Proverbs 17:1

Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Better	ט֤וֹב Tov	H2896	good (as an adjective) in the widest sense · adjective, masculine singular absolute
dry	חֲ֭רֵבָה Cha.re.vah	H2720	parched or ruined · adjective, feminine singular absolute
morsel	פַּ֣ת pat	H6595	a bit · noun, common feminine singular absolute
quietness	וְשַׁלְוָה ve.shal.vah-	H7962	security (genuine or false) · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute
house	מִ֝בַּ֗יִת mi.Ba.yit	H1004	a house (in the greatest variation of applications · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
full	מָלֵ֥א ma.Le'	H4392	full (literally or figuratively) or filling (literally) · adjective, masculine singular absolute
sacrifices	זִבְחֵי ziv.chei-	H2077	properly · noun, common masculine plural construct
strife	רִֽיב Riv	H7379	a contest (personal or legal) · noun, common masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Proverbs 15:17 Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.
Psalms 37:16 A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.
Proverbs 21:19 It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman.
Proverbs 21:9 It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house.
Proverbs 7:14 I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

John Gill on Proverbs 17:1

Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith,.... A small quantity of bread; a broken piece of bread, as the word (w) signifies; which has been long broken off, and become "dry" (x); a dry crust of bread; old bread, as the Arabic version; an old, mouldy, dry piece of bread: and the word used has the signification of destruction in it: bread that has lost its taste and virtue; or, however, a mere piece of bread is meant, without anything to eat with it, as Gersom, butter, cheese, or flesh: this, with quietness and peace among those that partake of it, peace in the family, in a man's own mind, especially if he has the peace of God, which passeth all understanding; this is better than a hou…

Read the whole note in the console

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 17:1-5

Pro 17:1 A comparative proverb with טוב, pairing with Pro 16:32 : Better a dry piece of bread, and quietness therewith, Than a house full of slain beasts with unquietness. Similar to this in form and contents are Pro 15:16. and Pro 16:8. פּת חרבה is a piece of bread (פת, fem., as Pro 23:8) without savoury drink (Theodotion, καθ ̓ ἑαυτόν, i.e., nothing with it), cf. Lev 7:10, a meat-offering without the pouring out of oil. זבחים are not sacrificial gifts (Hitzig), but, as always, slain animals, i.e., either offerings or banquets of slain beasts; it is the old name of the שׁלמים (cf. Exo 18:12; Exo 24:5; Pro 7:14), part of which only were offered on the altar, and part presented as a banquet…

Read the whole note in the console

Rashi on Proverbs 17:1

Better a piece of dry bread and tranquility with it It would have been better for the Holy One, blessed be He, to destroy His Temple and His city, for He would enjoy tranquility from the sins of Israel. than a house full of sacrifices of strife For they were sacrificing sacrifices of strife in his Temple.

Henry, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Clarke, Gill, Calvin and Keil & Delitzsch are in the public domain; Tyndale Open Study Notes © Tyndale House Publishers, CC BY-SA 4.0 — all from the Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org). Rashi: the Rosenbaum & Silbermann Pentateuch (public domain) and the Judaica Press and Metsudah Tanakh (CC BY), via Sefaria. Spurgeon's Treasury of David: public domain (lyteword's markdown edition, CC0).

The Church Fathers

Better is a dry morsel with joy, etc. It is better to do small good deeds with charity without the knowledge of preaching, that is, to have a dry morsel, than to shine with great virtues mixed with discord.
— Bede, Commentary on Proverbs

The Scriptures teach us not to be wasteful but liberal. There are two kinds of free giving, one arising from liberality, the other from wasteful extravagance. It is a mark of liberality to receive the stranger, to clothe the naked, to redeem the captives, to help the needy. It is wasteful to spend money on expensive banquets and much wine. Therefore one reads, "Wine is wasteful, drunkenness is abusive." It is wasteful to spend one's own wealth merely for the sake of gaining the favor of the people. This they do who spend their inheritance on the games of the circus, or on theatrical pieces and gladiatorial shows, or even a combat of wild beasts, just to surpass the fame of their forefathers for these things. All this that they do is only foolish, for it is not right to be extravagant in spending money even on good works.
— Ambrose of Milan, On the Duties of the Clergy 2.21.108-9

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Meekness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Peace · General references — General references
Strife · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).