What Does Proverbs 19:6 Mean?
Many soften the face of the openhanded one, and every companion is a friend to the one who gives.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Many will intreat the favour of the prince: and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts.THE KEY
The “prince” is the willing, generous one, so the verse shows how a crowd can gather around generosity while calling itself friendship.
THE MEANING
Many seek the generous person’s favor, and everyone becomes a companion to the person who gives gifts. The verse holds petition and companionship beside each other, showing how both can gather around someone able to give.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A crowd of companions does not prove that they are attached to the person himself; favor and gifts can be what draws them near.
THE ROOT
נָדִיב
nadiv
GROWS FROM
נדב
n-d-b
To be willing; to offer freely.
“openhanded one” in this verse is nadiv. The person called a “prince” is also named by willingness and generosity, not only rank. The crowd’s appeal for favor and its movement toward the gift-giver orbit that openhanded nature.
ALSO GROWS
nadav: To volunteer or offer willingly.
נָדַב
This verb carries the willing quality present in the person whose favor many seek.
nedavah: A freewill offering.
נְדָבָה
This branch connects the generous person with giving that comes freely.
רֵעַ
re'a
GROWS FROM
רעה
r-ʿ-h
To tend or pasture; by extension, to associate with.
The word for companion is linked with a root that also speaks of tending and association. That deepens “friend” beyond a label: it names someone drawn into a shared circle, here around the giver.
ALSO GROWS
ra'ah: To pasture, tend, or feed.
רָעָה
This related verb gives the word for companion a sense of association and shared life beneath the English word “friend.”
ro'eh: A shepherd, one who tends a flock.
רֹעֶה
This branch preserves the root’s tending sense and makes the language of a gathered circle more concrete.
מַתָּן
mattan
GROWS FROM
נתן
n-t-n
To give, set, or place.
“gives” in this verse is mattan. The verse names gifts through a word from the same root as giving. The companionship gathers around a person defined by what he places into others’ hands.
ALSO GROWS
nathan: To give, set, or place.
נָתַן
The verb shows the action carried inside the gift: something is given or placed.
mattanah: A gift or present.
מַתָּנָה
This related gift-word keeps the focus on what is given, rather than on wealth in the abstract.
THE PATTERN
The prospect of benefit gathers people around the person able to grant it.
The emptied one is hated even by his neighbor, but many are the ones who love the rich.Wealth adds many companions, but the emptied one is parted from his neighbor.And he also said to the one who had called him, When you make a dinner or a supper, do not call your friends, nor your brothers, nor your kinsmen, nor rich neighbors; lest they also call you back, and a repayment be made to you.THE THREAD
Wealth adds many companions, but the emptied one is parted from his neighbor.The Hebrew word for “friends” here is the same companion-word used for “friend” in this verse. Proverbs 19:4 names wealth as what multiplies that companionship; Proverbs 19:6 shows gifts drawing it toward the giver.
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