What Does Proverbs 14:31 Mean?
The one who presses the emptied one taunts his Maker, but the one who gives him weight favors the poor.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.THE KEY
The poor person is where reverence for the Maker takes on weight you can see.
THE MEANING
When you press down a poor person, the insult reaches the One who made them. When you honor the Maker, that honor takes shape as favor toward the person in need.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that honoring God can be separated from how the poor are treated.
THE ROOT
וּמְכַבְּדוֹ
u-mekhabbedo
GROWS FROM
כבד
k-b-d
To be heavy or weighty.
“gives him weight” in this verse is u-mekhabbedo. The word rendered “honoureth” grows from the language of weight. The verse shows the Maker’s weight being recognized through favor shown to the needy.
ALSO GROWS
kāvēd: Heavy, weighty.
כָּבֵד
This branch makes the root’s sense of weight audible beneath the act of honoring.
kāvōd: Weight, honor, glory.
כָּבוֹד
The noun for honor shares this root, linking honor with the weight accorded to someone.
חֹנֵן
ḥōnēn
GROWS FROM
חנן
ḥ-n-n
To show favor or act graciously.
“favors” in this verse is ḥōnēn. The Hebrew word translated “hath mercy” describes showing favor. The verse presents this favor as something that reaches the poor person, making honor for the Maker visible in how that person is treated.
ALSO GROWS
ḥēn: Favor.
חֵן
This noun shares the root and clarifies the active favor expressed toward the needy.
ḥannūn: Gracious, showing favor.
חַנּוּן
This related form carries the same quality of favor that the verse associates with honoring the Maker.
THE PATTERN
Honor for the Maker becomes visible in the treatment of the poor.
Whoever mocks the poor reproaches his Maker, and he who is glad at calamities does not come away clear.Whoever lends to the LORD shows favor to the emptied one, and what his hands have done, he makes whole for him.And the King answers and says to them, Truly, I say to you, Whatever you did to one of the least of these my brothers, you did to me.THE THREAD
And the King answers and says to them, Truly, I say to you, Whatever you did to one of the least of these my brothers, you did to me.Proverbs shows honor for the Maker taking shape as favor toward the poor. Here, the King makes the connection explicit: what is done to the least is received as done to him.
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