Proverbs 19:22

NETBible

What is desirable 1  for a person is to show loyal love, 2  and a poor person is better than a liar. 3 

NIV ©

What a man desires is unfailing love; better to be poor than a liar.

NASB ©

What is desirable in a man is his kindness, And it is better to be a poor man than a liar.

NLT ©

Loyalty makes a person attractive. And it is better to be poor than dishonest.

MSG ©

It's only human to want to make a buck, but it's better to be poor than a liar.

BBE ©

The ornament of a man is his mercy, and a poor man is better than one who is false.

NRSV ©

What is desirable in a person is loyalty, and it is better to be poor than a liar.

NKJV ©

What is desired in a man is kindness, And a poor man is better than a liar.

KJV
The desire
<08378>
of a man
<0120>
[is] his kindness
<02617>_:
and a poor man
<07326> (8802)
[is] better
<02896>
than
<0376>
a liar
<03577>_.
NASB ©
What
<8378>
is desirable
<8378>
in a man
<120>
is his kindness
<2617>
, And
it is
better
<2896>
to be a poor
<7326>
man than
<4480>
a liar
<376>
<3577>.
LXXM
karpov
<2590> 
N-NSM
andri
<435> 
N-DSM
elehmosunh
<1654> 
N-NSF
kreisswn
<2908> 
A-NSM
de
<1161> 
PRT
ptwcov
<4434> 
N-NSM
dikaiov
<1342> 
A-NSM
h
<2228> 
CONJ
plousiov
<4145> 
A-NSM
qeusthv
<5583> 
N-NSM
NET [draft] ITL
What is desirable
<08378>
for a person
<0120>
is to show loyal love
<02617>
, and a poor
<07326>
person
<0376>
is better
<02896>
than a liar
<03577>
.
HEBREW
bzk
<03577>
syam
<0376>
sr
<07326>
bwjw
<02896>
wdox
<02617>
Mda
<0120>
twat (19:22)
<08378>
NETBible

What is desirable 1  for a person is to show loyal love, 2  and a poor person is better than a liar. 3 

NET Notes

1 tn Heb “the desire of a man” (so KJV). The noun in construct is תַּאֲוַת (ta’avat), “desire [of].” Here it refers to “the desire of a man [= person].” Two problems surface here, the connotation of the word and the kind of genitive. “Desire” can also be translated “lust,” and so J. H. Greenstone has “The lust of a man is his shame” (Proverbs, 208). But the sentence is more likely positive in view of the more common uses of the words. “Man” could be a genitive of possession or subjective genitive – the man desires loyal love. It could also be an objective genitive, meaning “what is desired for a man.” The first would be the more natural in the proverb, which is showing that loyal love is better than wealth.

2 tn Heb “[is] his loyal love”; NIV “unfailing love”; NRSV “loyalty.”

3 sn The second half of the proverb presents the logical inference: The liar would be without “loyal love” entirely, and so poverty would be better than this. A poor person who wishes to do better is preferable to a person who makes promises and does not keep them.