What Does Proverbs 22:1 Mean in the King James?
A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
A good name is the nature others encounter in you, and that nature carries more worth than what you possess.
THE MEANING
Your name is the nature others encounter in you, and its goodness matters more than what you accumulate. Favor is welcome received through relationship, and silver and gold cannot purchase its meaning. The verse measures worth by what is carried in character and shared between people, not by stored wealth.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that possessions can make you worthy dissolves here: wealth is not the highest measure of your value or of the nature others experience in you.
THE ROOT
חֵן
chen
GROWS FROM
חנן
To show favor, to be gracious.
“favour” in this verse is chen. Chen comes from a root of showing favor, so the verse points to welcome as a living relation rather than a possession. Its branches include the act of showing favor and the appeal made to receive it.
ALSO GROWS
chanan: To show favor or be gracious.
חָנַן
This is favor in action: something expressed between people, not stored like wealth.
techinnah: A plea or supplication for favor.
תְּחִנָּה
This branch shows favor as something sought in relationship, placing its value beyond a price.
נִבְחָר
nivchar
GROWS FROM
בחר
To choose, select.
The verse uses the language of choosing: a good name is deliberately preferred over great riches. The root connects the act of choosing with the one chosen, making worth a matter of discernment rather than quantity.
ALSO GROWS
bachar: To choose or select.
בָּחַר
This is the choice at the heart of the verse: what is valued above abundance.
bachir: A chosen one.
בָּחִיר
This branch echoes the verse’s emphasis on what is preferred and valued.
THE PATTERN
What a person is known for and gives through relationship can outweigh what that person owns.
A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.THE THREAD
The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.This verse uses the same word, שֵׁם (shem), “name”: the LORD’s name is a refuge because it reveals a nature one can enter and trust. It opens “good name” here as more than reputation, the nature carried in a name can shelter and shape a life.
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