“Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.”
My Notes
What Does Proverbs 3:27 Mean?
"Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it." This proverb establishes a basic ethical principle: if you can help and the person deserves help, not helping is a moral failure. The marginal note translates "them to whom it is due" as "the owners thereof" — the people who have a rightful claim on the good you could do.
The condition — "when it is in the power of thine hand" — adds a practical qualifier. You're not obligated to do what you can't do. The proverb doesn't create guilt for inability. But when you can do good and choose not to, the withholding becomes sin.
This proverb addresses sins of omission rather than commission. It's not about what you did wrong but about what you failed to do right. The good that your hand was capable of performing, which you chose to withhold — that's the moral failure this verse targets.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What good are you currently withholding that's in the power of your hand to give?
- 2.How does the idea that the good 'belongs' to the recipient change your view of generosity?
- 3.What sins of omission are you most prone to?
- 4.Is there someone right now who has a rightful claim on your help that you've been avoiding?
Devotional
You could help and you didn't. You had the capacity to do good, the person needed it, and you withheld it. That's the sin this proverb addresses — not what you did, but what you failed to do.
Sins of omission are the quiet ones. They don't make dramatic stories. They don't appear in court records. They're the check you didn't write, the call you didn't make, the encouragement you didn't speak, the help you didn't offer — when it was in the power of your hand to do it.
The phrase "in the power of thine hand" is the key. This proverb doesn't burden you with impossible obligations. If you can't help, you can't help. But if you can — if you have the resources, the time, the capacity, the information — and you choose not to? That's not prudence. That's withholding.
The marginal note says "the owners thereof" — the people who are entitled to the good. This implies that the good you can do already belongs to them in some sense. It's not charity from your surplus; it's their due that you're holding. Withholding it isn't generosity declined — it's justice denied.
What good are you currently withholding from someone who needs it — that you have the power to provide? What call, what conversation, what act of service is in the power of your hand right now?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Withhold not good from them to whom it is due,.... Honour, reverence, and tribute, to civil magistrates, Rom 13:7; just…
A marked change in style. The continuous exhortation is replaced by a series of maxims. From them to whom it is due -…
True wisdom consists in the due discharge of our duty towards man, as well as towards God, in honesty as well as piety,…
them to whom it is due Lit. the lords, or owners thereof, as A.V. marg. This may be either a precept of honesty, pay…
Cross References
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