Proverbs 17:23

23 A wicked man taketh gifts from the bosom, to mis-turn the paths of doom. (A wicked person accepeth secret gifts, or bribes, to pervert the course of justice.)

Proverbs 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.

Proverbs 17:23 In-Context

21 A fool is born in his shame; but neither the father shall be glad in a fool. (A fool is born to his parents? shame; and the father shall never be glad, or have joy, over his foolish son.)
22 A joyful soul maketh liking age (A joyful soul maketh a good life); a sorrowful spirit maketh dry bones.
23 A wicked man taketh gifts from the bosom, to mis-turn the paths of doom. (A wicked person accepeth secret gifts, or bribes, to pervert the course of justice.)
24 Wisdom shineth in the face of a prudent man; the eyes of fools be in the ends of earth. (Wisdom shineth in the face of the prudent; the eyes of fools be upon the ends of the earth.)
25 A fond son is the ire of the father, and the sorrow of the mother that bare him.
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.