer no want (to give him much charity.) And so it is with the teacher who does not withhold Torah from his pupil.
