Proverbs 29:4 - Exposition

Many of the proverbs in this chapter seem to suit the time of Jeroboam II . (see on Proverbs 28:3 ). The king by judgment establisheth the land. The king, the fountain of justice, by his equitable government brings his country into a healthy and settled condition. In the security of the throne the land and people participate. He that receiveth gifts overthroweth it. The expression, אִישׁ תְּרוּמוֹת ( ish terumoth ), "man of offerings," "man of gifts," is ambiguous: it may mean "the taker of bribes," the unrighteous ruler who sells justice ( Proverbs 15:27 ), or it may signify "the imposer of taxes" ( Ezekiel 45:13 , etc.) or forced benevolences. Aquila and Theodotion have ἀνὴρ ἀφαιρεμάτων , "man of heave offerings," and Wordsworth regards him as a man who claims and receives gifts, as if he were a deity on earth. Whichever sense we give to the phrase, the contrast lies between the inflexibly upright ruler and the iniquitous or extortionate prince. The Septuagint gives παράνομος , "a transgressor;" Vulgate, vir avarus .