Proverbs 19:6-7

⁶ Many curry favor with a ruler, and everyone is the friend of one who gives gifts. ⁷ The poor are shunned by all their relatives- how much more do their friends avoid them! Though the poor pursue them with pleading, they are nowhere to be found.[1]

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Other Translations of Proverbs 19:6-7

King James Version

⁶ Many will intreat the favour of the prince: and every man is a friend to him him...: Heb. a man of gifts that giveth gifts. ⁷ All the brethren of the poor do hate him: how much more do his friends go far from him? he pursueth them with words, yet they are wanting to him.

English Standard Version

⁶ Many seek the favor of a generous man,Or of a noble and everyone is a friend to a man who gives gifts. ⁷ All a poor man's brothers hate him; how much more do his friends go far from him! He pursues them with words, but does not have them.The meaning of the Hebrew sentence is uncertain

The Message

⁶ Lots of people flock around a generous person; everyone's a friend to the philanthropist. ⁷ When you're down on your luck, even your family avoids you - yes, even your best friends wish you'd get lost. If they see you coming, they look the other way - out of sight, out of mind.

New King James Version

⁶ Many entreat the favor of the nobility, And every man is a friend to one who gives gifts. ⁷ All the brothers of the poor hate him; How much more do his friends go far from him! He may pursue them with words, yet they abandon him.

New Living Translation

⁶ Many seek favors from a ruler; everyone is the friend of a person who gives gifts! ⁷ The relatives of the poor despise them; how much more will their friends avoid them! Though the poor plead with them, their friends are gone.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Proverbs 19:6-7

Commentary on Proverbs 19:6

(Read Proverbs 19:6)

We are without excuse if we do not love God with all our hearts. His gifts to us are past number, and all the gifts of men to us are fruits of his bounty.

Commentary on Proverbs 19:7

(Read Proverbs 19:7)

Christ was left by all his disciples; but the Father was with him. It encourages our faith that he had so large an experience of the sorrows of poverty.