Proverbs 3:28

Pro 3:28 Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.

Ver. 28. Tomorrow.] Bis dat qui cito dat. While ye have time, do good to all; your beneficence must be prompt and present; who can tell what a day may bring forth? "Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God." {Psa 68:32} Currere faciet manus suas ad Dominum, to note their speediness in giving, saith one. {a} Tyrus also, when converted once, makes haste to feed and clothe God’s poor saints with the money and merchandise she was wont to heap up and hoard. {Isa 23:18}

{a} Weems.

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.

Pro_3:28-35

Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to-morrow I will give.

Neighbourliness

I. What is due to others? (Pro_3:27). There is a sense in which debt should be avoided, and a sense in which all men must be always over head and ears in it (Rom_13:8). Love is a debt that can never be discharged. As followers of Christ we must love always and love all. Some men are neighbours because they reside in the same street, and all men are neighbours because they reside on the same planet. Shivering, says Dr. Punshon, in the ice-bound, or scorching in the tropical, regions, in the lap of luxury, or in the wild hardihood of the primeval forest--belting the globe in a tired search for rest, or quieting his life amid the leafy shade of ancestral woods, gathering all the decencies around him like a garment, or battling in the fierce raid of crime in a world which has disowned him, there is an inner human-ness everywhere which binds that man to me by a primitive and by an indissoluble bond.

II. The needs of others. Real goodness is--

1. Practical. It finds expression in giving. All nature is redolent of such beneficence. The earth gives fruit; the sky gives rain; the sun gives light. So is it with natures God. He gave, says one, the best thing in heaven for the worst thing on earth.

2. Prompt. It says, not tomorrow, but to-day--not by and by, but now. Keep, says William Arnot, as few good intentions hovering about as possible. A kind deed done quickly is twice done, and if some deeds are not done quickly they will never be done at all.

III. The confidence of others (Pro_3:29). Evil growing out of a betrayal of confidence is one of the worst forms of evil. There are confidences of--

1. A national character. Israel rested upon the staff of Egypt, but it turned out to be a bruised reed (2Ki_18:21).

2. A friendly character. Such confidence was betrayed by Ahithophel (Psa_41:9), and by Judas (Joh_13:18).

3. A business character. The confidence of an employer in his assistant. This may be betrayed by wasting the masters goods (Luk_16:1), or by misappropriating them (Exo_20:15; Eph_4:28.).

IV. The Integrity Of Others (Pro_3:30). The strife of law courts has brought misery to thousands of innocent people. Some people are always inventing grievances.

V. The Sins Of Others (Pro_3:31). Oppression is opposed to neighbourliness. Some modern employers of labour will surely stand aghast when the time for this reckoning comes. Well might the wise man say of such, Choose none of his ways.

VI. To Ourselves (Pro_3:32-35). Goodness has its reward. Two companion pictures teach this by a graphic contrast.

1. The hatred versus the friendship of the Lord. From the unneighbourly God turns away, but His face is towards the upright. To enjoy the friendship of God we must be the friends of men.

2. The curse versus the blessing of the Lord. To bless is to be blessed. The merciful shall obtain mercy. (H. Thorne.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 28. Say not unto thy neighbour] Do not refuse a kindness when it is in thy power to perform it. If thou have the means by thee, and thy neighbour's necessities be pressing, do not put him off till the morrow. Death may take either him or thee before that time.

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

28. Give (Pro_3:27); and not only so, but give promptly. We may compare Seneca’s saying, “ingratum est beneficium, quod diu inter manus dantis hæsit; nam qui tarde fecit, diu noluit.”

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.

Say not unto thy neighbour,.... Either to whom thou art indebted, and who comes for the payment of a just debt; or to any poor and indigent person that applies for alms:

go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give; go home, and come tomorrow, and I will pay thee what I owe thee; or do not trouble me now, come another time, and perhaps I may relieve thy wants: this should not be said, because a man cannot be sure of tomorrow that he shall ever see it; nor may it be in the power of his hands, should he live unto the morrow, to do as he promises; his substance may be taken from him; and besides, in the mean time, the poor object may perish for want of relief;

when thou hast it by thee; money to pay thy debts with, or to give alms to the poor; and therefore should give readily and at once, and not make any excuses and delays; "bis dat, qui cito dat". Some make this to be part of the covetous man's words, saying, "and there is with thee"; or thou hast enough, thou hast no need to ask of me; thou hast what thou askest; thou art not in want; thou art richer than I; but the other sense is best. The Septuagint and Arabic versions add,

"for thou knowest not what the day following may bring forth;''

or may happen on it.

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

Present. Alms in season are doubly valuable. (Worthington) --- Antigonus acquired the title of Greek: Doson, "about to give," as he never gave, (Plutarch) but only promised.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The former verse forbade the denial, and this forbids the delay of this duty.

Unto thy neighbour; unto any man, as the word neighbor is commonly used in Scripture, as hath been oft proved.

I will give, to wit, what is thy due, in manner before expressed, or what thou needest; for this word is generally used concerning free or charitable gifts, and not concerning due debts.

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

The precept of this and that of the preceding verse are very closely related. The former precept enjoined the general principle of benevolence when we have the means; this carries on the idea, and is directed against the postponement of giving when we are in a position to give. In effect it says, "Do not defer till tomorrow what you can do today." This "putting off" may arise from avarice, from indolence, or from insolence and contempt. These underlying faults, which are incompatible with neighbourly good wilt, are condenmed by implication. Unto thy neighbour; l"reayka, "to thy friends," the word being evidently used distributively. Reeh is "a companion" or "friend" (cf. Vulgate, amico tuo; Syriac, sodali tuo), and generally any other person, equivalent to the Greek o plhsion , "neighbour." The Authorized Version correctly renders "come again," as shav is not merely "to return," but to return again to something (so Delitzsch); cf. Vulgate, revertere; and as the words, "tomorrow I will give thee," show. The LXX adds, "For thou knowest not what the morrow may bring forth," probably from Pro_17:1. If viewed in respect of the specific claims which servants have for work done, the precept is a re-echo of Deu_24:15. In illustration of the general scope of the passage, Grotius quotes, "A slow-footed favour is a favour without favour." Seneca says in the same spirit, "Ingratum est beneficium quod diu inter manus dantis haesit," "The benefit is thankless which sticks long between the hands of the giver" (Seneca, "Benef.," 1:2); cf. also Bis dat qui cito dat.

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

Say not - The former verse forbad the denial, and this forbids the delay of this duty.

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

Do not say to your fellow To the poor man.

though you have it with you what to give to him. But our Sages explained: “Go and return” regarding the wages of a hireling.

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.