'Better' in the Bible

Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than to give her to another man; stay with me.”

Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”

But he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?

“Speak, now, in the hearing of all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you, that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or that one man rule over you?’ Also, remember that I am your bone and your flesh.”

Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive with Israel, or did he ever fight against them?

They said to him, “Be silent, put your hand over your mouth and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?”

Then he said, “May you be blessed of the Lord, my daughter. You have shown your last kindness to be better than the first by not going after young men, whether poor or rich.

May he also be to you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”

Then Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep and why do you not eat and why is your heart sad? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

Samuel said,“Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrificesAs in obeying the voice of the Lord?Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,And to heed than the fat of rams.

So Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you.

Then David said to himself, “Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape into the land of the Philistines. Saul then will despair of searching for me anymore in all the territory of Israel, and I will escape from his hand.”

Absalom answered Joab, “Behold, I sent for you, saying, ‘Come here, that I may send you to the king, to say, “Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me still to be there.”’ Now therefore, let me see the king’s face, and if there is iniquity in me, let him put me to death.”

Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For the Lord had ordained to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the Lord might bring calamity on Absalom.

But the people said, “You should not go out; for if we indeed flee, they will not care about us; even if half of us die, they will not care about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us; therefore now it is better that you be ready to help us from the city.”

Moreover, the king’s servants came to bless our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make the name of Solomon better than your name and his throne greater than your throne!’ And the king bowed himself on the bed.

The Lord will return his blood on his own head, because he fell upon two men more righteous and better than he and killed them with the sword, while my father David did not know it: Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah.

But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.”

Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden because it is close beside my house, and I will give you a better vineyard than it in its place; if you like, I will give you the price of it in money.”

Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.

but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the harlot as the house of Ahab played the harlot, and you have also killed your brothers, your own family, who were better than you,

Better is the little of the righteousThan the abundance of many wicked.

Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,My lips will praise You.

And it will please the Lord better than an oxOr a young bull with horns and hoofs.

For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside.I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my GodThan dwell in the tents of wickedness.

It is better to take refuge in the LordThan to trust in man.

It is better to take refuge in the LordThan to trust in princes.

The law of Your mouth is better to meThan thousands of gold and silver pieces.

For her profit is better than the profit of silverAnd her gain better than fine gold.

“For wisdom is better than jewels;And all desirable things cannot compare with her.

“My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold,And my yield better than choicest silver.

Better is he who is lightly esteemed and has a servantThan he who honors himself and lacks bread.

Better is a little with the fear of the LordThan great treasure and turmoil with it.

Better is a dish of vegetables where love isThan a fattened ox served with hatred.

Better is a little with righteousnessThan great income with injustice.

How much better it is to get wisdom than gold!And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver.

It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowlyThan to divide the spoil with the proud.

He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,And he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.

Better is a dry morsel and quietness with itThan a house full of feasting with strife.

Better is a poor man who walks in his integrityThan he who is perverse in speech and is a fool.

What is desirable in a man is his kindness,And it is better to be a poor man than a liar.

It is better to live in a corner of a roofThan in a house shared with a contentious woman.

It is better to live in a desert landThan with a contentious and vexing woman.

A good name is to be more desired than great wealth,Favor is better than silver and gold.

For it is better that it be said to you, “Come up here,”Than for you to be placed lower in the presence of the prince,Whom your eyes have seen.

It is better to live in a corner of the roofThan in a house shared with a contentious woman.

Better is open rebukeThan love that is concealed.

Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend,And do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity;Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother far away.

Better is the poor who walks in his integrityThan he who is crooked though he be rich.

There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God.

I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime;

I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities, for that is his lot. For who will bring him to see what will occur after him?

But better off than both of them is the one who has never existed, who has never seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.

One hand full of rest is better than two fists full of labor and striving after wind.

Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor.

A poor yet wise lad is better than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to receive instruction.

It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.

If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many they be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he does not even have a proper burial, then I say, “Better the miscarriage than he,

It never sees the sun and it never knows anything; it is better off than he.

What the eyes see is better than what the soul desires. This too is futility and a striving after wind.

A good name is better than a good ointment,And the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth.

It is better to go to a house of mourningThan to go to a house of feasting,Because that is the end of every man,And the living takes it to heart.

Sorrow is better than laughter,For when a face is sad a heart may be happy.

It is better to listen to the rebuke of a wise manThan for one to listen to the song of fools.

The end of a matter is better than its beginning;Patience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit.

Do not say, “Why is it that the former days were better than these?”For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.

For whoever is joined with all the living, there is hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion.

So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the wisdom of the poor man is despised and his words are not heeded.

The words of the wise heard in quietness are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools.

Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

“May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!For your love is better than wine.

“How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!How much better is your love than wine,And the fragrance of your oilsThan all kinds of spices!

To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial,And a name better than that of sons and daughters;I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off.

if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it.

Better are those slain with the swordThan those slain with hunger;For they pine away, being strickenFor lack of the fruits of the field.

“Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any wood of a branch which is among the trees of the forest?

I will multiply on you man and beast; and they will increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited as you were formerly and will treat you better than at the first. Thus you will know that I am the Lord.

At the end of ten days their appearance seemed better and they were fatter than all the youths who had been eating the king’s choice food.

As for every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and conjurers who were in all his realm.

“She will pursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them;And she will seek them, but will not find them.Then she will say, ‘I will go back to my first husband,For it was better for me then than now!’

Israel is a luxuriant vine;He produces fruit for himself.The more his fruit,The more altars he made;The richer his land,The better he made the sacred pillars.

Go over to Calneh and look,And go from there to Hamath the great,Then go down to Gath of the Philistines.Are they better than these kingdoms,Or is their territory greater than yours?

Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.”

When the sun came up God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, “Death is better to me than life.”

Are you better than No-amon,Which was situated by the waters of the Nile,With water surrounding her,Whose rampart was the sea,Whose wall consisted of the sea?

If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.

but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

“If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire.

If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.

The disciples *said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.”

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea.

If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire,

If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell,

If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell,

It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble.

So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.”

What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;

But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.