Proverbs 3:27

27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.

Proverbs 3:27 in Other Translations

KJV
27 Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.
ESV
27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.
NLT
27 Do not withhold good from those who deserve it when it’s in your power to help them.
MSG
27 Never walk away from someone who deserves help; your hand is God's hand for that person.
CSB
27 When it is in your power, don't withhold good from the one to whom it is due.

Proverbs 3:27 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 3:27

Withhold not good from them to whom it is due
Honour, reverence, and tribute, to civil magistrates, ( Romans 13:7 Romans 13:8 ) ; just payment of debts to creditors, and alms to the poor, which, by what follows, seems to be chiefly intended; and the Septuagint render it,

``do not abstain to do well to the needy;''
and Aben Ezra interprets it of the poor; to them alms are due because of their wants, and by the appointment; of God; hence called "righteousness", in some copies of ( Matthew 6:1 ) ; so money kept from the poor "mammon of unrighteousness", ( Luke 16:9 ) . They are, as the word in the Hebrew text signifies, "the owners thereof" F8: rich men are not so much proprietors of good things as they are God's alms givers or stewards to distribute to the poor; and, as often as men have opportunity, they should do good in this way to all, especially to the household of faith, ( Galatians 6:10 ) ; this will hold true, as of temporal good things, so of spiritual; as good advice, exhortation, and doctrine. The Vulgate Latin version is, "do not forbid him to do well that can"; which sense is favoured by Jarchi: and as we should not abstain from doing good ourselves, so neither should we forbid, hinder, or discourage others; but the former sense is best; when it is in the power of thine hand to do [it];
not to hinder others, as Jarchi, but to do good; when a man has a sufficiency in his hands to do good with; has not only enough for himself and his family, but something to spare; when he has both opportunity and ability; and when he can do it at once and without delay, as follows.
FOOTNOTES:

F8 (wylebm) "a dominis suis", Vatablus, Mercerus, Gejerus, Michaelis.

Proverbs 3:27 In-Context

25 Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked,
26 for the LORD will be at your side and will keep your foot from being snared.
27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.
28 Do not say to your neighbor, “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”— when you already have it with you.
29 Do not plot harm against your neighbor, who lives trustfully near you.
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