Add parallel Print Page Options

The rich rule over[a] the poor,
and the borrower is servant[b] to the lender.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 22:7 sn The proverb is making an observation on life. The synonymous parallelism matches “rule over” with “servant” to show how poverty makes people dependent on, or obligated to, others.
  2. Proverbs 22:7 tn Or “slave” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV, TEV, CEV). This may refer to the practice in Israel of people selling themselves into slavery to pay off debts (Exod 21:2-7).

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

Read full chapter