Proverbs 23:11

For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(11) Their redeemer is mighty.—They may have no near kinsman (Leviticus 25:25) to redeem their land, yet they have a mighty Deliverer (Exodus 6:6), who will redress their wrongs.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

23:1-3 God's restraints of the appetite only say, Do thyself no harm. 4,5. Be not of those that will be rich. The things of this world are not happiness and a portion for a soul; those that hold them ever so fast, cannot hold them always, cannot hold them long. 6-8. Do not make thyself burdensome to any, especially those not sincere. When we are called by God to his feast, and to let our souls delight themselves, Isa 25:6; 55:2, we may safely partake of the Bread of life. 9. It is our duty to take all fit occasions to speak of Divine things; but if what a wise man says will not be heard, let him hold his peace. 10,11. The fatherless are taken under God's special protection. He is their Redeemer, who will take their part; and he is mighty, almighty.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The reason is given for the precept Proverbs 23:10.

Their redeemer - See Job 19:25 note. It was the duty of the גאל gā'al, the next of kin, to take on himself, in case of murder, the office of avenger of blood Numbers 35:19. By a slight extension the word was applied to one who took on himself a like office in cases short of this. Here, therefore, the thought is that, destitute as the fatherless may seem, there is One who claims them as His next of kin, and will avenge them. Yahweh Himself is in this sense their גאל gā'al, their Redeemer.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

11. redeemer—or avenger (Le 25:25, 26; Nu 35:12), hence advocate (Job 19:25).

plead … thee—(Compare Job 31:21; Ps 35:1; 68:5).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Their redeemer, Heb. their near kinsman, to whom it belongs to avenge their wrongs, and to recover and maintain their rights, of which see Leviticus 25:25 Numbers 35:12. Thus God is pleased to call himself, to show how much he concerns himself for the relief of oppressed and helpless persons.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

For their Redeemer is mighty,.... As he must needs be, since the Lord of hosts is his name; who sympathizes with them, has mercy on them, is their father, and their friend; see Jeremiah 50:34;

he shall plead their cause with thee; or "against thee", as the Vulgate Latin version; and will certainly carry it for them, and against thee; for, when he undertakes a cause, he pleads it thoroughly.

Geneva Study Bible

For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

11. their Redeemer] viz. God, who is “a Father of the fatherless,” Psalm 68:5. The Heb. word is Goel, and there is probably an allusion to the Goel among men, the nearest blood relation, whose duty it was not only to avenge the blood of his kinsman if he had been unjustly slain (Numbers 35:19), but generally to befriend him and espouse his cause (Leviticus 25:25; Ruth 3:9; Ruth 3:12-13; Ruth 4:1; Ruth 4:4).

He] the word is emphatic; q.d. with Him and not with them thou wilt have to reckon.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 11. - For their Redeemer is mighty. The redeemer (goel) is the near kinsman, who had to avenge bloodshed, carry on the blood feud, or vindicate the cause of a relation otherwise unsupported (see Numbers 25:12, 19, 21; Leviticus 25:25; Ruth 3:2, 9, 12). God himself will be the orphans' Goel. This term is often applied to God; e.g. Job 19:25; Psalm 19:14; Jeremiah 50:34. He shall plead their cause with thee. He will, as it were, conduct their cause, try thee, convict thee of injustice, and pronounce thy condemnation (Proverbs 22:23). Proverbs 23:11

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The following proverb forms a new whole from component parts of Proverbs 22:28 and Proverbs 22:22.:

10 Remove not ancient landmarks;

     And into the fields of orphans enter thou not.

11 For their Saviour is a mighty one;

     He will conduct their cause against thee.

בּוא ב separates itself here to the meaning of injuste invadere et occupare; French, empiter sur son voisin, advance not into the ground belonging to thy neighbour (Fleischer). If orphans have also no goel among their kindred (Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, ἀγχιστεύς) to redeem by purchase (Leviticus 25:25) their inheritance that has passed over into the possession of another, they have another, and that a mighty Saviour, Redemptor, who will restore to them that which they have lost - viz. God (Jeremiah 50:34) - who will adopt their cause against any one who has unjustly taken from them.