Proverbs 3:31 - Exposition

Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways. The thought of strife in the preceding verse leads to that of oppression, and the precept is directed against fellowship with those who outrage the general law of benevolence and justice, Envy not ; i.e. as Stuart, "Do not anxiously covet the booty which men of violence acquire." Success and wealth may follow from severity and extortion, but the man who acquires prosperity by these means is not to be envied even by the victim of his oppression (for the verb, see Proverbs 23:17 ; Proverbs 24:1 , Proverbs 24:19 ). The oppressor ( ish khamas ); literally, a man of violence . The expression occurs in Proverbs 14:29 ; Psalms 18:41 , and in its plural form, ish khamamim, "man of violences," in 2 Samuel 22:49 ; Psalms 140:1 , Psalms 140:4 . The man of violence is one who "grinds the faces of the poor," and whose conduct is rapacious, violent, and unjust. And choose none of his ways ; literally, and choose not all his ways, i.e. with a view to acquire the same wealth, greatness, and power. The LXX . renders this verse, "Do not acquire the hatred of evil men, neither be jealous of their ways," evidently from having taken tiv'khar, "choose," in the second hemistich, for tith'khan, "be jealous."