Proverbs 22:9

Context

This verse stands near the end of the collection of "the proverbs of Solomon" that runs from Proverbs 10:1 to 22:16. The collection is not a continuous composition but a series of short maxims (sayings) strung together. The speaker is a wisdom teacher whose sayings have been handed down under the name of Solomon, and the audience is understood to be young people learning wisdom as well as the whole community of faith. The opening part of chapter 22 gathers sayings that deal with wealth and poverty. Proverbs 22:2 says that the rich and the poor live side by side, yet the LORD is the maker of them all; 22:7 says that the rich rule over the poor; and 22:16 says that whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own gain will in the end come to want.

"Good eye" renders a Hebrew idiom meaning "one whose eye is good," which refers to a person who is generous toward others and gives freely. Its opposite, the "evil eye," denotes a stingy person (Proverbs 23:6; 28:22). The word translated "bread" means "his own bread" in the original. The verse is therefore read as speaking not of giving away what is left over but of sharing one's own portion.

Interpretation

• Wisdom-literature reading: Many commentators read this verse in light of the principle of deed and consequence characteristic of Proverbs, according to which generosity leads to good outcomes. On this reading, the verse is a proverb teaching a general tendency of life rather than a promise without exception.
• Response-to-grace reading: A number of Protestant preachers and commentators do not regard the "blessing" as a reward for giving. They read the verse to mean that God cares for those who share in response to the grace they have received from him.
• Communal-responsibility reading: This reading regards care for the poor not merely as an individual virtue but as an obligation the community must uphold. It reads the verse together with the provisions for almsgiving in the Old Testament law.

Questions of Application

• The nature of the blessing: Citing the verse to mean that one receives back in material goods as much as one gives has been criticized as an interpretation shaped by prosperity theology. Others, however, receive the verse as a confession of faith that God truly meets the needs of those who give.
• Offerings and almsgiving: In this verse the recipients of the sharing are "the poor." Some have therefore pointed out that using the verse to encourage church offerings departs from its original context.
• Translation and text: The Korean Revised Version and the New Korean Revised Version translate the phrase literally as "good eye." Because this expression can be misunderstood as meaning something like "a positive outlook," some modern translations render it with a paraphrase such as "a generous person." The Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament, contains additional sentences near this passage that are not found in the Hebrew text. Of these, the sentence appended after 22:8, "God blesses a cheerful giver," is often noted for its similarity to 2 Corinthians 9:7.

Related Passages

• Proverbs 19:17
• Proverbs 11:24-25
• Proverbs 28:27
• 2 Corinthians 9:6-8
• 1 John 3:17-18