Passage
Proverbs 22.3
Book: Proverbs · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT
Immediate context (±2 verses)
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ASV (ASV)
"1. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, And loving favor rather than silver and gold. 2. The rich and the poor meet together: Jehovah is the maker of them all."
"3. A prudent man seeth the evil, and hideth himself; But the simple pass on, and suffer for it."
"4. The reward of humility and the fear of Jehovah Is riches, and honor, and life. 5. Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse: He that keepeth his soul shall be far from them." (Proverbs 22:1-5, ASV)
WEB (WEB)
"1. A good name is more desirable than great riches, and loving favor is better than silver and gold. 2. The rich and the poor have this in common: Yahweh is the maker of them all."
"3. A prudent man sees danger, and hides himself; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it."
"4. The result of humility and the fear of Yahweh is wealth, honor, and life. 5. Thorns and snares are in the path of the wicked: whoever guards his soul stays from them." (Proverbs 22:1-5, WEB)
KJV (KJV)
"1. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold. loving: or, favour is better than, etc 2. The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all."
"3. A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished."
"4. By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life. By: or, The reward of humility, etc 5. Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them." (Proverbs 22:1-5, KJV)
YLT (YLT)
"1. A name is chosen rather than much wealth, Than silver and than gold, good grace. 2. Rich and poor have met together, The Maker of them all [is] Jehovah."
"3. The prudent hath seen the evil, and is hidden, And the simple have passed on, and are punished."
"4. The end of humility [is] the fear of Jehovah, Riches, and honour, and life. 5. Thorns, snares [are] in the way of the perverse, Whoso is keeping his soul is far from them." (Proverbs 22:1-5, YLT)
Setting
- Speaker: Solomon (principal); Agur; Lemuel; wise men
- Audience: young Israelite men in the wisdom tradition
- Location: Israel, Solomonic court
- Time period: principal composition c. 970-930 BC (Solomon); compilation c. 700 BC (Hezekiah)
Theological reading
Key words
No Strong's-tagged lexicon matches found in this passage. (Lexicon coverage is curated, ~159 of the most apologetically-loaded Greek/Hebrew terms.)
Quoted in
Why these four translations
ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.
The four:
- ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.
See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.