Proverbs 19:1

Lexham English Bible

19 Better a poor person walking in integrity
than one who is perverse in his speech^[a] and is a fool.

Proverbs 19:1

New English Translation

19 Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity^[a]
than one who is perverse in his speech^[b] and is a fool.^[c]

Proverbs 19:1 sn People should follow honesty even if it leads to poverty (e.g., Prov 18:23; 19:22).
Proverbs 19:1 tn Heb “lips.” The term “lips” is a metonymy for what one says with his lips. The expression “perverse in his lips” refers to speech that is morally perverted. Some medieval Hebrew mss, the Syriac, and Tg. Prov 19:1 have “his ways” rather than “his lips” (e.g., Prov 28:6); cf. NAB.
Proverbs 19:1 tc The Syriac and Tg. Prov 19:1 read “rich” instead of MT “fool.” This makes tighter antithetical parallelism than MT and is followed by NAB. However, the MT makes sense as it stands; this is an example of metonymical parallelism. The MT reading is also supported by the LXX. The Hebrew construction uses וְהוּא (v^ehuʾ), “and he [is],” before “fool.” This may be rendered “one who is perverse while a fool” or “a fool at the same time.”

⁵A witness of falsehood will not go unpunished,
and he who breathes lies will not escape.

⁵A false witness^[a] will not go unpunished,
and the one who spouts out^[b] lies will not escape punishment.^[c]

Proverbs 19:5 tn Heb “a witness of lies.” This expression is an attributive genitive: “a lying witness” (cf. CEV “dishonest witnesses”). This is paralleled by “the one who pours out lies.”
Proverbs 19:5 tn Heb “breathes out”; NAB “utters”; NIV “pours out.”
Proverbs 19:5 tn Heb “will not escape” (so NAB, NASB); NIV “will not go free.” Here “punishment” is implied, and has been supplied in the translation for clarity. sn This proverb is a general statement, because on occasion there are false witnesses who go unpunished in this life (e.g., Prov 6:19; 14:5, 25; 19:9). The Talmud affirms, “False witnesses are contemptible even to those who hire them” (b. Sanhedrin 29b).

⁹A false witness will not go unpunished,
and he who breathes lies will perish.

⁹A false witness will not go unpunished,
and the one who spouts out^[a] lies will perish.^[b]

Proverbs 19:9 tn Heb “breathes out”; NAB “utters”; NIV “pours out.”
Proverbs 19:9 sn The verse is the same as v. 5, except that the last word changes to the verb “will perish” (cf. NCV “will die”; CEV, NLT “will be destroyed”; TEV “is doomed”).

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