Proverbs 10:3

Proverbs 10:3, in plain English

God actively provides for people who try to live right, but He won't satisfy the desperate desires of people pursuing wickedness.

Why it's here

Solomon is reminding his listeners that there's a divine dimension to provision. You can't just scheme your way to security; God is watching and He rewards different kinds of people differently. This would have been profoundly comforting to the righteous and sobering to the corrupt.

Who's speaking

Solomon, reflecting God's character and how He operates in the world.

Where it sits in the story

This echoes God's promise to care for His people throughout Scripture—from feeding Elijah by ravens to Jesus teaching about God providing for the birds. It reinforces that righteousness isn't just a nice moral idea; it's aligned with how God himself works in the world.

The scholarly reading

God actively sustains the righteous person's material needs, but deliberately frustrates the greedy desires of the wicked.

Language and setting

The verb 'al-yar'îb, 'does not let go hungry,' depicts YHWH as the ultimate provider acting against scarcity—a particularly resonant image in an agrarian society dependent on seasonal provision. The second clause employs the verb kiḥâ, 'to thrust away' or 'deny,' suggesting active divine resistance to wickedness's appetite. This reassures the righteous during lean times and warns the wicked that material desire, however intense, will find no satisfaction apart from righteousness.

Voice

Solomon, speaking from covenant theology in which YHWH functions as covenant-keeper—rewarding fidelity, punishing rebellion.

Significance

This verse anchors Proverbs' anthropology within YHWH's sovereignty: neither chance nor naked force determines provision, but divine justice. It presages Jesus's teaching in Matthew 6 on provision for those who seek first the kingdom, and Paul's assurance in Philippians 4:19 that God supplies every need of those in Christ.

1The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.

2Ill-gotten treasures profit nothing, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.

3The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry, but He denies the craving of the wicked.

4Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.

5He who gathers in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.

Read all of Proverbs 10 — The collection proper begins. Paired contrasts — wise and foolish, righteous and wicked, diligent and lazy — packed into single verses.