A. A Poor Man

1. There is a textual issue in this verse

a. The problem is the translation of the first word for “poor.”

b. In the Majority Text, the Hebrew word is “poor.”

c. But evidently, some translators believed that it could not be a poor man ruling over the poor. That did not fit their concept of rulers.

d. They made a slight change of letters to a similar Hebrew word and translated it “a wicked” ruler. However, there was no textual basis for the change.

e. We are going to stick to the Majority Text and view this ruler as a “poor” man who came to power.

2. The two Hebrew words translated “poor” are different terms, but are synonyms.

a. The first word is used a couple of times in Proverbs already:
• Prov. 10:4 – “He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand.”
• Prov. 13:7 – “There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.”

b. Zodhiates defines the term as “poor”: It indicates a person who has few resources and little standing or influence in a society.

c. Strong’s defines it as “to be poor, be in want, lack.”

3. So what did Solomon mean by a poor man oppressing the poor by ruling over them in an oppressive way?

a. David was such a man before he was king (I Sam. 18:23).

b. David used the same Hebrew word for poor as Solomon did.

c. There is no need to change the meaning of the term.

d. Solomon is speaking about a poor man who suddenly finds himself in the position as a ruler.

B. Who Oppresseth the Poor

1. Oppress Defined:

a. Dictionary of Bible Languages: (1) Mistreat, i.e., treat a disadvantaged member of society unjustly with the effect of causing one to suffer ill treatment.

b. Dictionary of Bible Languages: (2) Extort, cheat, formally, oppress or mistreat, i.e., steal or rob from disadvantaged persons in a financial or business transaction which has unjust leverage in favor of rich over the poor.

c. Zodhiates: To oppress, to defraud. It refers to extorting or exploiting someone; it can mean to steal or rob.

2. The Poor Defined:

a. This is a different term for poor, but means essentially the same.

b. It speaks of a man who is poor; but it also refers to one who is needy, week, or helpless. That may be the emphasis here.

3. This is an expression of great betrayal, injustice, and cruelty.

a. One might expect that the rich would exploit the poor.

b. It is universally hated—but it happens all the time.

c. That is the feeling that fuels the debate in this country between the 1% and the 99%. It is class warfare.

d. The rich and the powerful have been oppressing the poor since the Garden of Eden.

e. Jas. 2:6 – “Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? 7Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?” It was common knowledge.

f. It is wrong when the rich oppress the poor. It is wrong when anyone does.

g. But Solomon’s point here is that it is especially evil when a poor man rises to power and opposes the poor.

4. WHY is it even worse when a poor man oppresses the poor?

a. Because he should know better. He knows what it feels like.

b. The rich man may oppress the poor and be ignorant of just how difficult he is really making it for the poor.

c. Rich men travel in the circles of the rich and are usually out of touch with the poor. They don’t know what it’s like to live from one paycheck to the next. They don’t know what it’s like to live in fear that you will lose your home… or may not have enough money at the end of the month for food. That’s another world for the rich.

d. While it is evil for an out of touch rich man to oppress the poor, it is far worse for a poor man to do the very same thing.

e. The poor man has more light. He knows what it’s like to be oppressed… and for him to do so anyway is to sin against greater light of experience.

f. For a poor man to suddenly find himself in a position of power (as David came from poverty to royalty), and to forget his roots, to forget his past, to forget his friends and family who are still poor… is far worse.

g. This does happen—and more often than you might think.

h. There have been many poor rebels who have banded together a rag tag army to take on the political establishment. Sometimes those insurgents are successful and their leader (who may have been a farmer the year before) is suddenly propelled into the position of ruler… which often means dictator.

i. Before you know it, there are more poor rebels who don’t like the way he is dictating their lives, and he ends up oppressing them. It becomes a vicious cycle.

j. Central and South America has plenty of examples of this cycle.

k. We have our own proverb that speaks to this issue: “Power corrupts; and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” (Lord Acton)

l. The poor rebel gains absolute power and revels in it. He grows accustomed to having whatever he wants… and he ends up behaving like others with power – abusing it and using it to advance his own ideology or luxury, and not for the welfare of the people.

5. It is bad for anyone to oppress the poor; but especially so if the oppressor was once one of the poor!

a. Now it is worse than oppression. It is betrayal. It is turning your back on your own. It is heartless. It is hypocrisy.

b. It is worse for the poor people who are oppressed because it dashes all their hopes.

c. When a poor man makes it to the top, they were expecting him to remember them and their situation.

d. They supported him for that reason. And when he turns his back on them, they feel betrayed… disillusioned… let down… used…

e. He rose to power with such great hope… but did not improve their lot in life. It was a real let down… a great disappointment.