Reputation

The wisdom literature handles reputation under the figure of "name." A person's name is what others say of him; a "good name" is the asset that survives wealth and outlasts the body.

A Good Name Over Riches

The proverb sets the good name above the largest material claim a person can stake: "A [good] name is rather to be chosen than great riches, [And] loving favor rather than silver and gold" (Pr 22:1). Two pairs are in parallel — name with loving favor, riches with silver and gold. The bracketed [good] is UPDV's editorial supply where the Hebrew has the bare noun "name"; the sense is the established reading carried by the parallel.

A Good Name at the End of Life

Ecclesiastes pushes the comparison to its limit: "A [good] name is better than precious oil; and the day of death, than the day of one's birth" (Ec 7:1). Precious oil — the costly anointing of birth and feast — is named only to be ranked under the good name. The second clause then ranks the day of death over the day of birth: a life is judged at its close, when the name is settled, not at its open, when the oil is poured.

The two proverbs together place reputation in the long view. It is preferable to wealth one already holds (Pr 22:1), and it is preferable to the festal markers at the start of life (Ec 7:1). The umbrella's cross-references back to character and name signal that what is being praised is the substance behind the reputation, not the public regard taken on its own.