Proverbs 19:22 (BSB)

The desire of a man is loving devotion; better to be poor than a liar.

From Proverbs 19. Also in the ESV.

Commentary on Proverbs 19:22

• Matthew Henry (Presbyterian), Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on Proverbs 19:22: Note, 1. The honour of doing good is what we may laudably be ambitious of. It cannot but be the desire of man, if he have any spark of virtue in him, to be kind; one would not covet an estate for any thing so much as thereby to be put into a capacity of relieving the poor and obliging our friends. 2.
• John Gill (Reformed Baptist), Exposition of the Old and New Testaments on Proverbs 19:22: The desire of a man is his kindness,.... Either the grace and kindness of God, which is, desirable by every sensible man, as being most excellent, and better than life and anything in it; or it is his desire to show kindness.
• Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (Reformed), Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible on Proverbs 19:22: desire--that is, to do good, indicates a kind disposition (Pro 11:23); and the poor thus affected are better than liars, who say and do not.
• Geneva Bible Notes (Reformed), Geneva Bible Study Notes on Proverbs 19:22: The desire of a man [is] his kindness: and a poor man [is] better than a liar. (h) That is, that he be honest: for the poor man who is honest is to be esteemed above the rich who is not virtuous.