Proverbs 13:7

7. Maketh… rich… poor That which lies on the surface of this verse is, simulated wealth on the one hand, and pretended poverty on the other. But this is one of the proverbs in which we probably have two meanings; one on the surface, the other to be sought beneath. There is a seeming wealth beneath which lies spiritual poverty; there is a poverty which makes a man rich toward God. “As poor,” says Paul, “yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” Compare Proverbs 11:22; 2 Corinthians 6:10; Revelation 2:9; Luke 12:21; 1 Timothy 6:18; James 2:5. As to the first sense given above, which is taken as the full meaning by some, there are cases as when a man is among marauders and freebooters, or under a rapacious despotism, so common in the East where he may be excusable for concealing his wealth.