Proverbs 16:19
in Proverbs 16It is better to be lowly in spirit among the humble than to divide the spoil with the proud.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Better it is to be of a lowly spirit with the poor, Than to divide the spoil with the proud.
KJV
Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.
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This verse in Proverbs 16
Commentary
2 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Pride goeth before destruction
on Proverbs 16:18-19
Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall, one of the book's most quoted lines, and the text itself is more exact than the common paraphrase: pride ends in destruction, and the haughty spirit specifically ends in a fall, two distinct outcomes for two distinct forms of the same sin. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud follows immediately, ranking a humble man's company above a proud man's winnings even when the proud man has actually won. Bridges reads the pairing as the chapter's clearest single warning, pride measured by what it costs rather than by how it feels while it lasts.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly,....
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ט֣וֹב | tov | [is] good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| שְׁפַל־ | shefal- | to be lowly | H8213 → | 31 times |
| ר֭וּחַ | ruach | spirit | H7307 → | 378 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | with | H854 → | 929 times |
| עֲנָוִ֑ים | aniyim | humble [people] | H6035 → | 22 times |
| מֵֽחַלֵּ֥ק | mechalek | more than dividing | H2505 → | 65 times |
| שָׁ֝לָ֗ל | shalal | plunder | H7998 → | 73 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | with | H854 → | 929 times |
| גֵּאִֽים׃ | geim | proud [people] | H1343 → |
ט֣וֹב[is] good
tovH2896 →538 times
שְׁפַל־to be lowly
shefal-H8213 →31 times
ר֭וּחַspirit
ruachH7307 →378 times
אֶת־with
ʾet-H854 →929 times
עֲנָוִ֑יםhumble [people]
aniyimH6035 →22 times
מֵֽחַלֵּ֥קmore than dividing
mechalekH2505 →65 times
שָׁ֝לָ֗לplunder
shalalH7998 →73 times
אֶת־with
ʾet-H854 →929 times
גֵּאִֽים׃proud [people]
geimH1343 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 34:18The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.
it leads to
- Psalms 147:3
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 57:15
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit,…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 145:18
The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call out to Him in truth.
- Psalms 147:3
Through
Matthew 5:3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
it leads to
- Psalms 34:18
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 66:2
Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles…
- Proverbs 29:23
A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.
- Luke 18:14
I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:14
and if My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and…
- Psalms 34:18
Where this verse is studied
About Proverbs
This page draws on Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.