Bible Strands
Proverbs 22:23
for the LORD will take up their case and will plunder those who rob them.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The book of Proverbs addresses a student immediately after 22:22 commands against oppressing the poor. The statement functions as the divine guarantee attached to that specific prohibition.
The words — יָרִ֣יב (ya.Riv) = he will conduct, and רִיבָ֑/ם (ri.Va/m) = case/ their. These terms form the phrase describing Yahweh’s legal intervention on behalf of the victim.
The thread — The text records divine intervention for the oppressed in Psalms 12:5, where Yahweh declares He will arise for the groaning of the needy. The text states Yahweh upholds justice for the poor and defends the needy in Psalms 140:12. The text notes a strong Redeemer will take up their case against oppressors in Proverbs 23:11.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that human injustice triggers divine legal action. It requires the reader to abandon exploitation because the victim’s cause is already guaranteed to be pursued.
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
For the Lord will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.
Cross-references
- Psalms 12:5 “For the cause of the oppressed and for the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will bring safety to him who yearns.”
- Psalms 140:12 I know that the LORD upholds justice for the poor and defends the cause of the needy.
- Proverbs 23:11 for their Redeemer is strong; He will take up their case against you.
- Jeremiah 51:36 Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance on your behalf; I will dry up her sea and make her springs run dry.
- 1 Samuel 25:39 On hearing that Nabal was dead, David said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has upheld my cause against the reproach of Nabal and has restrained His servant from evil. For the LORD has brought the wickedness of Nabal down upon his own head.” Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife.
- Psalms 35:10 All my bones will exclaim, “Who is like You, O LORD, who delivers the afflicted from the aggressor, the poor and needy from the robber?”
- Psalms 43:1 Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; deliver me from deceitful and unjust men.
- Jeremiah 50:34 Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of Hosts is His name. He will fervently plead their case so that He may bring rest to the earth, but turmoil to those who live in Babylon.
- Micah 7:9 Because I have sinned against Him, I must endure the rage of the LORD, until He argues my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me into the light; I will see His righteousness.
- Malachi 3:5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.