God’s Word Translation
Proverbs 19:22
22Loyalty is desirable in a person, and it is better to be poor than a liar.
Proverbs 19:22 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)The desire of a man is his kindness: and a poor man is better than a liar.
- New International Version (NIV)What a person desires is unfailing love; better to be poor than a liar.
- English Standard Version (ESV)What is desired in a man is steadfast love, and a poor man is better than a liar.
- New King James Version (NKJV)What is desired in a man is kindness, And a poor man is better than a liar.
Context of Proverbs 19:22
20Listen to advice and accept discipline so that you may be wise the rest of your life. 21Many plans are in the human heart, but the advice of the Lord will endure. Loyalty is desirable in a person, and it is better to be poor than a liar. 23The fear of the Lord leads to life, and such a person will rest easy without suffering harm. 24A lazy person puts his fork in his food. He doesn’t even bring it back to his mouth.
Read all of Proverbs 19Proverbs 19:22 word by word
תַּאֲוַ֣ת אָדָ֣ם חַסְדּ֑וֹ וְטֽוֹב־רָ֝שׁ מֵאִ֥ישׁ כָּזָֽב׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 19:22
- 1 Chronicles 29:2With all my might I gathered ⌞the materials⌟ for the temple of my God: gold for gold objects, silver for silver objects, bronze for bronze objects, iron for iron objects, wood for wooden objects, onyx stones and settings, black stones, stones of different colors, gems, and marble.
- 2 Chronicles 6:8However, the Lord said to my father David, ‘Since you had your heart set on building a temple for my name, your intentions were good.
- Mark 12:41As Jesus sat facing the temple offering box, he watched how ⌞much⌟ money people put into it. Many rich people put in large amounts.
- Mark 14:6Jesus said, “Leave her alone! Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing for me.
- 2 Corinthians 8:2While they were being severely tested by suffering, their overflowing joy, along with their extreme poverty, has made them even more generous.
- Proverbs 19:1Better to be a poor person who lives innocently than to be one who talks dishonestly and is a fool.
- Job 6:15My brothers have been as deceptive as seasonal rivers, like the seasonal riverbeds that flood.
- Job 17:5(Whoever turns in friends to get their property should have his children’s eyesight fail.)
- Psalms 62:9Common people are only a whisper in the wind. Important people are only a delusion. When all of them are weighed on a scale, they amount to nothing. They are less than a whisper in the wind.
Commentaries on Proverbs 19:22
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 22The “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.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 22Verse 22 It is far better to have a heart to do good, and want ability for it, than to have ability for it, and want a heart to it.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2222. desire--that is, to do good, indicates a kind disposition (Pr 11:23); and the poor thus affected are better than liars, who say and do not.Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 19:22
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Proverbs 19
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries