Proverbs 22:23

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

For Yahweh will plead their case, And plunder the life of those who plunder them.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Highlights

1 first appearance in the Hebrew Bible

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Word by word

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וְקָבַ֖ע

qâbaʻ

H6906

“and · to rob”

Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular

Appears 6× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears here

Full BDB Definition

Origin: a primitive root

TWOT: 1981

(Qal) to rob - meaning dubious

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

8: words
7: distinct lemmas
Wisdom: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is וְקָבַ֖ע to rob H6906 — appearing just 6 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

First appearance in Scripture

This word makes its first canonical appearance in the Hebrew Bible here:

וְקָבַ֖ע to rob H6906

Shared distinctive vocabulary

וְקָבַ֖ע to rob H6906 occurs in 3 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

3 verbs
3 nouns
1 conjunction
1 particle

Verb forms

יָרִ֣יב Qal · Imperfect
וְקָבַ֖ע Qal · Sequential Perfect
קֹבְעֵיהֶ֣ם Qal · Participle Active

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

וְקָבַ֖ע to rob H6906 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 15 words from the Hebrew and 15 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — the same length.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 8 Hebrew tokens and 12 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Proverbs 22:23 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Psalms 12:5 "Because of the oppression of the weak and because of the groaning of the needy, I will now arise," says Yahweh; "I will set him in safety from those who malign him."
Psalms 140:12 I know that Yahweh will maintain the cause of the afflicted, And justice for the needy.
Proverbs 23:11 For their Defender is strong. He will plead their case against you.
Jeremiah 51:36 Therefore thus says Yahweh: Behold, I will plead your cause, and take vengeance for you; and I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry.
1 Samuel 25:39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be Yahweh, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from evil: and the evil-doing of Nabal has Yahweh returned on his own head. David sent and spoke concerning Abigail, to take her to him as wife.
Psalms 35:10 All my bones shall say, "Yahweh, who is like you, Who delivers the poor from him who is too strong for him, Yes, the poor and the needy from him who robs him?"
Psalms 43:1 Vindicate me, God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation. Oh, deliver me from deceitful and wicked men.
Jeremiah 50:34 Their Redeemer is strong; Yahweh of Hosts is his name: he will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.

Micah 7:9 I will bear the indignation of Yahweh, Because I have sinned against him, Until he pleads my case, and executes judgment for me. He will bring me forth to the light. I will see his righteousness.
Malachi 3:5 I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and don't fear me," says Yahweh of Hosts.
1 Samuel 24:12 Yahweh judge between me and you, and Yahweh avenge me of you; but my hand shall not be on you.
Psalms 35:1 Contend, Yahweh, with those who contend with me. Fight against those who fight against me.
Psalms 68:5 A father of the fatherless, and a defender of the widows, Is God in his holy habitation.
Isaiah 33:1 Woe to you who destroy, and you weren't destroyed; and deal treacherously, and they didn't deal treacherously with you! When you have ceased to destroy, you shall be destroyed; and when you have made an end of dealing treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with you.
Habakkuk 2:8 Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples will plunder you, because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city and to all who dwell in it.
1 Samuel 24:15 Yahweh therefore be judge, and give sentence between me and you, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of your hand.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Proverbs 22:23 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

כִּֽי יְ֭הוָה יָרִ֣יב רִיבָ֑ם וְקָבַ֖ע אֶת קֹבְעֵיהֶ֣ם נָֽפֶשׁ

For Yahweh will plead their case, And plunder the life of those who plunder them.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Proverbs 22:23 Septuagint · lemma form

ὁ γάρ κύριος κρίνω αὐτός ὁ κρίσις καί ῥύομαι σός ἄσυλος ψυχή

For the Lord will plead his cause, and you shall deliver your soul in safety.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

On this verse, The Pulpit Commentary discusses the Septuagint’s reading. Read the note in Commentary ↓

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Commentary

Notes on Proverbs 22:23 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Pro 22:23 For the LORD will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.

Ver. 23. For the Lord will plead their cause.] Without fee, for those that come to him forma pauperis, and without fear of their oppressors, against whom he will plead with pestilence and with blood, {Eze 38:22} as he did against the house of Saul for the poor Gibeonites, and against Ahab for Naboth.

And spoil the soul (or life) of those that spoiled them.] A poor man’s livelihood is his life. {Mar 12:42-44 Luk 8:43} He is in his house as a snail in his shell; crush that, and you kill him quite. God therefore, who loves par pari referre, to pay oppressors home in their own coin, will have life for life, if they may escape so, and not be cast to hell among those cruel ones. {Pro 5:9} {See Trapp on "Pro 5:9"} Oh that these cannibals would think of this, before the cold grave hold their bodies, and hot hell hold their souls.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 23. For the Lord will plead their cause] Wo therefore to them that oppress them, for they will have God, not the poor, to deal with.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

23. soul] Rather, life.

And despoil of life those that despoil them, R.V.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

For the Lord will plead their cause,.... If counsellors at the bar will not, he will; if judges on the bench will not do them justice, he will; he will judge the poor of the people; he will plead their cause, and plead it thoroughly, till he has brought forth judgment unto victory: woe to the man against whom Jehovah pleads; happy the poor on whose side he is; for their Redeemer is mighty, the Lord of hosts is his name, Psa 72:4;

and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them; they could only spoil the poor of their goods, but the Lord can and will spoil and destroy the souls of the spoilers in hell: or, "spoil them that spoiled their soul" or "life" (k); that is, who spoiled them of their goods, and took away that small pittance they had, which was their life or livelihood; they shall be spoiled themselves that spoil others; the same measure they have meted out shall be measured out to them again; God will destroy them that destroy the earth, even antichrist and his followers, the oppressors of Christ's poor on earth, Rev 11:18.

(k) "et vim faciet illis, qui animae eorum vim intulerunt", Munster, Vatablus; "et spoliabit eos qui spotiant ipsos anima", Michaelis.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

Will plead their cause; which he hath in a peculiar manner undertaken to do.

Spoil the soul; take away not only their goods, but their lives too; so fully will he recompense their wickedness to them.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

For, though they are powerless to defend themselves, and have no earthly patrons, the Lord will plead their cause. (Pro_23:11) Jehovah will be their Advocate and Protector. And spoil the soul of those that spoiled them; rather, despoil of life those that despoil them. So the Revised Version. God, exercising his moral government on human concerns, will bring ruin and death on the unjust judge or the rich oppressor of the poor. Jerome has, Configet eos qui confixerunt animam ejus. The verb used is bq (kabah), which is found only here and Mal_3:8, where it means "to defraud" or "despoil." In the Chaldee and Syriac it may signify "to fix," "to pierce." Septuagint, "The Lord will judge his cause, and thou shalt deliver thy soul unharmed (asulon ):" i.e. if you refrain from injustice and oppression, you will be saved Item evil and dwell securely.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

Spoil the soul - Take away not only their goods but their lives too.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Kretzmann's Popular Commentary

Paul E. Kretzmann

v. 23. for the Lord will plead their cause, conducting the case of the poor and afflicted, as their Advocate and Champion, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them, taking the side of the wronged and vindicating the poor by punishing the violation of right and justice on the part of the powerful.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

For the Lord will plead their cause and rob Heb. וקבע. And will rob the life.

those who rob them Heb. קבעים, those who rob them; in Aramaic קביעה means robbery. In tractate Rosh Hashanah (26b): A certain man came before him and said to him, “So-and-so robbed me (קבען)” etc.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Proverbs, in the Wisdom, opens this verse with 8 words (7 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is qâbaʻ (“to rob”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “to rob” (qâbaʻ) shape what this verse is saying?
The word “to rob” first appears here in Scripture. What is being introduced at this debut?
Malachi 3:8 shares the word «to rob» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
“to rob” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
The verb «יָרִ֣יב» is Qal Imperfect. How does its form color the action?
Reading how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Adam Clarke's Commentary read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

1 word makes its first canonical appearance in Scripture here.
This verse counts 8 Hebrew ↔ 12 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 11 words in this verse.
“to rob” occurs 2× in this single verse.
7 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 8 words in this verse.