PRO 10

Proverbs 10:2

WEB

Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivers from death.

BSB

Ill-gotten treasures profit nothing, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.

KJV

Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death.

Matthew Henry

Verses 2–3

Proverbs 10:2–3

These two verses speak to the same purport, and the latter may be the reason of the former. 1. That wealth which men get unjustly will do them no good, because God will blast it: Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, Pro 10:2. The treasures of wicked people, much more the treasure which they have made themselves masters of by any wicked people, by oppression of fraud, though it be ever so much, as a treasure, and laid up ever so safely, though it be hidden treasure, yet it profits nothing; when profit and loss come to be balanced the profit gained by the treasures will by no means countervail the loss sustained by the wickedness, Mat 16:26. They do not profit the soul; they will not purchase any true comfort or happiness. They will stand a man in no stead at death, or in the judgment of the great day; and the reason is because God casts away the substance of the wicked (Pro 10:3); he takes that from them which they have unjustly gotten; he rejects the consideration of it, not regarding the rich more than the poor. We often see that scattered by the justice of God which has been gathered together by the injustice of men. How can the treasures of wickedness profit, when, though it be counted substance, God casts it away and it vanishes as a shadow? 2. That which is honestly got will turn to a good account, for God will bless it. Righteousness delivers from death, that is, wealth gained, and kept, and used, in a right manner (righteousness signifies both honesty and charity); it answers the end of wealth, which is to keep us alive and be a defence to us. It will deliver from those judgments which men bring upon themselves by their wickedness. It will profit to such a degree as to deliver, though not from the stroke of death, yet from the sting of it, and consequently from the terror of it. For the Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish (Pro 10:3), and so their righteousness delivers from death, purely by the favour of God to them, which is their life and livelihood, and which will keep them alive in famine. The soul of the righteous shall be kept alive by the word of God, and faith in his promise, when young lions shall lack and suffer hunger.

Cross-references: Prov 10:2 · Matt 16:26 · Prov 10:3

Hebrew interlinear

H3808

לֹאlôʼ/lo/

adv — not, no

Derivation: or לוֹא; or לֹה; (Deuteronomy 3:11), a primitive particle;

not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles

KJV: × before, or else, ere, except, ig(-norant), much, less, nay, neither, never, no((-ne), -r, (-thing)), (× as though...,(can-), for) not (out of), of nought, otherwise, out of, surely, as truly as, of a truth, verily, for want, whether, without.

לֹא

adv — not

לֹא or לוֹא adv. not

H3276

יָעַלyâʻal/yaw-al'/

v — ascend, be valuable, useful, benefited

Derivation: a primitive root;

properly, to ascend; figuratively, to be valuable (objectively; useful, subjectively; benefited)

KJV: × at all, set forward, can do good, (be, have) profit, (able).

יָעַל

vb — profit

[יָעַל] vb. only Hiph. profit, avail, benefit

H214

אוֹצָרʼôwtsâr/o-tsaw'/

n-m — depository

Derivation: from 686;

a depository

KJV: armory, cellar, garner, store(-house), treasure(-house) (-y).

אוֹצָר

n.m — treasure

אוֹצָר n.m. treasure, store, treasury, storehouse

H7562

רֶשַׁעreshaʻ/reh'-shah/

n-m — wrong

Derivation: from 7561;

a wrong (especially moral)

KJV: iniquity, wicked(-ness).

רֶ֫שַׁע

n.m — wickedness

רֶ֫שַׁע n.m. wickedness

H6666

צְדָקָהtsᵉdâqâh/tsed-aw-kaw'/

n-f — rightness, rectitude, justice, virtue, prosperity

Derivation: from 6663;

rightness (abstractly), subjectively (rectitude), objectively (justice), morally (virtue) or figuratively (prosperity)

KJV: justice, moderately, right(-eous) (act, -ly, -ness).

צְדָקָה

n.f — righteousness

צְדָקָה 157 n.f. righteousness

1. righteousness, in government

2. God's attribute as sovereign

3. righteousness, in a case or cause

4. righteousness = truthfulness

5. righteousness, as ethically right

6. righteousness as vindicated, justification, salvation, etc.

7. pl. righteous acts

H5337

נָצַלnâtsal/naw-tsal'/

v — snatch

Derivation: a primitive root;

to snatch away, whether in a good or a bad sense

KJV: × at all, defend, deliver (self), escape, × without fail, part, pluck, preserve, recover, rescue, rid, save, spoil, strip, × surely, take (out).

נָצַל

vb — strip

[נָצַל] 212 vb. not in Qal; Pi. strip, plunder; Niph. deliver oneself, be delivered Hiph. snatch away, deliver

Niph.

1. reflex. tear oneself away, deliver oneself

2. passive, be torn out or away

Pi.

1. strip off, spoil

2. deliver

Hiph.

1. take away, snatch away

2. rescue, recover

3. deliver from

4. deliver from sin and guilt

Hoph. as a brand plucked out of the burning

Hithp. and they stripped themselves of their ornaments.

H4194

מָוֶתmâveth/maw'-veth/

n-m — death, dead, pestilence, ruin

Derivation: from 4191;

death (natural or violent); concretely, the dead, their place or state (hades); figuratively, pestilence, ruin

KJV: (be) dead(-ly), death, die(-d).

מָ֫וֶת

n.m — death

מָ֫וֶת 161 n.m. death

1. death, opp. life

2. death by violence

3. state of death or place of death

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