Proverbs 3:27 - Exposition

Withhold not good from them to whom it is due. This precept indicates the general principle of beneficence, and not merely, as the words at first sight seem to imply, restitution (as Cajet.). We are to do good to those who are in need or deserving of it, whenever we have the means and opportunity. From them to whom it is due ( nib'alayv ); literally, from its owner, from baal, dominus, "lord" or owner of a thing. Cf. Proverbs 16:22 , "Prudence is a fountain of life to its owner ( b'alayv );" Proverbs 1:19 ; Proverbs 17:8 ; and also Ecclesiastes 8:8 ; Ecclesiastes 7:12 ;—in all of which passages proprietorship in the thing or quality mentioned is expressed. The owners of good are those to whom good is due or belongs either by law or by morality, whether by desert or need. The latter qualification is the one emphasized in the LXX , ΄ὴ ἀπόσχῃ ἐ͂ν ποιεῖν ἐνδεῆ , "Abstain not from doing good to the needy." So the Arabic pauperi. The Targum and Syriac put the precept in more general terms, "Cease not to do good," without indicating in particular anyone who is to be the recipient of the good. But the Jewish interpreters generally ( e.g. Ben Ezra) understand it of the poor, egentibus. The Vulgate puts an entirely different interpretation on the passage: Noli prohibere benefacere eum qui potest; si vales, et ipse benefac, "Do not prohibit him who can from doing good; if you are able, do good also yourself." It thus implies that we are to put no impediment in the way of any one who is willing to do good to others, and enjoins the duty on ourselves also. Good ( tov ); i.e. " good " under any form, any good deed or act of beneficence. The principle brought forward in this passage is that what we possess and is seemingly our own is in reality to be regarded as belonging to others. We are only stewards of our wealth. In the power of thine hand ( lel yad'yka ); literally, in the power of thine hands. For the dual, yad'yka, the Keri substitutes the singular, yad'ka, to harmonize it with the similar expression, lel yadi, "in the power of thy hand," which occurs in Genesis 31:27 ; Deuteronomy 28:32 ; Nehemiah 5:5 ; Micah 2:1 . But there is no grammatical need for the emendation. Both the LXX . and Targum employ the singular, "thy hand." Power ( el ); here "strength" in the abstract. Usually it means "the strong," and is so used as an appellation of Jehovah. though, as Gesenius says, those little understand the phrase who would render el here "by God." The לְ prefixed to el indicates the condition. The meaning of the phrase is, "While it is practicable, and you have the opportunity and means of doing good, do it." Do not defer, but do good promptly. The passage receives a remarkable illustration in the language of St. Paul, "While we have opportunity, let us do good unto all men" ( Galatians 6:10 ).