Proverbs 22:2 - Exposition

The rich and poor meet together ( Proverbs 29:13 ): the Lord is the Maker of them all ( Job 34:19 ). God has ordained that there shall be rich and poor in the world, and that they should meet in the intercourse of life. These social inequalities are ordered for wise purposes; the one helps the other. The labour of the poor makes the wealth of the rich; the wealth of the rich enables him to employ and aid the poor. Their common humanity, their fatherhood in God, should make them regard one another as brethren, without distinction of rank or position: the rich should not despise the poor ( Proverbs 14:31 ; Proverbs 17:5 ; Job 31:15 ), the poor should not envy the rich ( Proverbs 3:31 ), but all should live in love and harmony as one great family of God.