the Week of Proper 26 / Ordinary 31
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Bible Dictionaries
Wealth
Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words
or Hôn (הוֹן, Strong's #1952), “wealth; substance; riches; possessions; enough.” The 26 occurrences of this word are almost wholly in wisdom literature, with 17 of them in the Book of Proverbs. This word appears only in the singular form.
Hôn usually refers to movable goods considered as “wealth”: “But if he [the thief] be found, he shall restore seven-fold; he shall give all the substance of his house” (Prov. 6:31; cf. Ezek. 27:12). “Wealth” can be good and a sign of blessing: “Wealth and riches shall be in his [the righteous man’s] house: and his righteousness endureth for ever” (Ps. 112:3). The creation is God’s wealth: “I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches” (Ps. 119:14). In the Proverbs “wealth” is usually an indication of ungodliness: “The rich man’s wealth is his strong city: the destruction of the poor is their poverty” (Prov. 10:15).
This word can also represent any kind of concrete “wealth”: “… If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned” (Song of Sol. 8:7). This is the significance of the word in its first occurrence: “Thou sellest thy people for nought and dost not increase thy wealth by their price” (Ps. 44:12). “Wealth” in general is meant in Prov. 12:27: “The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious.”
Finally, hôn means “enough” (only in Prov. 30:15-16): “The horseleech hath two daughters, crying, Give, Give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: the grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough.”
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Vines, W. E., M. A. Entry for 'Wealth'. Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/vot/w/wealth.html. 1940.
