The Meaning of Proverbs 10:15 Explained

Proverbs 10:15

KJV: The rich man's wealth is his strong city: the destruction of the poor is their poverty.

YLT: The wealth of the rich is his strong city, The ruin of the poor is their poverty.

Darby: The rich man's wealth is his strong city; the destruction of the poor is their poverty.

ASV: The rich man's wealth is his strong city: The destruction of the poor is their poverty.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

The rich man's  wealth  [is] his strong  city:  the destruction  of the poor  [is] their poverty. 

What does Proverbs 10:15 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Even though wealth is not most important, it still can result in security-and its absence can result in poverty, so people should not despise it.

Context Summary

Proverbs 10:1-16 - The Righteous And The Wicked
Wealth has its advantages, which are more than apparent. The rich man's wealth is his strong city, Proverbs 10:15; but the treasures which have been obtained by wickedness are soon dissipated. They profit nothing, Proverbs 10:2. This book contains the striking thought that ill-earned wealth is never gathered for the benefit of the possessor, but rather for the benefit of the righteous, and must be useless until it gets into hands which will use it benevolently and rightly.
But there is another kind of wealth, which will never take wings to fly away, which no moth can corrupt nor thief steal, and which will avail not only here but here-after. Note the antithesis of Proverbs 10:2. If you would increase your wealth, give it away. See Proverbs 10:4.
The covering work of love, referred to in Proverbs 10:12, is emphasized in 1 Corinthians 13:7, r.v., margin, 1 Peter 4:8, and James 5:20. God covers sin, so that the memory of it is obliterated, Ezekiel 33:16. [source]

Chapter Summary: Proverbs 10

1  Proverbs of Solomon: observations of moral virtues, and their contrary vices

What do the individual words in Proverbs 10:15 mean?

Wealth [is] of the rich man city his strong the destruction of the poor [is] their poverty
ה֣וֹן עָ֭שִׁיר קִרְיַ֣ת עֻזּ֑וֹ מְחִתַּ֖ת דַּלִּ֣ים רֵישָֽׁם

ה֣וֹן  Wealth  [is] 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: הֹון  
Sense: wealth, riches, substance.
עָ֭שִׁיר  of  the  rich  man 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: עָשִׁיר  
Sense: rich, wealthy n.
קִרְיַ֣ת  city 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: קִרְיָה 
Sense: city, town.
עֻזּ֑וֹ  his  strong 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: עֹז  
Sense: might, strength.
מְחִתַּ֖ת  the  destruction 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: מְחִתָּה  
Sense: destruction, ruin, terror, a breaking.
דַּלִּ֣ים  of  the  poor 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural construct
Root: דַּל  
Sense: low, poor, weak, thin, one who is low.
רֵישָֽׁם  [is]  their  poverty 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: רֵישׁ  
Sense: poverty.