KJV: The evil bow before the good; and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.
ASV: The evil bow before the good; and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.
Matthew Henry Commentary
19 The evil bow before the good; and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.
That is, 1. The wicked are oftentimes impoverished and brought low, so that they are forced to beg, their wickedness having reduced them to straits; while good men, by the blessing of God, are enriched, and enabled to give, and do give, even to the evil; for where God grants life we must not deny a livelihood. 2. Sometimes God extorts, even from bad men, an acknowledgement of the excellency of God's people. The evil ought always to bow before the good, and sometimes they are made to do it and to know that God has loved them, Re 3:9. They desire their favour (Es 7:7), their prayers, 2Ki 3:12. 3. There is a day coming when the upright shall have the dominion (Ps 49:14), when the foolish virgins shall come begging to the wise for oil, and shall knock in vain at that gate of the Lord at which the righteous entered.
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