Proverbs 11:4
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Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
Three proverbs in praise of צדקה: 4 Possessions are of no profit in the day of wrath; But righteousness delivereth from death. That which is new here, is only that possessions and goods (vid., regarding הון, p. 63) are destitute of all value in the day of the μέλλουσα ὀργή; for יום עברה, the day of wrath breaking through the limits (of long-suffering), has the same meaning as in the prophets; and such prophetic words as Isa 10:3; Zep 1:18, and, almost in the same words, Eze 7:19, are altogether similar to this proverb. The lxx, which translates ἐν ήμέρᾳ ἐπαγωγῆς, harmonizes in expression with Sir. 5:8, cf. 2:2. Theodotion translates איד, Pro 27:10, by ἐπαγωγή (providence, fate).
Open source ↗Note, 1. The day of death will be a day of wrath. It is a messenger of God's wrath; therefore when Moses had meditated on man's mortality he takes occasion thence to admire the power of God's anger, Psa 110:1-7 :11. It is a debt owing, not to nature, but to God's justice. After death the judgment, and that is a day of wrath, Rev 6:17. 2. Riches will stand men in no stead that day. They will neither put by the stroke nor ease the pain, much less take out the sting; what profit will this world's birth-rights be of then? In the day of public judgments riches often expose men rather than protect them, Eze 7:19. 3. It is righteousness only that will deliver from the evil of death. A good conscience will make death easy, and take off the terror of it; it is the privilege of the righteous only not to be hurt of the second death, and so not much hurt by the first.
Open source ↗11:4 Right living, which flows from wisdom, is more important than riches. Nothing is wrong with riches (10:15, 22; 14:24) that are gained properly (cp. 13:11; 21:6; 22:16).
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
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Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the Day of the LORD’s wrath. The whole earth will be consumed by the fire of His jealousy.” For indeed, He will make a sudden end of all who dwell on the earth.
Ill-gotten treasures profit nothing, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.
Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.
They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will seem unclean. Their silver and gold cannot save them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their appetites or fill their stomachs with wealth, for it became the stumbling block that brought their iniquity.
For physical exercise is of limited value, but godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for the present life and for the one to come.
But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’
What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
There is life in the path of righteousness, but another path leads to death.
For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive an abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!