Proverbs 19:22

19:22 What is desirable ¹  for a person is to show loyal love, ² 

and a poor person is better than a liar. ³ 

Matthew 9:3-4

9:3 Then ⁴  some of the experts in the law ⁵  said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming!” ⁶  9:4 When Jesus saw their reaction he said, “Why do you respond with evil in your hearts?

Luke 7:39

7:39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, ⁷  he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, ⁸  he would know who and what kind of woman ⁹  this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.”

[19:22]  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.

[19:22]  ² tn Heb “[is] his loyal love”; NIV “unfailing love”; NRSV “loyalty.”

[19:22]  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.

[9:3]  ⁴ tn Grk “And behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1). Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events in the narrative.

[9:3]  ⁵ tn Or “some of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[9:3]  ⁶ sn Blaspheming meant to say something that dishonored God. To claim divine prerogatives or claim to speak for God when one really does not would be such an act of offense. The remark raised directly the issue of the nature of Jesus’ ministry.

[7:39]  ⁷ tn The word “this” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[7:39]  ⁸ tn This is a good example of a second class (contrary to fact) Greek conditional sentence. The Pharisee said, in effect, “If this man were a prophet (but he is not)…”

[7:39]  ⁹ sn The Pharisees believed in a form of separationism that would have prevented them from any kind of association with such a sinful woman.