19:1

Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:

1a Better a poor man who walks with integrity

1b than a fool whose lips are perverse.

In Hebrew, the parallel parts are arranged in the form of a chiasm. For example:

1a Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity

1b than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool. (English Standard Version)

You should use whatever order is more natural in your language.

This proverb is a four-part “better than” proverb. It has the following pattern:

It is better to have A (bad/undesirable situation) + B (good/desirable situation)

than to have C (bad/undesirable situation) + D (another bad/undesirable situation)

The four parts are:

A: poor (undesirable)

B: blameless (desirable)

C: foolish (undesirable)

D: perverse speech (also undesirable)

Although this proverb looks similar to proverbs such as 12:9, the pattern of contrasting parts is different. See the note on 12:9 for information on “better than” proverbs with contrasting situations in both lines.

The overall meaning of this proverb is that a person’s moral character is more important than his financial status. It is better to be a poor person with a blameless life than to be a lying fool. This is true whether the fool is poor or rich.

19:1a

Better a poor man who walks with integrity: The phrase who walks with integrity refers to a person who is consistently perfect or blameless in his conduct. This phrase has the same meaning as the almost identical Hebrew phrase in 2:7b. See the note there. Some other ways to translate this line are:

Better a poor man who lives blamelessly (Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures)
-or-
Better to be poor and above reproach (Revised English Bible)

19:1b

than a fool: For the word fool, see fool 2 in the Glossary.

whose lips are perverse: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as lips are perverse is literally “crooked in his lips.” It is a figure of speech that refers to a person who tells lies or speaks deceitfully. Some other ways to translate this line are:

than to be a lying fool (Good News Translation)
-or-
than to be foolish and tell lies (New Century Version)
-or-
than to be one who talks dishonestly and is a fool (God’s Word)

General Comment on 19:1a–b

In some languages, a comparison with the form “A is better than B” may need to be translated without making the comparison explicit. For example:

1a It is good for a person to be without faults, even though he is poor.

1b It is not good to be a fool who tells lies.

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