Proverbs 28:3

a poor man Better, with R.V., a needy man, the Hebrew word being different from that rendered poorimmediately after.

The proverb has commonly been held to refer to officialoppression. "A man in authority is implied. In many Eastern countries the offices of government are frequently sold to needy men, who use their power to reimburse themselves by oppressing others," Rel. Tr. Soc. Comm. But the scope of the proverb must not be restricted to this. It is quite general, and is verified in the exactions of the needy employer, or owner, or creditor among ourselves, as well as in the oppression of Oriental misrule.

"The hungry contractor undertakes the job at the lowest possible price, and secures his profit by getting hungrier and weaker creatures than himself to do the work at a price lower than possible, literally at starvation wages." Horton.

leaveth no food Heb. without food;Vulg. in quo paratur fames; which, instead of bringing fruitful seasons (Acts 14:17; Isaiah 30:23), takes away man's food by uprooting the herbs of the field and washing the seed corn out of the earth.