Proverbs 17:23
The wicked takes a bribe from the bosom, || To turn aside the paths of judgment.
Literal Standard Version
In The King James Version
A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.
In Context
22A rejoicing heart does good to the body, || And a struck spirit dries the bone.
24The face of the intelligent [is] to wisdom, || And the eyes of a fool—at the end of the earth.
Cross References
Deuteronomy 16:19You do not turn aside judgment; you do not discern faces, nor take a bribe, for the bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.
1 Samuel 12:3Behold, here I [am]; testify against me before YHWH, and before His anointed; whose ox have I taken, and whose donkey have I taken, and whom have I oppressed; whom have I bruised, and of whose hand have I taken a ransom, and hide my eyes with it? And I restore [it] to you.”
Proverbs 18:16The gift of a man makes room for him, || And it leads him before the great.
Isaiah 1:23Your princes [are] apostates, and companions of thieves, || Everyone loving a bribe, and pursuing rewards, || They do not judge the fatherless, || And the plea of the widow does not come to them.
Ezekiel 22:12They have taken a bribe to shed blood in you, || You have taken usury and increase, || And cut off your neighbor by oppression, || And you have forgotten Me, || A declaration of Lord YHWH!
Micah 3:9Now hear this, O heads of the house of Jacob, || And you judges of the house of Israel, || Who are making judgment abominable, || And pervert all uprightness.
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 17:23
22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. Note, 1. It is healthful to be cheerful. The Lord is for the body, and has provided for it, not only meat, but medicine, and has here told us that the best medicine is a merry heart, not a heart addicted to vain, carnal, sensual mirth; Solomon himself said of that mirth, It is not medicine, but madness; it is not food, but poison; what doth it? But he means a heart rejoicing in God, and serving him with gladness, and then taking the… Read the whole commentary →