Proverbs 19:17–20, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Proverbs 19:17–20
Instruction, correction, and formation — He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD;…
uses two-part parallelism to place “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD” beside “and that which he hath given will he pay him again”; by 19:20, it contributes the claim, image, or instruction “Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end”. Together the unit concentrates on instruction, correction, and formation, reverent accountability before the LORD, wealth, poverty, provision, and economic power within “First Solomonic sentence-saying collection.”
Why this sits here
Proverbs 19:17–20 forms a reviewed local cluster inside “First Solomonic sentence-saying collection.” Its lines concentrate on instruction, correction, and formation, reverent accountability before the LORD, wealth, poverty, provision, and economic power, while each sentence proverb retains its own force and the neighboring database unit does not supply its meaning.
What helps us understand it
How this passage works
Proverbs 19:17–20Proverbs 19:17–20 is the reviewed unit “Instruction, correction, and formation — He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD;….” Its parallel lines, repeated address, comparison, or local cluster controls how each verse contributes without borrowing a neighboring unit's subject.
The unit opens “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath…” and closes “Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.”
Place in the book
Proverbs as a wholeProverbs 19:17–20 belongs to “First Solomonic sentence-saying collection.” Compact parallel sayings train judgment about speech, work, wealth, poverty, family, friendship, anger, justice, rulers, planning, and worship. Most describe normal moral patterns rather than guaranteed outcomes. This unit contributes instruction, correction, and formation, reverent accountability before the LORD, wealth, poverty, provision, and economic power through its own received wording and form.
The received sequence places Proverbs 19:17–20 inside Proverbs 10:1–22:16; this unit opens “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath…” and closes “Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.” The unit's reviewed main point is: uses two-part parallelism to place “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD” beside “and that which he hath given will he pay him again”; by 19:20, it contributes the claim, image, or instruction “Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end”. Together the unit concentrates on instruction, correction, and formation, reverent accountability before the LORD, wealth, poverty, provision, and economic power within “First Solomonic sentence-saying collection.”
Proverbs 19:17–20 opens with “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath…” and closes with “Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.” Those endpoints show the unit's movement from opening claim to reviewed close.
How the passage moves
Development (19:17–20): adjacent lines test instruction, correction, and formation, reverent accountability before the LORD, wealth, poverty, provision, and economic power through parallelism, contrast, motive, image, or consequence.
Why this reading fits
Exact verse-level work
Every line in Proverbs 19:17–20 retains its own Verse Lens role and does not borrow a neighboring verse's claim.
Proverbial proportion
The unit's instruction and observations concern instruction, correction, and formation, reverent accountability before the LORD, wealth, poverty, provision, and economic power; they describe moral direction without explaining every exceptional outcome.
A needed correction
Reading Proverbs 19:17–20 as edited wisdom rather than a detached formula rules out these uses:
The saying does not excuse hitting, injury, humiliation, coercive control, child abuse, or withholding safeguarding and professional help.
The saying does not transfer divine authority to a parent, pastor, ruler, spouse, nation, or political movement, and it does not authorize fear-based coercion.
The saying does not promise prosperity, blame sufferers or poor people, excuse predatory lending, or make wealth proof of divine approval.
The unit does not turn a normal wisdom pattern into a universal promise, a complete causal explanation of suffering, or a mandate broader than Proverbs 19:17–20.
What remains true
Wise correction aims at learning, responsibility, and protection rather than domination or pain for its own sake. Wisdom begins with reverent accountability to the LORD and refuses to make human insight self-sufficient. Proverbs treats resources as morally consequential but never reduces wealth to virtue or poverty to personal failure. These truths remain proportionate only when the proverb's literary form, affected people, exceptions, and wider fear-of-the-LORD frame remain visible.
How this should shape us
How does the application follow proportionately?
Use calm, age-appropriate, nonviolent guidance, clear boundaries, repair, and qualified support when ordinary correction is not enough. Bring the decision under truthful worship, moral accountability, and correction rather than using religious language to shield preference or power. Examine how money was obtained, who bears the cost, whether basic needs are met, and how resources can serve justice and durable care. In 19:17–20, let the concrete wording “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the…” keep that response tied to the people, action, comparison, or consequence actually named.
Teach it back
Explain Proverbs 19:17–20 in your own words. Identify its form and collection, trace one line from role through contextual meaning and enduring truth to application, name one uncertainty, and reject one misuse explicitly.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Read it sentence by sentenceEach line inside the larger movement
Exact verse-level work
Every line in Proverbs 19:17–20 retains its own Verse Lens role and does not borrow a neighboring verse's claim.
Collection context
The superscription and placement identify this unit inside “First Solomonic sentence-saying collection”: Compact parallel sayings train judgment about speech, work, wealth, poverty, family, friendship, anger, justice, rulers, planning, and worship. Most describe normal moral patterns rather than guaranteed outcomes.
Proverbial proportion
The unit's instruction and observations concern instruction, correction, and formation, reverent accountability before the LORD, wealth, poverty, provision, and economic power; they describe moral direction without explaining every exceptional outcome.
What the first readers would have understoodRelevant history and culture
Edited wisdom and social setting
This unit belongs to first solomonic sentence-saying collection. Aitken's printed pages 405-422 and the book-specific sources identify family, community, agricultural, commercial, scribal, court, and royal settings as relevant possibilities without proving one setting for every saying.
How certain? probableEarlier Scripture and inherited backgroundSupported quotations, allusions, and inherited ideas
Israelite wisdom setting
The unit's first horizon is Israel's wisdom collection under fear of the LORD. Torah-shaped justice, creation, household teaching, royal responsibility, and community life may inform the language, but no cross-reference overrides this unit's own parallelism and collection role.
How certain? probableHow this connects with the rest of ScriptureThe passage's own meaning remains primary
Responsible canonical location
Within the received book, Compact parallel sayings train judgment about speech, work, wealth, poverty, family, friendship, anger, justice, rulers, planning, and worship. Most describe normal moral patterns rather than guaranteed outcomes. This local unit is read through that movement before broader canonical comparison.
How certain? probableTextual variantsManuscript differences only when they affect meaning
Material textual or translation question
The complete NET notes attached to Proverbs 19:17–20 were inspected alongside MorphHB. No unreviewed alternative replaces the pinned KJV; any verse whose wording materially affects interpretation carries an expanded Lens and visible uncertainty rather than a silent emendation.
How certain? probableWhere careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful readers disagree?
Best judgment: Interpreters disagree over how much literary meaning adjacent sentence sayings gain from small clusters. This package treats Proverbs 19:17–20 as a useful local cluster while preserving each saying's independent force and marking the boundary as revisable.
How certain? probableTheology that emerges from this passageConclusions drawn after reading the complete section
Theological contribution
The unit places practical wisdom under a moral order answerable to the LORD: Wise correction aims at learning, responsibility, and protection rather than domination or pain for its own sake. Wisdom begins with reverent accountability to the LORD and refuses to make human insight self-sufficient. Proverbs treats resources as morally consequential but never reduces wealth to virtue or poverty to personal failure.
How certain? strongTheological contribution
Within First Solomonic sentence-saying collection, uses two-part parallelism to place “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD” beside “and that which he hath given will he pay him again”; by 19:20, it contributes the claim, image, or instruction “Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end”. Together the unit concentrates on instruction, correction, and formation, reverent accountability before the LORD, wealth, poverty, provision, and economic power within “First Solomonic sentence-saying collection.”
How certain? strongCommon ways this passage gets misusedFair explanation, context check, and stronger reading
The saying does not excuse hitting, injury, humiliation, coercive control, child abuse, or withholding safeguarding and professional help.
A compact saying is easy to detach and universalize.
Within first solomonic sentence-saying collection, uses two-part parallelism to place “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD” beside “and that which he hath given will he pay him again”; by 19:20, it contributes the claim, image, or instruction “Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end”. Together the unit concentrates on instruction, correction, and formation, reverent accountability before the LORD, wealth, poverty, provision, and economic power within “First Solomonic sentence-saying collection.” The sayings function as context-shaped instruction and observation: general patterns are not automatic guarantees, commands stay bounded by their ancient role, and an individual line must not erase the edited collection around it.
Wise correction aims at learning, responsibility, and protection rather than domination or pain for its own sake. Wisdom begins with reverent accountability to the LORD and refuses to make human insight self-sufficient. Proverbs treats resources as morally consequential but never reduces wealth to virtue or poverty to personal failure. These truths remain proportionate only when the proverb's literary form, affected people, exceptions, and wider fear-of-the-LORD frame remain visible.
The context-supported contribution remains: uses two-part parallelism to place “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD” beside “and that which he hath given will he pay him again”; by 19:20, it contributes the claim, image, or instruction “Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end”. Together the unit concentrates on instruction, correction, and formation, reverent accountability before the LORD, wealth, poverty, provision, and economic power within “First Solomonic sentence-saying collection.”
The saying does not transfer divine authority to a parent, pastor, ruler, spouse, nation, or political movement, and it does not authorize fear-based coercion.
An ancient authority, household, wealth, gender, or consequence image can be imported into modern power without following the interpretation chain.
Within first solomonic sentence-saying collection, uses two-part parallelism to place “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD” beside “and that which he hath given will he pay him again”; by 19:20, it contributes the claim, image, or instruction “Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end”. Together the unit concentrates on instruction, correction, and formation, reverent accountability before the LORD, wealth, poverty, provision, and economic power within “First Solomonic sentence-saying collection.” The sayings function as context-shaped instruction and observation: general patterns are not automatic guarantees, commands stay bounded by their ancient role, and an individual line must not erase the edited collection around it.
Wise correction aims at learning, responsibility, and protection rather than domination or pain for its own sake. Wisdom begins with reverent accountability to the LORD and refuses to make human insight self-sufficient. Proverbs treats resources as morally consequential but never reduces wealth to virtue or poverty to personal failure. These truths remain proportionate only when the proverb's literary form, affected people, exceptions, and wider fear-of-the-LORD frame remain visible.
The context-supported contribution remains: uses two-part parallelism to place “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD” beside “and that which he hath given will he pay him again”; by 19:20, it contributes the claim, image, or instruction “Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end”. Together the unit concentrates on instruction, correction, and formation, reverent accountability before the LORD, wealth, poverty, provision, and economic power within “First Solomonic sentence-saying collection.”
The saying does not promise prosperity, blame sufferers or poor people, excuse predatory lending, or make wealth proof of divine approval.
An ancient authority, household, wealth, gender, or consequence image can be imported into modern power without following the interpretation chain.
Within first solomonic sentence-saying collection, uses two-part parallelism to place “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD” beside “and that which he hath given will he pay him again”; by 19:20, it contributes the claim, image, or instruction “Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end”. Together the unit concentrates on instruction, correction, and formation, reverent accountability before the LORD, wealth, poverty, provision, and economic power within “First Solomonic sentence-saying collection.” The sayings function as context-shaped instruction and observation: general patterns are not automatic guarantees, commands stay bounded by their ancient role, and an individual line must not erase the edited collection around it.
Wise correction aims at learning, responsibility, and protection rather than domination or pain for its own sake. Wisdom begins with reverent accountability to the LORD and refuses to make human insight self-sufficient. Proverbs treats resources as morally consequential but never reduces wealth to virtue or poverty to personal failure. These truths remain proportionate only when the proverb's literary form, affected people, exceptions, and wider fear-of-the-LORD frame remain visible.
The context-supported contribution remains: uses two-part parallelism to place “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD” beside “and that which he hath given will he pay him again”; by 19:20, it contributes the claim, image, or instruction “Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end”. Together the unit concentrates on instruction, correction, and formation, reverent accountability before the LORD, wealth, poverty, provision, and economic power within “First Solomonic sentence-saying collection.”
The unit does not turn a normal wisdom pattern into a universal promise, a complete causal explanation of suffering, or a mandate broader than Proverbs 19:17–20.
An ancient authority, household, wealth, gender, or consequence image can be imported into modern power without following the interpretation chain.
Within first solomonic sentence-saying collection, uses two-part parallelism to place “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD” beside “and that which he hath given will he pay him again”; by 19:20, it contributes the claim, image, or instruction “Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end”. Together the unit concentrates on instruction, correction, and formation, reverent accountability before the LORD, wealth, poverty, provision, and economic power within “First Solomonic sentence-saying collection.” The sayings function as context-shaped instruction and observation: general patterns are not automatic guarantees, commands stay bounded by their ancient role, and an individual line must not erase the edited collection around it.
Wise correction aims at learning, responsibility, and protection rather than domination or pain for its own sake. Wisdom begins with reverent accountability to the LORD and refuses to make human insight self-sufficient. Proverbs treats resources as morally consequential but never reduces wealth to virtue or poverty to personal failure. These truths remain proportionate only when the proverb's literary form, affected people, exceptions, and wider fear-of-the-LORD frame remain visible.
The context-supported contribution remains: uses two-part parallelism to place “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD” beside “and that which he hath given will he pay him again”; by 19:20, it contributes the claim, image, or instruction “Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end”. Together the unit concentrates on instruction, correction, and formation, reverent accountability before the LORD, wealth, poverty, provision, and economic power within “First Solomonic sentence-saying collection.”
Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV words, canonical order, paragraph flags, supplied-word markup, and complete unit coverage.
Proverbs 19:17–20, repository-pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology used only for the exact unit's lexical, grammatical, parallel, superscription, number-saying, and acrostic questions.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Prov.xml, OSIS 19:17-19:20
Supports: Verse-attached textual, lexical, grammatical, syntactic, parallelism, and older-English controls for the exact range.
NET Bible Proverbs PDF, printed pp. 1136-1140, exact tc/tn/sn entries attached to 19:17–20
Supports: Whole-book and collection orientation, local commentary, social-setting proposals, and named interpretation limits.
Aitken, ‘Proverbs,’ Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 405-422, subsection covering 19:17–20 and the First Solomonic sentence-saying collection outline
Supports: Abstract-level control for the dispute over individual-saying, small-cluster, and collection context; no uninspected detailed claim.
Weeks, ‘Context in the Sayings Collections,’ Early Israelite Wisdom (2000), official abstract and chapter pp. 20-40; methodological question applied to Proverbs 19:17–20
Supports: One historical-social account of poverty, wealth, interest, oppression, labor, and differing evaluations within the collection.
Wittenberg, ‘Situational context of statements concerning poverty and wealth,’ Scriptura 21, pp. 1-23, especially the sayings and redactional comparison relevant to Proverbs 19:17–20
Supports: Literal, metaphorical, ancient-practice, modern-effect, and positive-discipline review without erasing the ancient physical wording.
Chukwuma, HTS 81.1 (2025), pp. 3-5 on Proverbs 13:24; 22:15; 23:13-14 and pp. 5-7 on positive discipline and safeguarding, as relevant to Proverbs 19:17–20
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV words, canonical order, paragraph flags, supplied-word markup, and complete unit coverage.
Exact location: Proverbs 19:17–20, repository-pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Proverbs
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology used only for the exact unit's lexical, grammatical, parallel, superscription, number-saying, and acrostic questions.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Prov.xml, OSIS 19:17-19:20
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Proverbs with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-attached textual, lexical, grammatical, syntactic, parallelism, and older-English controls for the exact range.
Exact location: NET Bible Proverbs PDF, printed pp. 1136-1140, exact tc/tn/sn entries attached to 19:17–20
Open source ↗modern critical commentary
Proverbs
K. T. Aitken
Oxford University Press, in The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001
Supports: Whole-book and collection orientation, local commentary, social-setting proposals, and named interpretation limits.
Exact location: Aitken, ‘Proverbs,’ Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 405-422, subsection covering 19:17–20 and the First Solomonic sentence-saying collection outline
Open source ↗scholarly monograph chapter abstract and metadata
Context in the Sayings Collections
Stuart Weeks
Oxford University Press, in Early Israelite Wisdom, 2000
Supports: Abstract-level control for the dispute over individual-saying, small-cluster, and collection context; no uninspected detailed claim.
Exact location: Weeks, ‘Context in the Sayings Collections,’ Early Israelite Wisdom (2000), official abstract and chapter pp. 20-40; methodological question applied to Proverbs 19:17–20
Open source ↗peer reviewed open access journal article
The situational context of statements concerning poverty and wealth in the Book of Proverbs
G. H. Wittenberg
Scriptura 21, 1987; open archive 2020
Supports: One historical-social account of poverty, wealth, interest, oppression, labor, and differing evaluations within the collection.
Exact location: Wittenberg, ‘Situational context of statements concerning poverty and wealth,’ Scriptura 21, pp. 1-23, especially the sayings and redactional comparison relevant to Proverbs 19:17–20
Open source ↗peer reviewed open access journal article
Reading selected biblical proverbs in the light of corporal punishment in child upbringing
Helen C. Chukwuma
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 81.1, 2025
Supports: Literal, metaphorical, ancient-practice, modern-effect, and positive-discipline review without erasing the ancient physical wording.
Exact location: Chukwuma, HTS 81.1 (2025), pp. 3-5 on Proverbs 13:24; 22:15; 23:13-14 and pp. 5-7 on positive discipline and safeguarding, as relevant to Proverbs 19:17–20
Open source ↗