12:9

This proverb compares the living situation of two people. The situation of the person in 12:9a is better than the situation of the person in 12:9b. Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:

9a Better to be lightly esteemed and yet have a servant,

9b than to be self-important but lack food.

Verse 12:9a describes an unimportant person. But at least this person has a servant, which indicates a moderate standard of living. This person’s life is better than the person in 12:9b, who pretends to be important but does not have enough food to eat.

This is the first four-part “better than” proverb in this book. It compares two different situations. In each situation there is something good and something bad. This type of proverb has the following pattern:

It is better to have A (bad/undesirable situation) + B (very good/desirable situation)

than to have C (good/desirable situation) + D (very bad/undesirable situation)

For 12:9, the four parts are:

A: low social status (undesirable)

B: has a servant (very desirable)

C: appears to be important (desirable)

D: has no food (very undesirable)

The overall situation in the first line (A + B) is better than the overall situation in the second line (C + D). The reason is that the very desirable situation is more important than the very undesirable situation. It has a greater overall effect.

The other proverbs with this pattern are 15:16, 15:17, 16:8, 16:19, 17:1, 27:5, and 28:6.

12:9a

Better to be lightly esteemed: The phrase to be lightly esteemed means to be considered unimportant or of low social status. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

a person of humble standing (NET Bible)
-or-
to be unimportant (God’s Word)
-or-
to be an ordinary person (New Living Translation (2004))

yet have a servant: There is a textual issue here:

(1) The Masoretic Text is literally “and-a-servant to -him.” This means that he has a servant, perhaps implying only one servant. For example:

It’s better to be ordinary and have only one servant (Contemporary English Version)

(2) The LXX is literally “and-works for -himself.” This means that he is self-supporting or earns his own living. For example:

It is better to be an ordinary person working for a living (Good News Translation)

It is recommended that you follow option (1), along with most versions and scholars.

If the significance of having a servant is not clear in your culture, you may want to add a footnote. A suggested footnote is:

In the Jewish culture of that time, a person who had a servant was not considered to be wealthy. However, he could live fairly comfortably, because his servant did most of the hard work.

12:9b

than to be self-important but lack food: This line indicates that the person pretends to have a higher status than he actually has. In reality, he is poor and lacks food. Some other ways to translate this line are:

than pretend to be somebody and have no food (New International Version)
-or-
than to act important and have nothing to eat (God’s Word)

General Comment on 12:9a–b

In some languages, it may be difficult to express a complex comparison in one sentence. Another way to translate it is to divide this verse into two sentences and change the order of 12:9a and 12:9b. For example:

9b Some people pretend to be of high status, but the truth is that they have nothing to eat.

9a It is better if people consider you to be someone of low status, but at least you have one servant.

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