Proverbs 28:4 Explained in Context

Read It With

• Proverbs 28:4–7

Read Proverbs 28:4 with 28:4–7. Read alone, “They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep…” could turn a compressed observation, warning, comparison, or command into a guarantee or complete policy. The full unit establishes: uses contrastive parallelism to place “They that forsake the law praise the wicked” against “such as keep the law contend with them”; by 28:7, it uses contrastive parallelism to place “Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son” against “he that is a companion of riotous men shameth his father”. Together the unit concentrates on justice, truthful judgment, and protection from exploitation, reverent accountability before the LORD, wealth, poverty, provision, and economic power within “Solomonic sayings copied by Hezekiah's men.”

Why This Verse Appears Here

Proverbs 28:4–7 forms a reviewed local cluster inside “Solomonic sayings copied by Hezekiah's men.” Its lines concentrate on justice, truthful judgment, and protection from exploitation, 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. Within that relationship, this verse uses contrastive parallelism to place “They that forsake the law praise the wicked” against “such as keep the law contend with them”.