Proverbs 22:1

1 ¹A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.

Proverbs 22:1 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 22:1

A [good] name [is] rather to be chosen than great riches
The word "good" is not in the text, but is rightly supplied, as it is by the Targum, Septuagint, and Vulgate Latin versions; for it is not any name that is more eligible than riches; nor is it a need name among any sort of persons; for to have a good name with some turns to a man's reproach rather than to his credit; but a good name among good men, a name in the house of God, which is better than sons and daughters; a new name, the name of the children of God, which no man knoweth but he that receiveth it; this is to be preferred to a multitude of riches: it is not to be procured by them, and is where they are not, or are lost, but this continues; see ( Ecclesiastes 7:1 ) ; [and] loving favour rather them silver and gold;
favour with God and man, especially with God, whose loving kindness is better than life, and all the enjoyments of it: or, as it may be rendered, "grace [is] better than silver and gold" ^F16; the grace of God through Christ, the grace of Christ, in whom all fulness of it dwells, the grace of the Spirit of Christ; faith is more precious than gold that perisheth; and if a man would give all the substance of his house for love it would be contemned; the Spirit and his grace are not to be purchased for money.

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 (bwj Nx) "gratia melior", Munster, Tigurine version, Junius & Tremellius, Michaelis; so Schultens.

Proverbs 22:1 In-Context

1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.

2 The rich and the poor meet together; the Lord is the maker of them all.

3 The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.

4 The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life.

5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked; whoever guards his soul will keep far from them.

Cross References

• 1. 22:1 [Eccles. 7:1]