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Proverbs 12:9

King James Version (KJV)

“In our prayers we talk to God, in our Bible study God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.”
— D.L. Moody

Scripture focus

[He that is] despised, and hath a servant, [is] better than he that honoureth himself, and lacketh bread.

Proverbs 12:9 — KJV

Commentary

Commentary on Proverbs 12:9

Theological / Devotional

Hath a servant. The LXX renders this phrase, "serving himself," hence the translation of the RSV, "Better is a man of humble standing who works for himself than one who plays the great man but lacks bread." The meaning of the KJV rendering is that a man who has a servant to work for him and to grow wheat for bread, even though lightly esteemed, is better than the boastful man who is hungry.

The Hebrew word qalah, here translated "despised," means "to be lightly esteemed," "to be dishonored," and is different from the word thus translated in v. 8. "Despised" in v. 8 comes from buz, which properly means "to despise," 'to show despite toward."

By SdaBc