Proverbs 22:16 (BSB)

Oppressing the poor to enrich oneself or giving gifts to the rich will surely lead to poverty.

From Proverbs 22. Also in the ESV.

Commentary on Proverbs 22:16

• Matthew Henry (Presbyterian), Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on Proverbs 22:16: This shows what evil courses rich men sometimes take, by which, in the end, they will impoverish themselves and provoke God, notwithstanding their abundance, to bring them to want; they oppress the poor and give to the rich. 1. They will not in charity relieve the poor, but withhold from them, that by saving that which is really the best, but which they think the...
• John Gill (Reformed Baptist), Exposition of the Old and New Testaments on Proverbs 22:16: He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches,.... By taking away from them the little they have; by keeping back their hire, defrauding them of the just wages of their labours; or by usury and extortion, or any other unjust method, whereby they distress the poor, and enrich themselves; and he that giveth to the rich shall surely come to want: that gives to...
• Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (Reformed), Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible on Proverbs 22:16: These two vices pertain to the same selfish feeling. Both are deservedly odious to God and incur punishment.
• Keil & Delitzsch (Lutheran), Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament on Proverbs 22:16: Pro 22:16 16 Whosoever oppresseth the lowly, it is gain to him; Whosoever giveth to the rich, it is only loss. It is before all clear that להרבּות and למחסור, as at Pro 21:5, למותר and למחסור, are contrasted words, and form the conclusions to the participles used, with the force of hypothetical antecedents. Jerome recognises this: qui calumniatur pauperem, ut augeat divitias suas, dabit ipse ditiori et egebit.