Proverbs 28:16
A king in need of revenues is a great oppressor: but he that hates injustice shall live a long time.
LXX2012 (British)
In The King James Version
In Context
15A hungry lion and a thirsty wolf is he, who, being poor, rules over a poor nation.
Cross References
1 Kings 12:10And the young men who had been brought up with him, who stood before his face, spoke to him, saying, Thus shall you say to this people who have spoken to you, saying, Your father made our yoke heavy, and do you now lighten it from off us: thus shall say to them, My + 12:10 Gr. littleness. little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins.
Nehemiah 5:15But as for the former acts of extortion wherein those who were before me oppressed them, they even took of them their last money, forty didrachmas for bread and wine; and the very outcasts of them exercised authority over the people: but I did not so, because of the fear of God.
Ecclesiastes 4:1So I returned, and saw all the oppressions that were done under the sun: and behold the tear of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of them that oppressed them was power; but they had no comforter:
Isaiah 33:15He that walks in righteousness, speaking rightly, hating transgression and iniquity, and shaking his hands from gifts, stopping his ears that he should not hear the judgement of blood, shutting his eyes that he should not see injustice.
Amos 4:1Hear you⌃ this word, you⌃ heifers of the land of Basan that are in the mountain of Samaria, that oppress the poor, and trample on the needy, which say to their masters, Give us that we may drink.
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 28:16
15 As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; so is a wicked ruler over the poor people. It is written indeed, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people; but if he be a wicked ruler, that oppresses the people, especially the poor people, robbing them of the little they have and making a prey of them, whatever we may call him, this scripture calls him a roaring lion and a ranging bear. 1. In respect of his character. He is brutish, barbarous, and blood-thirsty; he is rather to be put among the beasts of… Read the whole commentary →