Proverbs 19:1

Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Better	טֽוֹב tov-	H2896	good (as an adjective) in the widest sense · adjective, masculine singular absolute
poor	רָ֭שׁ rash	H7326	to be destitute · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
walketh	הוֹלֵ֣ךְ ho.Lekh	H1980	to walk (in a great variety of applications · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
integrity	בְּתֻמּ֑וֹ be.tu.Mo	H8537	completeness · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
perverse	מֵעִקֵּ֥שׁ me.'i.Kesh	H6141	distorted · preposition + adjective, masculine singular construct
lips	שְׂ֝פָתָ֗יו Se.fa.Tav	H8193	the lip (as a natural boundary) · noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
fool	כְסִֽיל khe.Sil	H3684	properly · adjective, 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 28:6 Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness, than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich.
Proverbs 16:8 Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.
Matthew 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Proverbs 19:22 The desire of a man is his kindness: and a poor man is better than a liar.
Proverbs 14:2 He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the LORD: but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him.
Proverbs 15:16 Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith.
Proverbs 20:7 The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.
Isaiah 59:3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.

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

Commentary

John Gill on Proverbs 19:1

Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity,.... In the uprightness of his heart before God and men; who is sincere in the worship of God, and in the profession of his name, and walks in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless; and is upright, harmless, and inoffensive in his conversation with men; and studies to exercise a conscience void of offence to both, and continues herein. A man may be a poor man with respect to worldly things, and yet be rich towards God; may be a truly gracious good man, honest, sincere, and upright in heart and life: and such an one is better than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool; that is, than a rich man, as the Syriac and Vu…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 19:1

The plur. רעים, Pro 18:24, is emphatic and equivalent to רעים רבּים. The group Pro 19:1-4 closes with a proverb which contains this catchword. The first proverb of the group comes by שׂפתיו into contact with Pro 18:20, the first proverb of the preceding group. 1 Better a poor man walking in his innocence, Than one with perverse lips, and so a fool. The contrast, Pro 28:6, is much clearer. But to correct this proverb in conformity with that, as Hitzig does, is unwarrantable. The Syr., indeed, translates here as there; but the Chald. assimilates this translation to the Heb. text, which Theodotion, and after him the Syro-Hexapl., renders by ὑπὲρ στρεβλόχειλον ἄφρονα. But does 1a form a con…

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Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 19:1

It is better to be . . . honest, though poor, because wealth gained by dishonest means is short-lived (10:2) and will not preserve one from harm (11:4; see also 15:16-17; 16:8, 16; 17:1; 22:1; 28:6).

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 the poor who walks in his simplicity, etc. Better is the simple hearer of the word of God, if he completes by working those things which he could understand in the Scriptures; than any learned person, if in those things which he has acutely understood, he twists his lips to preach heresy.
— Bede, Commentary on Proverbs

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

Integrity · 16:19,20; — 16:19,20;
Poor · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Poor, The · May be: Upright — May be: Upright
Speaking · EVIL — EVIL
Uprightness · With poverty, is better than folly — With poverty, is better than folly

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).