Proverbs 19:1

Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity ¹  than one who is perverse in his speech ²  and is a fool. ³ 

1Sa 25:17,25; Ps 37:26; Pr 12:26; Pr 15:16; Pr 16:8; Pr 19:22; Pr 28:6; Isa 59:3; Mt 12:31-34; Mt 16:26; Jas 2:5,6

¹ sn People should follow honesty even if it leads to poverty (e.g., Prov 18:23; 19:22).

² 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.

³ 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 (vÿhu’), “and he [is],” before “fool.” This may be rendered “one who is perverse while a fool” or “a fool at the same time.”