Proverbs 22:7

BSB · Public Domain (CC0)

“The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.”

What this verse means

A short, plain-language explanation of Proverbs 22:7 goes here — the kind of answer a reader (or an AI assistant) can quote in one breath. Original meaning coming soon.

Compare translations
BSBPD

“The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.”

Berean Standard Bible · Public Domain (CC0)
KJVPD

“The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.”

King James Version · Public Domain
ASVPD

“The rich ruleth over the poor; And the borrower is servant to the lender.”

American Standard Version · Public Domain
YLTPD

“The rich over the poor ruleth, And a servant <FI>is<Fi> the borrower to the lender.”

Young's Literal Translation · Public Domain
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Cross references

Other passages that echo Proverbs 22:7 — 17 related verses from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  1. 2 Kings 4:1Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And now his creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves!”
  2. Nehemiah 5:4Still others were saying, “We have borrowed money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards.
  3. Nehemiah 5:5We and our children are just like our countrymen and their children, yet we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters are already enslaved, but we are powerless to redeem them because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”
  4. Proverbs 14:31Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.
  5. Proverbs 18:23The poor man pleads for mercy, but the rich man answers harshly.
  6. Proverbs 22:16Oppressing the poor to enrich oneself or giving gifts to the rich will surely lead to poverty.
  7. Proverbs 22:22Do not rob a poor man because he is poor, and do not crush the afflicted at the gate,
  8. Isaiah 24:2people and priest alike, servant and master, maid and mistress, buyer and seller, lender and borrower, creditor and debtor.
  9. Amos 2:6This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Israel, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals.
  10. Amos 4:1Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy, who say to your husbands, “Bring us more to drink.”
  11. Amos 5:11Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted.
  12. Amos 8:4Hear this, you who trample the needy, who do away with the poor of the land,
  13. Amos 8:6Let us buy the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the chaff with the wheat!”
  14. Matthew 18:25Since the man was unable to pay, the master ordered that he be sold to pay his debt, along with his wife and children and everything he owned.
  15. James 2:6But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?
  16. James 5:1Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.
  17. James 5:4Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.

Cross-reference data: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain) via OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

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