Proverbs 22:23 - John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Bible Comments

For the Lord will plead their cause,.... If counsellors at the bar will not, he will; if judges on the bench will not do them justice, he will; he will judge the poor of the people; he will plead their cause, and plead it thoroughly, till he has brought forth judgment unto victory: woe to the man against whom Jehovah pleads; happy the poor on whose side he is; for their Redeemer is mighty, the Lord of hosts is his name, Psalms 72:4;

and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them; they could only spoil the poor of their goods, but the Lord can and will spoil and destroy the souls of the spoilers in hell: or, "spoil them that spoiled their soul" or "life" k; that is, who spoiled them of their goods, and took away that small pittance they had, which was their life or livelihood; they shall be spoiled themselves that spoil others; the same measure they have meted out shall be measured out to them again; God will destroy them that destroy the earth, even antichrist and his followers, the oppressors of Christ's poor on earth, Revelation 11:18.

k וקבע את קבעיהמ נפש "et vim faciet illis, qui animae eorum vim intulerunt", Munster, Vatablus; "et spoliabit eos qui spotiant ipsos anima", Michaelis.

Proverbs 22:23

23 For the LORD will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.