(22) Hath an evil eye.--Envies others their prosperity, and keeps all he has for himself.
And considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.--For it is "the liberal soul" that "shall be made fat" (Proverbs 11:25), not such as he, who can get no blessing from God.
Verse 22. - He that hasteth to be rich bath an evil eye (see ver. 20); better, the man of evil eye hasteth after riches. The man of evil eye (Proverbs 23:6) is the envious and covetous man; such a one tries to improve his position and raise himself speedily to the height of him whom he envies, and is quite unscrupulous as to the means which he uses to effect his purpose, and keeps all that he gains selfishly to himself. And yet he is really blind to his own best interests (comp Proverbs 20:21). And considereth not that poverty shall come upon him (comp. Proverbs 23:4, 5). His grasping greed brings no blessing with it (Proverbs 11:25), excites others to defraud him, and in the end consigns him to merited poverty. The LXX. here reads somewhat differently, and translates, "An envious man hasteth to be rich, and knows not that the merciful man (chasid instead of cheser) will I,ave the mastery over him," i.e. will take his wealth, as ver. 8. Proverbs concerning hastily gotten wealth have already been given. Here are a few more: Spanish, "Who would be rich in a year gets hanged in half a year;" Italian, "The river does not become swollen with clear water;" says a Scotch proverb, "Better a wee fire to warm as than a meikle fire to burn us."
28:18. Uprightness will give men holy security in the worst times; but the false and dishonest are never safe. 19. Those who are diligent, take the way to live comfortably. 20. The true way to be happy, is to be holy and honest; not to raise an estate suddenly, without regard to right or wrong. 21. Judgment is perverted, when any thing but pure right is considered. 22. He that hastens to be rich, never seriously thinks how quickly God may take his wealth from him, and leave him in poverty. 23. Upon reflection, most will have a better opinion of a faithful reprover than of a soothing flatterer.
He that hasteth to be rich,.... As every man that is eagerly desirous of riches is; he would be rich at once (z), and cannot wait with any patience in the ordinary course of means:
hath an evil eye; on the substance of others, to get it, right or wrong; is an evil man, and takes evil methods to be rich (a); see 1 Timothy 6:9; or an envious one; is an envious man; as the Septuagint and Arabic versions; he envies others, as the Vulgate Latin version, the riches of other men; he grudges everything that goes beside himself; and that makes him in haste to be rich, that he may be equal to or superior to others: or he is a sordid, avaricious, illiberal man, that will not part with anything for the relief, for others, and is greedy of everything to amass wealth to himself; an evil eye is opposed to a good or bountiful one, that is, to a man that is liberal and generous, Proverbs 22:9;
and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him; for wealth gotten hastily, and especially wrongfully, diminishes, wastes, and comes to nothing in the end; it sometimes flies away as fast as it comes; it has wings to do the one, as well as the other: this the man in haste to be rich does not consider, or he would have taken another method; since this is not the true way of getting and keeping riches, but of losing them, and coming to want; see Proverbs 13:11.
(z) "Nam dives qui fieri vult, et cito vult fieri", Juvenal. Satyr. 14. v. 176. (a) "Sed quae reverentia legum? quis metus, ant pudor est unquam properantis avari?" Juvenal, ib.
And considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.--For it is "the liberal soul" that "shall be made fat" (Proverbs 11:25), not such as he, who can get no blessing from God.
hath an evil eye; on the substance of others, to get it, right or wrong; is an evil man, and takes evil methods to be rich (a); see 1 Timothy 6:9; or an envious one; is an envious man; as the Septuagint and Arabic versions; he envies others, as the Vulgate Latin version, the riches of other men; he grudges everything that goes beside himself; and that makes him in haste to be rich, that he may be equal to or superior to others: or he is a sordid, avaricious, illiberal man, that will not part with anything for the relief, for others, and is greedy of everything to amass wealth to himself; an evil eye is opposed to a good or bountiful one, that is, to a man that is liberal and generous, Proverbs 22:9;
and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him; for wealth gotten hastily, and especially wrongfully, diminishes, wastes, and comes to nothing in the end; it sometimes flies away as fast as it comes; it has wings to do the one, as well as the other: this the man in haste to be rich does not consider, or he would have taken another method; since this is not the true way of getting and keeping riches, but of losing them, and coming to want; see Proverbs 13:11.
(z) "Nam dives qui fieri vult, et cito vult fieri", Juvenal. Satyr. 14. v. 176. (a) "Sed quae reverentia legum? quis metus, ant pudor est unquam properantis avari?" Juvenal, ib.