Proverbs 19:6

Many will intreat the favour of the prince: and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

Proverbs 19:6-7. Many will entreat the favour of the prince — Or, of the liberal, or bountiful man, as נדיבmay be properly rendered. Kings and princes were anciently called benefactors, Luke 22:25. And every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts — Not sincerely, however, as daily experience shows, but only in show, or profession, or in the outward expressions of friendship and kindness. All the brethren of the poor — His nearest and dearest relations, who are often called brethren in the Scriptures; do hate him — Despise and shun him, as men do a thing that they hate, and as the following words explain it; How much more do his friends go far from him — His other friends, who are no way related to him, but in his prosperity professed love and friendship to him. He pursueth them with words — Earnestly imploring their pity and help. Or, He urgeth their words, as מרדŠ אמריםmay be rendered; that is, he allegeth their former promises and professions of friendship: or, He seeketh words, (as the preacher sought to find out acceptable words, Ecclesiastes 12:10,) wherewith he might prevail and move them to pity; yet they are wanting to him — Hebrew, לא המה, not they, or, they not. The meaning is, they are not what they pretended to be, namely, friends to him: or, their words are vain, and without effect; there is no reality in them. Houbigant renders the verse, “All his own brethren hate a poor man; how much more his neighbours! They have departed far from him; he followeth after them, but they are not found.”

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

19:3. Men run into troubles by their own folly, and then fret at the appointments of God. 4. Here we may see how strong is men's love of money. 5. Those that tell lies in discourse, are in a fair way to be guilty of bearing false-witness. 6. We are without excuse if we do not love God with all our hearts. His gifts to us are past number, and all the gifts of men to us are fruits of his bounty. 7. Christ was left by all his disciples; but the Father was with him. It encourages our faith that he had so large an experience of the sorrows of poverty. 8. Those only love their souls aright that get true wisdom. 9. Lying is a damning, destroying sin. 10. A man that has not wisdom and grace, has no right or title to true joy. It is very unseemly for one who is a servant to sin, to oppress God's free-men.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Intreat the favor ... - literally, "stroke the face" of the man of princely nature, who gives munificently.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

5. Compare Pr 19:9, where perish explains not escape here (compare Ps 88:9, 10).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Of the prince; or, as others, of the liberal or bountiful man; which comes to the same thing, for kings were anciently called benefactors, Luke 22:25.

A friend; not sincerely, as daily experience shows, but in show or profession, or in the outward expressions of it, whereby they may oblige him.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Many will entreat the favour of the prince,.... Or of the liberal and bountiful man; as kings and princes generally are, Luke 22:25; such have many to wait upon them, and are humble petitioners to them. Aben Ezra and Gersom interpret the many of great and honourable men, who are courtiers to kings and princes; who wait upon them, ask favours of them, and seek for places under them. The Targum is,

"there are many that minister before a prince;''

he has many servants, and some of them nobles;

and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts; or "to a man of gift" (k): who has it in his power to give, and has a heart to it; who is both a rich man and a liberal man; who is both able and willing to communicate to the necessities of others: such a man not only has the poor his friends, but others will speak well of him, and will make application to him on account of the poor; and, for the sake of doing good to them, will court his friendship and acquaintance. Bayne interprets this "man of gift" of Christ, who ascended on high, and received gifts for men, and gives them to men.

(k) "viro doni", Montanus, Vatablus, Michaelis.

Geneva Study Bible

Many will intreat the favour of the prince: and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

6. prince] It is better to preserve the parallelism, and to render the Heb. word in its primary sense of princely disposition, the liberal man, R.V. text, than with A.V. and R.V. marg., of princely rank. The same word is rendered liberal, Isaiah 32:5; Isaiah 32:8. Comp. Keble’s version of it in Psalm 51:12 (Sixth Sun. after Trinity):

“The princely heart of innocence.”

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 6. - Many will intreat the favour of the prince; Literally, will stroke the face of the prince, of the liberal and powerful man, in expectation of receiving some benefit from him (Proverbs 29:26; Job 11:19). Every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts (see on Proverbs 17:8). The LXX., reading כָל־הְרֵעַ for בָל־הָּרֵעַ, renders, "Every bad man is a reproach to a man," which may mean that a sordid, evil man brings only disgrace on himself; or that, while many truckle to and try to win the interest of a prince, bad courtiers bring on him not glory, but infamy and shame. Proverbs 19:6

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

6 Many stroke the cheeks of the noble;

   And the mass of friends belongeth to him who gives.

The phrase 'חלּות פּני פל signifies to stroke the face of any one, from the fundamental meaning of the verb חלה, to rub, to stroke, Arab. khala, with which the Heb., meaning to be sick, weak (viribus attritum esse), and the Arabic: to be sweet (properly laevem et politum, glabrum esse, or palatum demulcere, leniter stringere, contrast asperum esse ad gustum), are connected (Fl.). The object of such insinuating, humble suing for favour is the נדיב (from נדב, instigare), the noble, he who is easily incited to noble actions, particularly to noble-mindedness in bestowing gifts and in doing good, or who feels himself naturally impelled thereto, and spontaneously practises those things; cf. the Arab. krym, nobilis and liberalis (Fl.), and at Job 21:28; parall. אישׁ מתּן, a man who gives willingly, as אישׁ חמה, Proverbs 15:18, one who is easily kindled into anger. Many (רבּים, as Job 11:19) stroke the face of the liberal (Lat. caput mulcent or demulcent); and to him who gives willingly and richly belongs כל־הרע, the mass (the totality) of good friends, cf. Proverbs 15:17; there the art. of הרע, according to the manner of expression of the Arab. grammarians, stood for "the exhaustion of the characteristic properties of the genus": the friend who corresponds to the nature (the idea) of such an one; here it stands for "the comprehension of the individuals of the genus;" all that is only always friend. It lies near with Ewald and Hitzig to read וכלּה רע (and every one is friend...) (כלּה equals כלּו, as Jeremiah 8:10, etc.); but why could not כל־הרע be used as well as כל־האדם, perhaps with the sarcastic appearance which the above translation seeks to express? The lxx also had וכל הרע in view, which it incorrectly translates πᾶς δὲ ὁ κακός, whereby the Syr. and the Targ. are led into error; but מתּן is not one and the same with שׂחד, vid., Proverbs 18:6. On the contrary, there certainly lies before us in Proverbs 19:7 a mutilated text. The tristich is, as we have shown, vol. i, p. 15, open to suspicion; and the violence which its interpretation needs in order to comprehend it, as a formal part of 7ab, places it beyond a doubt, and the lxx confirms it that 7c is the remainder of a distich, the half of which is lost.