Proverbs 19:6

Many people try to persuade important people to do favors for them; everyone wants to be a friend of those who give gifts.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

Many will intreat the favour of the prince: and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts.

In Context

5Those who tell lies in court will surely be punished [LIT]; they will not escape it.

7Even the relatives of someone who becomes poor hate him, and his friends certainly stay away from him, too; even if he tries to talk with them, they will not be his friends again.

Read all of Proverbs 19

Cross References

Genesis 42:6At that time Joseph was the governor of Egypt. He was the one who sold grain to people who came from all over Egypt and from many other countries [HYP] to buy grain. So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they were told that it was necessary for them to talk with Joseph. So they went to him and prostrated themselves before him with their faces to the ground.

2 Samuel 19:19He said to the king, “Your Majesty, please forgive me. Please do not keep thinking about the terrible thing that I did on the day that you left Jerusalem. Do not think about it any more.

Psalms 45:12The people from Tyre city will bring gifts to you; their rich people will try to persuade you to do favors for them.

Proverbs 17:8People think that a bribe is like a magic stone to persuade someone to do what they want him to do; they think that because of the bribe, that person will do whatever they want him to do.

Proverbs 19:12When a king is angry, that causes people to be afraid of him, like the roar of a lion causes people to be afraid [SIM], but if he acts kindly toward people, they like it just like they like dew on the grass in the morning.

Proverbs 29:26Many people request rulers to do things to help them, but Yahweh is the only one who surely does for people what is fair/just.

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 19:6

5 A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape. Here we have, 1. The sins threatened—bearing false witness in judgment and speaking lies in common conversation. Men could not arrive at such a pitch of impiety as to bear false witness (where to the guilt of a lie is added that of perjury and injury) if they had not advanced to it by allowing themselves to speak untruths in jest and banter, or under pretence of doing good. Thus men teach their tongues to speak lies, Jer. ix. 5… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Proverbs 19:6