Proverbes 17:23

23 Le méchant accepte le présent, pour renverser les voies de la justice.

Proverbes 17:23 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 17:23

A wicked [man] taketh a gift out of the bosom
Of another, of a rich man, who takes it out from thence, and offers it to him as a bribe. This he takes in the most secret manner, that it might not be seen by others; though the Arabic version renders it, "he that receives a gift in his own bosom commits iniquity"; it is true of both the giver and the receiver; the one gives out of his bosom, and the other takes if from thence, and puts it into his own, and both are wicked. And the words are by some rendered, though it seems contrary to the accents, "a gift out of the bosom of the wicked he will take" F26; the unjust judge, who is bribed with it: to pervert the ways of judgment;
to turn the course of justice, and hinder it from taking place; favouring a bad cause, and pronouncing a wrong sentence, which is wresting judgment.


FOOTNOTES:

F26 (xqy evr qyxm dxv) "munus de sinu impii accipiet", Baynus.

Proverbes 17:23 In-Context

21 Celui qui a donné naissance à un insensé, en aura de l'ennui; et le père d'un fou ne se réjouira point.
22 Le cœur joyeux vaut un remède; mais l'esprit abattu dessèche les os.
23 Le méchant accepte le présent, pour renverser les voies de la justice.
24 La sagesse est devant l'homme prudent; mais les yeux de l'insensé vont au bout de la terre.
25 L'enfant insensé fait le chagrin de son père, et l'amertume de celle qui l'a enfanté.
The Ostervald translation is in the public domain.