16 The gift of a man maketh room for him,

     And bringeth him before the great.

That מתּן may signify intellectual endowments, Hitzig supposes, but without any proof for such an opinion. Intellectual ability as the means of advancement is otherwise designated, Proverbs 22:29. But Hitzig is right in this, that one mistakes the meaning of the proverb if he interprets מתן in the sense of שׂחד (vid., at Proverbs 17:8): mtn is an indifferent idea, and the proverb means that a man makes free space, a free path for himself, by a gift, i.e., by this, that he shows himself to be agreeable, pleasing where it avails, not niggardly but liberal. As a proverb expresses it:

Mit dem Hut in der Hand

Kommt man durchs ganze Land

[with hat in hand one goes through the whole land], so it is said here that such liberality brings before the great, i.e., not: furnishes with introductions to them; but helps to a place of honour near the great, i.e., those in a lofty position (cf. לפני, Proverbs 22:29; עם, Psalm 113:8). It is an important part of practical wisdom, that by right liberality, i.e., by liberal giving where duty demands it, and prudence commends it, one does not lose but gains, does not descend but rises; it helps a man over the difficulties of limited, narrow circumstances, gains for him affection, and helps him up from step to step. The ā of מתּן is, in a singular way (cf. מתּנה, מתּנת), treated as unchangeable.

Proverbs 18:22 Parallel Commentaries

findeth a wife

Proverbs 5:15 Drink waters out of your own cistern, and running waters out of your own well.

Proverbs 12:4 A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that makes ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.

Proverbs 19:14 House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the LORD.

Proverbs 31:10 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

Genesis 24:67 And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her...

Genesis 29:20,21,28 And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed to him but a few days, for the love he had to her...

Ecclesiastes 9:9 Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of the life of your vanity, which he has given you under the sun...

Hosea 12:12 And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.

1 Corinthians 7:2 Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.

and

Proverbs 3:4 So shall you find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

Proverbs 8:35 For whoever finds me finds life, and shall obtain favor of the LORD.