Matthew Henry on Proverbs 28:6
Here, 1. It is supposed that a man may walk in his uprightness and yet be poor in this world, which is a temptation to dishonesty, and yet may resist the temptation and continue to walk in his uprightness - also that a man may be perverse in his ways, injurious to God and man, and yet be rich, and prosper in the world, for a while, may be rich, and so lie under great obligations and have great opportunities to do good, and yet be perverse in his ways and do a great deal of hurt. 2. It is maintained as a paradox to a blind world that an honest, godly, poor man, is better than a wicked, ungodly, rich man, has a better character, is in a better condition, has more comfort in himself, is a great…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 28:6
(Compare Pro 10:6). Riches cannot compensate for sin, nor the want of them affect integrity.
John Gill on Proverbs 28:6
Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness,.... See Gill on Proverbs 19:1;
than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich; or, "in his two ways" (c): that halts between two ways, or makes use of both; sometimes turns to the one, to the right hand, and sometimes to the other, to the left hand; or that pretends to the one, and walks in the other; would be thought to be a virtuous and religious man, and to walk in the paths of righteousness and truth, when he walks in those of sin and wickedness. And now a poor man that walks evenly and uprightly, according to the word of God and truth of the Gospel, in the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, and in the paths of faith and…
Read the whole note in the consoleKeil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 28:6
What is stated in this proverb is a conclusion from the preceding, with which it is also externally connected, for רשׁ (= ראשׁ), רשׁע, רע, and now רשׁ, follow each other:
Better a poor man who walketh in his innocence,
Than a double-going deceiver who is rich thereby.
A variation of Pro 19:1. Stainlessness, integritas vitae, as a consequence of unreserved devotion to God, gives to a man with poverty a higher worth and nobility than riches connected with falsehood which "halts between two opinions" (Kg1 18:21), and appears to go one way, while in reality it goes another. The two ways דּדכים (cf. Sir. 2:12, οὐαί ἁμαρτωλῷ ... ἐπιβαίνοντι ἐπὶ δύο τρίβους) are, as Pro 28:18, not ways g…
