Exodus 23:8

8 Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.

Exodus 23:8 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 23:8

And thou shalt take no gift
Of the persons whose cause is to be tried in a court of judicature before judges; neither of those on the one side nor on the other, neither before the trial nor after, neither by words, by a promise, nor by facts, by actually receiving money; and not even to judge truly, as Jarchi observes, neither to clear the innocent nor to condemn the guilty: a gift was not to be taken on any consideration whatever:

for the gift blindeth the wise;
or the "seeing" ^F1; the open ones, who used to have both their eyes and their ears open, and attentive to the cause before them; and yet a gift so blinds them, by casting such a mist before them, that they are inattentive to the true merits of the cause, and their affections and judgments are to be carried away in favour of those that have bribed them, as to pass a wrong sentence:

and perverteth the words of the righteous;
either the sentences of righteous judges, as they ought to be, but a gift perverts their judgment, and they give a wrong decree; or the causes of the righteous that are brought before those are perverted by giving the cause to their adversaries, who are wicked men.

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 (Myxqp) "videntes", Pagninus, Vatablus, Cartwright; "apertos", Montanus, Drusius.

Exodus 23:8 In-Context

6 You shall not deny justice to the poor in their lawsuits.

7 Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty.

8 Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.

9 Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

10 For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce,