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Think of two people you might know.
The first one always looks like they are doing well. New phone. Nice clothes. Always paying for the round. But at night, the numbers do not add up, and they know it.
The second one looks like they are just getting by. Old shoes. Simple meals. Nobody would guess they have savings tucked away, or that they quietly help three families every month.
Proverbs 13:7 describes both of them in one sentence. And it was written about three thousand years before anyone had a bank app.
“There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.” (Proverbs 13:7, KJV)
Most of us read that verse as a simple saying about looks being deceiving. But the Hebrew words hide something sharper. And once you see it, it is hard not to see yourself in it.
What Does Proverbs 13:7 Mean?
At its simplest, Proverbs 13:7 means this: how rich someone looks and how rich someone is are two different things. One person acts rich and has nothing. Another person acts poor and has plenty.
Many newer translations make this plain. The ESV reads, “One pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.” The NIV says almost the same thing.
Notice the word they chose: pretends. That word was not added to make the verse easier. It comes straight out of the Hebrew grammar.
This matters for anyone who has ever felt a gap between the money they have and the way they feel about it. Some people call that gap “money dysmorphia” now. We wrote about the modern side of it in what money dysmorphia is and why more money never quite fixes it. Proverbs 13:7 goes somewhere that article did not. It is not only about how we see our money. It is about the act we put on about it.
The Hebrew Word That Changes Everything
Hebrew verbs come in different “forms.” One of them, called the Hitpael, often means doing something to yourself. But it has another use too. Sometimes it means acting like something you are not.
Some Hebrew scholars have a fun nickname for that use. They call it the “Hollywood Hitpael,” because it is about playing a part, like an actor on a film set.
Both halves of Proverbs 13:7 use this kind of verb:
- The first person “makes himself rich” in the sense of playing the rich man. The costume is real. The money is not.
- The second person “makes himself poor” in the sense of playing the poor man. The costume is plain. The treasure underneath is real.
So this is not a verse about two people who got confused about their bank balance. It is a verse about two people wearing a mask. One mask says “I have plenty.” The other says “I have nothing.” Both masks are lies. They just point in opposite directions.
Why Would Anyone Pretend to Be Poor?
The first half is easy to picture. People have always wanted to look successful. Borrowing to look wealthy is as old as money itself.
The second half is the surprise. Why would anyone act poorer than they are?
A widely used Bible translators’ handbook on Proverbs, by William Reyburn and Euan Fry, lists several ways people have read this verse. One is simply “don’t judge by outward appearance.” Another is that both lines are a criticism of pretense in either direction: poor people acting rich, and rich people acting poor.
That second reading rings true, because pretending to be poor still happens all the time. It can look like:
- Hiding what you have so nobody asks you to share it.
- Always saying “I can’t afford it” when the honest answer is “I don’t want to.”
- Holding on so tightly, out of fear, that you live like you are broke when you are not.
That last one is worth slowing down on. Nobody else may even be watching. Sometimes the only person we are acting poor for is ourselves.
The Mask Eventually Fools the Person Wearing It
Here is where this old verse lands in modern life.
The verse describes an outward act, a show put on for other people. But we all know how acting works. Play a part long enough and you can start to believe it.
That is an observation, not a claim the proverb makes. But it fits what so many people describe. The person who plays rich for years can stop being able to see the hole they are in. The person who plays poor for years can lose the ability to feel safe, no matter what is in the account. The act on the outside becomes a feeling on the inside.
The Bible shows the first danger clearly in Revelation 3:17, where Jesus speaks to a wealthy church:
“Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” (Revelation 3:17, KJV)
Look at the words “knowest not.” That church was not only pretending to others. They had fooled themselves.
And Paul shows the hopeful side, the kind of “poor” that is actually rich, in 2 Corinthians 6:10:
“As poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” (2 Corinthians 6:10, KJV)
Paul was not pretending. He really had little. But he was not wearing a mask either. He had simply found a kind of wealth that does not live in a purse or an account.
What Proverbs 13:7 Asks of Us Today
Proverbs 13:7 does not tell you to have more money or less money. It tells you to stop acting.
That is freeing. You do not have to impress anyone with how well you are doing. You do not have to hide from anyone by pretending you have nothing. You can simply tell the truth about what you have, to others, to yourself and to God.
Honesty is where peace starts. It is hard to trust God with money you are pretending you have. It is also hard to trust God with money you are pretending you don’t. Paul said in Philippians 4:11 that he had “learned” to be content, and we unpacked that in what Paul meant when he said he learned contentment. Contentment is hard to learn while wearing a costume. It starts when the costume comes off.
If you have more questions about this verse or the ones around it, you can explore them with our free Bible Answers AI assistant (it opens in ChatGPT).
“The costume was never the treasure. Take it off and see what is really there.”
Actions to Take Today
- Name your mask. Finish this sentence honestly, even just in your head: “When it comes to money, I usually try to look ______.” Richer? Poorer? More together than I am?
- Write down the real picture. On any scrap of paper, write three plain facts about your money right now. What came in, what went out, what is left. No story, no feeling. Just the facts. Seeing the truth is the first step out of the act.
- Drop the act once this week. The next time you are about to say “I can’t afford it” when you mean “I’d rather not,” or to buy something mainly so you look a certain way, pause. Say the honest version instead.
Journaling Prompts
- Who am I most tempted to look impressive for when it comes to money, and why does their opinion matter so much to me?
- If I stopped pretending, in either direction, what am I afraid people would find out?
- Where in my life do I already have “great riches” that no bank account shows?
A Prayer
God, I am tired of acting. Sometimes I pretend I have more than I do, and sometimes I hold on so tightly that I live like I have nothing at all. Help me tell the truth about what is in my hands, to other people, to myself and to You. Show me the riches I have that I keep walking past. Teach me to be content, not because the number is right, but because You are with me. Amen.
A Question for You
Which do you think is more common today: people pretending to be richer than they are, or people living poorer than they need to because of fear? Tell us what you think in the comments.
Share This
Proverbs 13:7 uses a Hebrew verb that means “acting.” One person plays rich and has nothing. Another plays poor and has plenty. Both are wearing a mask. https://bgodinspired.com/index.php/bible-resources/bible-answers/proverbs-13-7-meaning/
I always read Proverbs 13:7 as “looks can be deceiving.” Turns out it is about pretending, and how the act can end up fooling the actor. This one stuck with me: https://bgodinspired.com/index.php/bible-resources/bible-answers/proverbs-13-7-meaning/
Questions People Ask About Proverbs 13:7
What does Proverbs 13:7 mean?
Proverbs 13:7 says, “There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches” (KJV). It means that how wealthy a person looks and how wealthy a person actually is can be completely different. One person acts rich but has nothing, while another acts poor but has great wealth. The verse warns against judging by appearances and against pretending about money in either direction.
Is Proverbs 13:7 about pretending?
Yes. The Hebrew verbs in Proverbs 13:7 are reflexive forms that can mean acting like something you are not. Hebrew scholars sometimes nickname this use the “Hollywood Hitpael,” because it describes playing a role. That is why many modern translations, including the ESV and NIV, render the verse as “one pretends to be rich” and “another pretends to be poor.”
Why would someone pretend to be poor, according to the Bible?
Proverbs 13:7 does not give a reason, but common readings include hiding wealth to avoid sharing it, avoiding requests for help, or living in fear of losing what one has. A translators’ handbook on Proverbs by William Reyburn and Euan Fry notes that the verse can be read as a criticism of pretense in both directions: poor people acting rich and rich people acting poor.
What other Bible verses talk about looking rich but being poor?
Revelation 3:17 describes people who said “I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing” without knowing they were “poor, and blind, and naked” (KJV). Second Corinthians 6:10 describes the opposite kind of person: “as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” Together with Proverbs 13:7, these verses separate outward wealth from true wealth.
Is Proverbs 13:7 about money dysmorphia?
Not directly. Money dysmorphia is a modern, non-clinical term for a gap between someone’s real finances and how secure they feel. Proverbs 13:7 describes an outward act, pretending to others to be rich or poor. The two are connected, though, because a financial act kept up for long enough can shape how a person actually feels about their money.
