Mishle 17:23

23 A rasha accepts a shochad (bribe) out of the kheyk (bosom, i.e., secretly) to pervert the orkhot mishpat (paths of justice).

Mishle 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.

Mishle 17:23 In-Context

21 He that begetteth a kesil doeth it to his sorrow, and the avi naval hath no simchah.
22 A lev same’ach doeth tov like a medicine, but a downcast ruach drieth up the bones.
23 A rasha accepts a shochad (bribe) out of the kheyk (bosom, i.e., secretly) to pervert the orkhot mishpat (paths of justice).
24 Chochmah is before the meiven (discerning one); but the eynayim of a kesil are on the ends of ha’aretz.
25 A ben kesil is a ka’as (grief) to aviv (his father), and bitterness to her that bore him.
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.