“What is desired in a man is loyalty”: This line says “The desire of a man is his chesed,” which can mean “kindness,” “love,” or “loyalty.” “Desire of a man” is ambiguous since it can mean what the man desires in himself or others, or what others desire in a man. Contemporary English Version attempts to avoid the ambiguity by translating “What matters most is loyalty.” The Good News Translation footnote translation “Loyalty is what is desired in a person” agrees with Revised Standard Version.

Some interpreters take chesed to be a different word than the one most often rendered as “loyalty.” This word occurs in 14.34, where Revised Standard Version translates it “reproach,” but it can also be rendered “disgrace” or “humiliation.” If “desire” is taken as “greed” (see the Good News Translation text), then this line may be translated, for example, “A person’s greed is a disgrace” or “Greedy people are a disgrace.”

“And a poor man is better than a liar”: Whybray observes that the word rendered “liar” here is also used in 6.19; 14.5, 25; 19.5, 9; and in each case it refers to a lying witness. If that is true, then the thought expressed in this line is that it is better to be poor than to gain money or other advantages by lying in court. We may then translate, for example, “Greedy people are a disgrace, and it is better to be poor than to lie to a judge.

Or: “People who are loyal cause others to like them. It is better to be poor than to win a case by lying.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .