
A reciprocity of mercy and need lands in Proverbs 21:13: He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be answered (v. 13). The verse establishes a moral reciprocity.
The man who could have heard and refused to hear will eventually be the one calling out and not heard. The mechanism is the economy of God's world: we do not get to opt out caring for others and then expect community when our own crisis arrives.
The verse is also a quiet expansion of who counts as a neighbor: the cry of the poor may come from someone whose only claim on us is need.
Used with permission from TheBibleSays.com.
You can access the original article here:Proverbs 21:13 Meaning
The Blue Letter Bible ministry and the BLB Institute hold to the historical, conservative Christian faith, which includes a firm belief in the inerrancy of Scripture. Since the text and audio content provided by BLB represent a range of evangelical traditions, all of the ideas and principles conveyed in the resource materials are not necessarily affirmed, in total, by this ministry.
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