Proverbs 24:23 - Exposition

These things also belong to the wise; are the sayings of wise men. The following proverbs, as well as the preceding, are derived from wise men. Mistaking this superscription, the LXX . makes it a personal address: "This I say to you who are wise, so that ye may learn." The first line is not a proverb, but the introduction to the ensuing collection. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment (see Proverbs 18:5 , and note there; and Proverbs 28:21 , where the expression is the same as here). To regard one person before another is to be partial and unjust. To say this error is "not good" is a meiosis, the meaning being that it is very evil and sinful (comp. Proverbs 20:23 ). The statement is developed and confirmed in the next two verses, which show the results of partiality and its opposite.