Proverbs 17:23 - Exposition

A gift out of the bosom ; i.e. secretly from the fold of the garment, and not from the purse or bag wherein money was ostensibly carried. A corrupt judge "taketh," i.e. receives a bribe conveyed to him secretly ( Proverbs 21:14 ). To pervert the ways of judgment. The judges had no appointed salaries; hence the unprincipled among them were open to bribery. The strict injunctions of the Law, and the stern denunciations of the prophets, were alike ineffectual in checking corruption (see Exodus 23:8 ; Deuteronomy 16:19 ; Isaiah 1:23 ; Jeremiah 22:17 ; Ezekiel 13:19 ; Hosea 4:18 , etc.). Septuagint, "The man that receiveth gifts in his bosom unjustly, his ways shall not prosper." For, as Job avows ( Job 15:34 ), "Fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery." The LXX . adds, "The impious turns aside from the ways of righteousness."