Proverbs 19:22
in Proverbs 19The desire of a man is loving devotion; better to be poor than a liar.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
That which maketh a man to be desired is his kindness; And a poor man is better than a liar.
KJV
The desire of a man is his kindness: and a poor man is better than a liar.
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This verse in Proverbs 19
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThe desire of a man is his kindness,.... Either the grace and kindness of God, which is, desirable by every sensible man, as being most excellent, and better than life and anything in it; or it is his desire to show kindness.
This site's exposition
Listen to counsel and accept discipline
on Proverbs 19:20-22
"Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail," setting human planning against divine purpose. "The desire of a man is loving devotion," and it is "better to be poor than a liar," character again outweighing condition.
This site's exposition
better to be poor than a liar
John Gill offers two readings of the first line, the kindness of God that every man desires, or a man's own desire to show kindness. Albert Barnes reads the liar as the man who makes false excuses for withholding a gift. The poor man's wish counts as the kindness itself.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
And a poor man is better than a lying man. Indeed, better is the humble in heart, who trusts nothing in his own works, than he who, by the excellence of virtues, considering himself worthy of the name of man, is deceived; unaware that while …
A needy man is merciful. He calls the needy humble, who continually remembers that he is in need of eternal goods. Such a one, so that he may obtain mercy from the Lord, never refuses to show mercy to his neighbor. About whom he subsequently …
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The “liar” is probably the man, who makes false excuses for not giving, and so is inferior to the poor man, whose “desire,” the wish to do good, is taken, in the absence of means to carry it into effect, for the act of kindness itself.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| תַּאֲוַ֣ת | taavat | [is the] desire of | H8378 → | 20 times |
| אָדָ֣ם | ʾadam | a person | H120 → | 551 times |
| חַסְדּ֑וֹ | chasdo | loyalty his | H2617 → | 247 times |
| וְטֽוֹב־ | vetov- | and [is] good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| רָ֝שׁ | rash | a poor [person] | H7326 → | 24 times |
| מֵאִ֥ישׁ | meish | more than a person of | H376 → | 1663 times |
| כָּזָֽב׃ | kazav | falsehood | H3577 → | 31 times |
תַּאֲוַ֣ת[is the] desire of
taavatH8378 →20 times
אָדָ֣םa person
ʾadamH120 →551 times
חַסְדּ֑וֹloyalty his
chasdoH2617 →247 times
וְטֽוֹב־and [is] good
vetov-H2896 →538 times
רָ֝שׁa poor [person]
rashH7326 →24 times
מֵאִ֥ישׁmore than a person of
meishH376 →1663 times
כָּזָֽב׃falsehood
kazavH3577 →31 times
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
2 Corinthians 8:12For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.
it leads to
- Mark 12:42–44
Then one poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amounted to a small fraction of a denarius.
- Luke 21:1–4
Then Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury,
- 2 Corinthians 9:7
Each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not out of regret or compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver.
- Exodus 35:29
So all the men and women of the Israelites whose hearts prompted them brought a freewill offering to the LORD for all the work that the LORD through Moses had commanded them to do.
- Exodus 35:21–22
And everyone whose heart stirred him and whose spirit prompted him came and brought an offering to the LORD for the work on the Tent of Meeting, for all its services, and for the…
- Mark 12:42–44
Through
Proverbs 19:1Better a poor man who walks with integrity than a fool whose lips are perverse.
it leads to
- Proverbs 28:6
Better a poor man who walks with integrity than a rich man whose ways are perverse.
- Proverbs 16:8
Better a little with righteousness than great gain with injustice.
- Matthew 16:26
What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
- Proverbs 28:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).