Proverbs 28:21

21 To show partiality is not good— yet for a piece of bread a person may do wrong.

Proverbs 28:21 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 28:21

To have respect of persons [is] not good, &c,
In courts of judicature, to give a cause or pass sentence in favour of a person, because he is rich, or is a relation, a friend, an acquaintance, or has done a kindness; and against another, because of the reverse, ( Leviticus 19:15 ) ( Deuteronomy 16:19 ) ; nor in religious assemblies, making a difference between the rich and the poor, ( James 2:1 James 2:2 ) ; this is not good in itself, nor productive of good effects, and cannot be well pleasing to God, who himself is no respecter of persons; for for a piece of bread [that] man will transgress;
the laws of God and men; having used himself to such unrighteous methods of proceeding, he will do any base action for a small gain, he will stick at nothing, and do it for anything; as Cato used to say of M. Coelius the tribune,

``that he might be hired, for a morsel of bread, to speak or hold his peace;''
see ( Ezekiel 13:19 ) .

Proverbs 28:21 In-Context

19 Anyone who tills the land will have plenty of bread, but one who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.
20 The faithful will abound with blessings, but one who is in a hurry to be rich will not go unpunished.
21 To show partiality is not good— yet for a piece of bread a person may do wrong.
22 The miser is in a hurry to get rich and does not know that loss is sure to come.
23 Whoever rebukes a person will afterward find more favor than one who flatters with the tongue.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.