Bible Strands
Proverbs 11:28
He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like foliage.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The proverb addresses a general audience seeking practical wisdom, positioned between a warning about seeking good and the consequences of bringing trouble to one’s household. The words — בּוֹטֵ֣חַ (bo.Te.ach) denotes one who places secure trust, while יִפְרָֽחוּ (yif.Ra.chu) describes the active budding or flourishing of the righteous. The thread — This contrast between wealth-based security and sustained vitality appears in 1 Timothy 6:17, Jeremiah 17:8, and Psalms 52:7. Why it lands — The text states that reliance on financial resources guarantees collapse, while alignment with righteousness guarantees sustained growth, demanding a reader to transfer their confidence from material assets to moral integrity.
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 trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.
Cross-references
- 1 Timothy 6:17 Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy.
- Jeremiah 17:8 He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It does not worry in a year of drought, nor does it cease to produce fruit.
- Psalms 52:7 “Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction.”
- Psalms 1:3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.
- Psalms 62:10 Place no trust in extortion or false hope in stolen goods. If your riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.
- Psalms 92:12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
- Mark 10:24 And the disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
- Deuteronomy 8:12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses in which to dwell,
- Job 31:24 If I have put my trust in gold or called pure gold my security,
- Psalms 49:6 They trust in their wealth and boast in their great riches.