Many will intreat the favour of the prince: and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts.
Parallel translations
- WEB Many will entreat the favor of a ruler, and everyone is a friend to a man who gives gifts.
- BSB Many seek the favor of the prince, and everyone is a friend of the gift giver.
- NKJV Many entreat the favor of the nobility, And every man is a friend to one who gives gifts.
- NASB Many will seek the favor of a generous person, And every person is a friend to him who gives gifts.
- NLT Many seek favors from a ruler; everyone is the friend of a person who gives gifts!
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
People court the favor of the powerful and the generous. The proverb observes how gifts and rank draw a crowd of would-be friends.
Overview
This proverb notes that many seek the favor of a ruler, and everyone befriends the man who gives gifts. It describes the self-interested way people gravitate toward power and generosity, often without true loyalty. Read alongside the surrounding verses, it gently critiques such fair-weather friendship and reminds believers to value genuine, godly relationships over those built on advantage.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Prov 29:26Many seek the ruler’s favour; but every man’s judgment cometh from the LORD.
- Prov 18:16A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.
- Prov 17:8A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it: whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth.
- Gen 42:6And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.
- Rom 6:23For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
- Prov 19:12The king’s wrath is as the roaring of a lion; but his favour is as dew upon the grass.
- Prov 21:14A gift in secret pacifieth anger: and a reward in the bosom strong wrath.
- 2 Sam 19:19–39And said unto the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity unto me, neither do thou remember that which thy servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart.
- Job 29:24–25If I laughed on them, they believed it not; and the light of my countenance they cast not down.
- Ps 45:12And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour.
- Gen 43:15And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.
- Gen 32:20And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me.
- Prov 16:15In the light of the king’s countenance is life; and his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain.
- Matt 2:11And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
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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 19:6 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.