What Does Proverbs 22:16 Mean in the King James?
He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Two ways of moving wealth upward, taking from the poor and giving to the rich, meet at the same destination: lack.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks now: when wealth is pursued by pressing down the poor or flowing toward the already rich, its end is lack. Apparent increase does not guarantee actual sufficiency.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that extracting from the poor or directing resources to the wealthy is a dependable route to more; the verse names lack as the outcome.
THE ROOT
לְהַרְבּוֹת
leharbot
GROWS FROM
רבה
rabah
To become many, increase, or multiply.
“increase” in this verse is leharbot. The phrase is literally “to multiply for himself,” making the aim self-directed. The sentence sets that multiplication against lack, showing that quantity gained and sufficiency are not the same thing.
ALSO GROWS
ravah: To become many or increase.
רָבָה
This is the multiplying action the verse places on the path toward lack.
rav: Many or great.
רַב
The branch carries the sense of becoming numerous or abundant that sits behind “increase.”
עֹשֵׁק
osheq
GROWS FROM
עשק
ashaq
To exploit, defraud, or withhold from someone.
“oppresseth” in this verse is osheq. The root carries the force of extraction: the poor person is not merely overlooked but pressed as a source of someone else’s increase. The verse places this taking alongside giving to the rich, and assigns both the same end.
ALSO GROWS
ashaq: To exploit, oppress, or defraud.
עָשַׁק
This verb names the action that turns another person’s poverty into an opportunity for gain.
osheq: Oppression or exploitation.
עֹשֶׁק
The noun makes visible the taking itself, not just the hardship left behind.
לְמַחְסוֹר
le-machsor
GROWS FROM
חסר
chaser
To lack or be deficient.
“want” in this verse is le-machsor. The outcome is a state of lack, directly countering the attempt to multiply. The verse’s final word makes the reversal plain: more gathered for oneself does not ensure that enough remains.
ALSO GROWS
chaser: To lack or be in need.
חָסֵר
This verb carries the condition named at the end of the verse.
machsor: Lack, want, or need.
מַחְסוֹר
This noun names the destination of both wealth-seeking paths.
THE PATTERN
Gain built by withholding, unjust taking, or self-protective hoarding cannot secure lasting abundance.
Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.THE THREAD
Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:The Hebrew word translated “oppress” here comes from the same root as “oppresseth” in Proverbs 22:16. The nearby verse names the taking from the poor directly, revealing the shared root beneath both the attempted increase and its moral weight.
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