Proverbs 28:3 - Meaning and Application

See here how hard-hearted poor people often are toward one another. They do not only fail to do the kindnesses they could, but they also cheat and take advantage of each other. People who know poverty from experience should feel compassion for others in the same condition. If they harm them instead, their cruelty is inexcusable.

See also how bossy and greedy some people become when they were once needy and then gain power. If a ruler promotes a poor man, he may forget that he was ever poor. Then no one can oppress the poor more harshly than he does, or squeeze them more tightly. A hungry leech and a dry sponge draw out the most. Put a beggar on horseback, and he will ride without mercy.

Such a man is like a sweeping rain. It washes away the seed in the ground and beats down what has already grown, so that nothing is left to eat. For that reason, rulers should not place in positions of trust people who are poor, in debt, or struggling to get ahead, nor anyone whose main aim is to enrich himself.