“The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.”

Context & Editorial Note

This verse appears in the wisdom literature of the Book of Proverbs, a collection of teachings associated with ancient Israel and preserved in the Hebrew Bible. The King James Version renders the passage in its 1611 English translation, using relational language to describe social and economic dependence in a lending context. Its wording presents an observation about power and obligation; it does not provide a detailed account of lending practices or prescribe a specific financial course of action.