Proverbs 6:30 Made Simple

KJV ORIGINAL

Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;

Close to the original. Clear modern English.

✦ MADE SIMPLE

People don't look down on a thief if he steals food because he's starving and needs to survive.

⚡ THE BOTTOM LINE

This verse is saying that people understand and show some compassion toward someone who steals out of desperate hunger, even though stealing is wrong.

📚 Historical Context

This proverb was written in ancient Israel where poverty and hunger were real threats to survival. In that agricultural society, people understood that extreme hunger could drive someone to desperate actions. The legal and social systems of the time recognized different motivations for theft, with stealing for survival being viewed more sympathetically than stealing for greed.

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