Bible Strands
Proverbs 11:26
The people will curse the hoarder of grain, but blessing will crown the one who sells it.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The author of Proverbs addresses the assembled community with practical wisdom contrasting selfish accumulation with public service. The statement functions as a societal warning within a broader collection on righteous conduct.
The words — מֹנֵֽעַ (Mo.ne.a') denotes [one who] withholds, directly opposing מַשְׁבִּֽיר (mash.Bir), [one who] sells grain. These terms frame the economic action at the verse’s core.
The thread — Grain market dynamics appear in Genesis 42:6 where Joseph sells grain to the land, while the tension between hoarding and blessing echoes the economic critique in Amos 8:4 and the covenantal blessing motif in Job 29:13.
Why it lands — The text declares that communal curse falls on those who restrict food supply, while blessing attends those who distribute it. Readers must evaluate their economic choices by their impact on community survival rather than personal profit.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it.
Cross-references
- Genesis 42:6 Now Joseph was the ruler of the land; he was the one who sold grain to all its people. So when his brothers arrived, they bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.
- Job 29:13 The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.
- Amos 8:4 Hear this, you who trample the needy, who do away with the poor of the land,
- Proverbs 24:24 Whoever tells the guilty, “You are innocent”—peoples will curse him, and nations will denounce him;