Bible Strands
Proverbs 28:22
A stingy man hastens after wealth and does not know that poverty awaits him.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The text offers a proverbial observation placed between a warning against partiality for bribes (Proverbs 28:21) and a principle on the value of direct correction (Proverbs 28:23). It addresses a general audience with a timeless observation on the consequences of greedy pursuit.
The words — The Hebrew verb נִֽבֳהָ֥ל (ni.vo.Hal) literally means "is hastening" or "is in a panic," describing frantic, uncontrolled action. It is directly linked to לַ/ה֗וֹן (la./Hon), meaning "to wealth," indicating a rushed and desperate chase for material gain.
The thread — This pattern of reckless accumulation appears in Proverbs 23:6, which warns against craving a stingy person's food, and Proverbs 28:20, which contrasts a faithful man with one eager to be rich. The New Testament reinforces this warning in 1 Timothy 6:9, noting that those who want to be rich fall into harmful desires.
Why it lands — The verse demands honest assessment of one's drive for financial security. It requires the reader to recognize that frantic pursuit of wealth operates in ignorance of the ruin it inevitably produces.
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 hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 23:6 Do not eat the bread of a stingy man, and do not crave his delicacies;
- 1 Timothy 6:9 Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.
- Proverbs 28:20 A faithful man will abound with blessings, but one eager to be rich will not go unpunished.
- Job 27:16 Though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up a wardrobe like clay,
- Matthew 20:15 Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
- Genesis 13:10 And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)
- Genesis 19:17 As soon as the men had brought them out, one of them said, “Run for your lives! Do not look back, and do not stop anywhere on the plain! Flee to the mountains, or you will be swept away!”
- Job 20:18 He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it; he cannot enjoy the profits of his trading.
- Mark 7:22 greed, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness.