Proverbs 28:11

A rich person ¹  is wise in his own eyes, ²  but a discerning poor person can evaluate him properly. ³ 

A rich man may be wise in his own eyes, but a poor man who has discernment sees through him.

The rich man is wise in his own eyes, But the poor who has understanding sees through him.

Rich people picture themselves as wise, but their real poverty is evident to the poor.

The rich think they know it all, but the poor can see right through them.

The man of wealth seems to himself to be wise, but the poor man who has sense has a low opinion of him.

The rich is wise in self-esteem, but an intelligent poor person sees through the pose.

The rich man is wise in his own eyes, But the poor who has understanding searches him out.

A rich person ¹  is wise in his own eyes, ²  but a discerning poor person can evaluate him properly. ³ 

¹ tn Heb “a rich man,” although the context does not indicate that this is limited only to males.

² sn The idiom “in his own eyes” means “in his own opinion,” that is, his self conceit. The rich person thinks he is wise because he is rich, that he has made all the right choices.

³ tn The form יַחְקְרֶנּוּ (yakhqÿrennu) means “he searches him” (cf. KJV, ASV) or “he examines him”; a potential imperfect nuance fits well here to indicate that a discerning person, even though poor, can search the flaws of the rich and see through the pretension and the false assumptions (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV “sees through him”). Several commentators have connected the word to the Arabic root hqr, which means “despise” (D. W. Thomas, “Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” JTS 38 [1937]: 400-403), but that would be both predictable and flat.