Proverbs 29:7

The righteous person cares for ¹  the legal rights ²  of the poor; the wicked does not understand such ³  knowledge.

1Sa 25:9-11; Job 29:16; Job 31:13,21; Ps 31:7; Ps 41:1; Pr 21:13; Jer 5:28; Jer 22:15-17; Eze 22:7,29-31; Mic 3:1-4; Ga 6:1

¹ tn The form is an active participle, יֹדֵעַ (yodea’); it describes the righteous as “knowing, caring for, having sympathetic knowledge for, or considering favorably” the legal needs of the poor. Cf. NAB “has a care for”; NASB “is concerned for.”

² tn The Hebrew word used here is דִּין (din), which typically means “judgment,” but can also mean “strife” and “cause.” Here it refers to the “cause” of the poor (so KJV, ASV), their plea, their case, their legal rights. A righteous person is sympathetic to this.

³ tn The term “such” is supplied in the translation for clarification. It is not simply any knowledge that the wicked do not understand, but the knowledge mentioned in the first colon. They do not understand the “sympathetic knowledge” or “concern” for the cause of the poor.