כל המקיים את התורה מעוני. פירש הר"ב שהוא דחוק וכו' כדי לעסוק וכו' והא דלא תנן העוסק. משום סיפא דלא בעי למתני כל שאינו עוסק דהוה אמינא משום גבהות לבו מעושרו אינו עוסק בתורה. ולכך תני המבטל תורה מעושר כלומר בשביל שצריך לעסוק בעשרו דבר זה מבטל תורתו והכי נמי ה"ק המקיים תורה מעוני שאין עסקיו מבטלים למודו אלא מקיים למודו. דרך חיים. והשתא דאתית להכי דתני רישא איידי דסיפא הכי נמי מעוני איידי דסיפא דתנן מעושר דפירושו מחמת עושר ואע"ג דהוה ליה למתני בעוני בבי"ת נ"ל: ANYONE WHO UPHOLDS THE TORAH IN POVERTY [Heb. me`oni]. Rav: he is tight on food and still puts his work aside in order to study Torah. The mishna does not says “anyone who studies” because of the second section. There, the mishna did not want to say “anyone who does not study Torah” because we might understand this to refer to one who does not study Torah out of arrogance on account of his wealth. The mishna therefore says “anyone who leaves aside the Torah because of wealth,” i.e. because he needs to busy himself with it he leaves aside his Torah study. In the first section, as well, when the mishna says “anyone who upholds the Torah in poverty” it means that his business needs do not cause him to cast aside his study; instead, he maintains his study—Maharal in Derech Chaim. If we go with this approach that the first section of the mishna was so worded under the influence of the last section, we can also understand the use of the word me`oni, which really means “because of poverty”. Though it would have been more natural to say be`oni, “in poverty,” the mishna used the me- prefix under the influence of the second section which says me`osher, meaning “because of wealth”.¹⁵⁶Where the meaning really is “because of wealth”, as Maharal has explained.

סופו לקיימה מעושר. ועם היות שהנסיון פעמים רבות יורה בחלוף זה. ועובדא דר"א בן פדת במסכת תענית [דף כ"ה] אי בעית לאחרובי עלמא וכו' כתב בדרך חיים דמתני' בבינוני במזלו. ועוד כדי שהעושר לא יבטלו. וכן במדרש [ילקוט משלי תתקל"ד] מפני מה בני עניים וכו' שלא יעסקו בדברים אחרים וישכחו דברי תורה דכתיב (קהלת ז׳:ז׳) כי העושק יהולל חכם ע"כ. ועוד לפעמים הוא מפעל החטא ויסורין ממרקין. ועליו אמר שלמה [משלי ג' ט'] כבד את ה' מהונך וגו' וסמיך ליה מוסר ה' בני אל תמאס ופי' רבינו יונה ז"ל ענין הסמיכות שאם בעשותך הטוב לא תתרבה הצלחתך. אל תהרהר ומוסר [ה'] בני וגו' ע"כ: WILL EVENTUALLY UPHOLD IT IN WEALTH. Experience has shown that this is often untrue,¹⁵⁷I.e., that such people don’t always become wealthy. as in the story of the poverty-stricken R. Elazar ben P’dat in Ta`anit 25a, whom G-d asked: “would you like me to remake the world, so that perhaps you will be born in a time of plenty?” Maharal writes in Derech Chaim that our mishna is discussing a person with average luck.¹⁵⁸Heb. mazal, a term with complicated theological connotations. And sometimes this happens to a person so that wealth not take him away from his studies,¹⁵⁹Even though the person in question deserves the wealth promised to him by the mishna, G-d keeps it from him in the knowledge that if he gets to be wealthy he will abandon his Torah study. The mishna’s promise, then, is only fulfilled for the kind of person that will not abandon his studies. as in the midrash (Yalkut Shimoni, Mishlei 934): the Torah said before G-d: the verse says “In its left are wealth and honor” (Proverbs 3:16)—why then are there Torah scholars in poverty? G-d answered, “To cause those who love Me to inherit what truly is”¹⁶⁰This seems to be how the midrash is reading the verse. (Proverbs 8:21)—why are they poor in this world? In order that they not busy themselves with other things and forget the Torah, as the verse says “for a wise man praises poverty, and the mindless fool, gifts”¹⁶¹This seems to be how the midrash is reading the verse. Unlike the commentators, who see עשק as the subject and חכם as the object, and understand the verb יהולל to mean something like “make foolish, mad” (from הוללות), the midrash sees עשק as the object and חכם as the subject, and understands the verb יהולל to mean “to praise”. This sets up a nice parallelism for the second half of the verse. (Ecclesiastes 7:7).
And sometimes this is the result of a sin, for which suffering atones. Of such a case King Solmon says, “honor G-d with your wealth, etc”, and immediately afterwards, “do not despise G-d’s disciplining” (Proverbs 3:9, 3:11). Rabbenu Yonah ad loc. explains the juxtaposition of the two verses as follows: if, in doing good, you do not see a life of success, do not doubt G-d and do not despise G-d’s discipline, my son, etc.