It is better to be lowly in spirit among the humble than to divide the spoil with the proud.
Parallel translations
- WEB It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor, than to divide the plunder with the proud.
- KJV Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.
- NKJV Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, Than to divide the spoil with the proud.
- NASB It is better to be humble in spirit with the needy Than to divide the spoils with the proud.
- NLT Better to live humbly with the poor than to share plunder with the proud.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
It is better to be humble among the poor than to share spoil with the proud. It matters because lowliness with the godly outweighs the gains of arrogant company.
Overview
Following the warning against pride, this proverb commends a lowly spirit among the poor over dividing plunder with the proud. Humble association with the meek is of greater worth than prideful prosperity. It reflects the Beatitude blessing on the poor in spirit and meek (Matthew 5:3-5).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Matt 5:3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- Isa 57:15For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.
- Ps 138:6Though the LORD is on high, He attends to the lowly; but the proud He knows from afar.
- Exod 15:9The enemy declared, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.’
- Ps 34:18The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.
- Isa 9:3You have enlarged the nation and increased its joy. The people rejoice before You as they rejoice at harvest time, as men rejoice in dividing the plunder.
- Isa 53:12Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He has poured out His life unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors. Yet He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.
- Isa 10:13–15For he says: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, for I am clever. I have removed the boundaries of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their rulers.
- Luke 18:13–14But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’
- Isa 10:6I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets.
- Luke 1:51–53He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
- Prov 29:23A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 16:19 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.