PROV 19:6 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) Many people make requests to a generous leader,
⇔ ≈ and everyone is the friend of the person who gives gifts.

Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX Πολλοὶ θεραπεύουσι πρόσωπα βασιλέων, πᾶς δὲ ὁ κακὸς γίνεται ὄνειδος ἀνδρί.
(Polloi therapeuousi prosōpa basileōn, pas de ho kakos ginetai oneidos andri. )

BrTr Many court the favour of kings; but every bad man becomes a reproach to another man.

ULT Many will entreat the face of a noble,
⇔ and everyone is the friend of a man of gift.

UST A lot of people want royal officials to favor them,
⇔ and many people want to be friends with people who give gifts.

OEB No OEB PROV book available

WEBBE Many will entreat the favour of a ruler,
⇔ and everyone is a friend to a man who gives gifts.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Many people entreat the favor of a generous person,
⇔ and everyone is the friend of the person who gives gifts.

LSV Many beg the face of the noble,
And all have made friendship to a man of gifts.

FBV Many ask favors from important people, and everyone's a friend of the generous.

T4T ⇔ Many people try to persuade important people to do favors for them;
⇔ everyone wants to be a friend of those who give gifts.

LEB • Many will seek favor before the generous, and everyone is the friend of a man of gifts.[fn]

19:? Hebrew “gift”

BBE Great numbers will make attempts to get the approval of a ruler: and every man is the special friend of him who has something to give.

Moff Many pay court to a bountiful man:
⇔ all are friends of a man who gives presents.

JPS Many will entreat the favour of the liberal man; and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts.

ASV Many will entreat the favor of the liberal man;
⇔ And every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts.

DRA Many honour the person of him that is mighty, and are friends of him that giveth gifts.

YLT Many entreat the face of the noble, And all have made friendship to a man of gifts.

Drby Many court the favour of a noble; and every one is friend to a man that giveth.

RV Many will entreat the favour of the liberal man: and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts.
(Many will entreat the favour of the liberal man: and every man is a friend to him that giveth/gives gifts. )

SLT Many will wait for the face of the prince, and every one the friend to the man giving.

Wbstr Many will entreat the favor of the prince: and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts.

KJB-1769 Many will intreat the favour of the prince: and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts.[fn]
(Many will entreat the favour of the prince: and every man is a friend to him that giveth/gives gifts. )

19.6 him…: Heb. a man of gifts

KJB-1611 [fn]Many will entreate the fauour of the Prince: and euery man is a friend to him that giueth gifts.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and footnotes)

19:6 Heb. a man of gifts.

Bshps The multitude hangeth vpon great men: and euery man fauoureth hym that geueth rewardes.
(The multitude hangeth/hangs upon great men: and every man favoureth/favours him that giveth/gives rewards.)

Gnva Many reuerence the face of the prince, and euery man is friend to him that giueth giftes.
(Many reverence the face of the prince, and every man is friend to him that giveth/gives gifts. )

Cvdl The multitude hageth vpo greate men, & euery man fauoureth him that geueth rewardes.
(The multitude hageth upon great men, and every man favoureth/favours him that giveth/gives rewards.)

Wycl Many men onouren the persoone of a myyti man; and ben frendis of hym that deelith yiftis.
(Many men honouren the persoone of a mighty man; and been friends of him that deelith gifts.)

Luth Viele warten auf die Person des Fürsten und sind alle Freunde des, der Geschenke gibt.
(Many wait on/in/to the Person the prince(s)/ruler(s) and are all friends of, the/of_the gifts gives.)

ClVg Multi colunt personam potentis, et amici sunt dona tribuentis.
(Multi they_worship person powerful, and friends are gifts tribuentis. )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 10:1–22:16: This is the main collection of Solomon’s proverbs

This section is the main collection of Solomon’s proverbs. It has a very different structure from the longer poetic lectures of chapters 1–9. It consists mostly of individual couplets (two-line poems) that are each one verse in length. With the exception of the title (10:1a), paragraph breaks will not be indicated in the Notes or Display. You may of course choose to start each proverb as a separate paragraph in your translation.

In chapters 10–15, most of these one-verse couplets express a contrast between the two lines. One of the more common contrasts is between the righteous/wise and the wicked/foolish and the different consequences of their conduct.

In chapters 16:1–22:16, more topics are discussed. There is more emphasis on the role of the king and other leaders. In these chapters, there are few proverbs with contrasting lines. Some of the parallel lines are similar in meaning. More frequently, the second line adds to what the first line says or gives an example. Most of the verses have no obvious connection with the previous or following proverbs.UBS (page 214), Fox (page 509), McKane (page 413). Many scholars, including McKane, point out that there are some topical groupings as well as poetic connections. These include the repetition of certain words or sounds. This observation does not deny the individual nature of most of the proverbs in this Section.

Two of the types of proverbs in this section are not found in chapters 1–9. One type contains logical reasoning from the lesser to the greater. See 11:31 for a list of these proverbs. There are also several varieties of complex “better than” proverbs. The most common have a contrasting situation in each line (see 12:9). For other varieties, see 16:16, 19:1, and 21:9.

Many of the proverbs in this section refer to categories of people who share a common trait. For example, they refer to the righteous, the wise, the poor, and the lazy. In Hebrew, some verses use singular forms to refer to these groups of people. Other verses use plural forms. Still others use a combination of singular and plural. See the note on 10:30a–b for one example. For most of these verses, the Notes will not comment on the difference between singular and plural forms. Use a natural way in your language to refer to one or more people who are in the same category.

Many of the proverbs in this section express a general principle in abstract terms. They are not addressed specifically to the readers. For example, 10:2a–b says:

Ill-gotten treasures are of no value,

but righteousness delivers from death.

However, the author intended his readers to understand these proverbs as advice that they should follow. In some languages, authors or speakers give advice more directly, using pronouns such as you^(sing), you^(plur), we^(dual), or we^(incl). See the note on 10:2 for translation suggestions.

Some other headings for this section are:

Proverbs of Solomon (NIV)

The Wise Words of Solomon (NCV)

Here are many wise things that Solomon said

19:6–7

These two verses contrast with one another.Waltke (page 100) identifies these two proverbs as a contrasting pair on the basis of the repetition of certain word forms. Verse 19:6 talks about the many people who want to be friends of a generous leader. Verse 19:7 discusses the situation of a poor person whose friends and relatives abandon him.

19:6

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

^6a Many seek the favor of the prince,

^6band everyone is a friend of the gift giver.

The use of “Many” in 19:6a and “everyone” in 19:6b indicates that both statements are true in general. The parallelism implies that the “prince” that is mentioned here is a generous person who gives gifts. It is also implied that “the gift giver” has enough wealth and status to give gifts to many people.

19:6a

Many seek the favor of the prince,

Many people try to gain the favor of an important person/leader,
Many people try to persuade someone of high status/rank to help them.

Many seek the favor of the prince: There are two ways to interpret the word that the BSB translates as the prince:

It refers to a person who has high rank or status, such as a government official.BDB (#5081). For example:
Many curry favor with the great (REB)
people want to please a leader (NCV) (BSB, KJV, NAB, NCV, NIV, NJB, NJPS, NLT, REB, GNT)
It refers to a person who is generous. For example:
Many seek the favor of a generous man (ESV)
Many try to win the kindness of a generous person (GW) (ESV, GW, NASB, NET, RSV)

The Display follows interpretation (1), along with most versions. You may follow either interpretation, depending on what makes sense in your culture. Both interpretations are well supported. Rulers are usually wealthy and have the authority to grant favors.Longman (page 366). On the other hand, “a generous man” forms a closer parallel with “a man who gives gifts.”Whybray (page 277), Fox (page 651).

seek the favor: The Hebrew idiom that the BSB translates as seek the favor is literally “stroke the face.” It means to try to gain someone’s favor. It may imply flattery.Murphy (page 143).

19:6b

and everyone is a friend of the gift giver.

and someone who characteristically/frequently gives gifts has many friends.
In fact, anyone who is generous is surrounded by people who want to be his friends.

and everyone is a friend of the gift giver: The phrase that the BSB translates as the gift giver is literally “a man of gifts.” It refers to a person who frequently or characteristically gives gifts to others. Such a person is, of course, generous. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

a giver of gifts (NRSV)

a lavish giver (REB)

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / nominaladj

רַ֭בִּים

many

Here Solomon uses the adjective many as a noun to mean “many people.” Your language may use adjectives in the same way. If not, you could translate this word with an equivalent phrase. Alternate translation: “Many people”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / genericnoun

פְנֵֽי־נָדִ֑יב & הָ֝⁠רֵ֗עַ לְ⁠אִ֣ישׁ מַתָּֽן

before_of generous & [is]_the,friend of,a_person_of gifts

Here, the face, a noble, the friend, and a man of gift refer to faces and types of people in general, not a specific face or person. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use more natural expressions. Alternate translation: “the faces of any noble … is any friend of any man of gift”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / synecdoche

פְנֵֽי־נָדִ֑יב

before_of generous

The phrase face refers to the whole person. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “the noble person”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

נָדִ֑יב

generous

Here, noble refers to someone who has noble character, not nobility. See how you translated the same use of “nobles” in [17:26](../17/26.md).

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / hyperbole

וְ⁠כָל

and=all

Solomon says everyone here as an extreme statement for emphasis. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a different way to express the emphasis. Alternate translation: “and almost everyone”

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

הָ֝⁠רֵ֗עַ

[is]_the,friend

Here Solomon implies that everyone wants to be the friend of a man of gift. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: “want to be the friend”

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / possession

לְ⁠אִ֣ישׁ מַתָּֽן

of,a_person_of gifts

Here Solomon is using the possessive form to describe a man who is characterized by giving gifts. If your language would not use the possessive form for this, you could use a different expression. Alternate translation: “of a man who gives gifts”

Parallel PROV 19:6

Section 10:1–22:16: This is the main collection of Solomon’s proverbs

19:6–7

19:6

19:6a

19:6b