Verse (Click for Chapter) New International Version Extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart. New Living Translation Extortion turns wise people into fools, and bribes corrupt the heart. English Standard Version Surely oppression drives the wise into madness, and a bribe corrupts the heart. Berean Standard Bible Surely extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart. King James Bible Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad; and a gift destroyeth the heart. New King James Version Surely oppression destroys a wise man’s reason, And a bribe debases the heart. New American Standard Bible For oppression makes a wise person look foolish, And a bribe corrupts the heart. NASB 1995 For oppression makes a wise man mad, And a bribe corrupts the heart. NASB 1977 For oppression makes a wise man mad, And a bribe corrupts the heart. Legacy Standard Bible For oppression gives a wise man over to madness, And a bribe destroys the heart. Amplified Bible For oppression makes a wise man foolish, And a bribe corrupts the [good judgment of the] heart. Christian Standard Bible Surely, the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the mind. Holman Christian Standard Bible Surely, the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe destroys the mind. American Standard Version Surely extortion maketh the wise man foolish; and a bribe destroyeth the understanding. Aramaic Bible in Plain English Because oppression destroys the wise and a gift destroys the heart Brenton Septuagint Translation for oppression makes a wise man mad, and destroys his noble heart. Contemporary English Version Corruption makes fools of sensible people, and bribes can ruin you. Douay-Rheims Bible Oppression troubleth the wise, and shall destroy the strength of his heart. English Revised Version Surely extortion maketh a wise man foolish; and a gift destroyeth the understanding. GOD'S WORD® Translation Oppression can turn a wise person into a fool, and a bribe can corrupt the mind. Good News Translation You may be wise, but if you cheat someone, you are acting like a fool. If you take a bribe, you ruin your character. International Standard Version Unjust gain makes the wise foolish, and a bribe corrupts the heart. JPS Tanakh 1917 Surely oppression turneth a wise man into a fool; And a gift destroyeth the understanding. Literal Standard Version Surely oppression makes the wise mad, | And a gift destroys the heart. Majority Standard Bible Surely extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart. New American Bible Extortion can make a fool out of the wise, and a bribe corrupts the heart. NET Bible Surely oppression can turn a wise person into a fool; likewise, a bribe corrupts the heart. New Revised Standard Version Surely oppression makes the wise foolish, and a bribe corrupts the heart. New Heart English Bible Surely extortion makes the wise man foolish; and a bribe destroys the understanding. Webster's Bible Translation Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad; and a gift destroyeth the heart. World English Bible Surely extortion makes the wise man foolish; and a bribe destroys the understanding. Young's Literal Translation Surely oppression maketh the wise mad, And a gift destroyeth the heart. Additional Translations ... Audio Bible Context The Value of Wisdom…6For like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile. 7Surely extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart. 8The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and a patient spirit is better than a proud one.… Cross References Exodus 23:8 Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous. Deuteronomy 16:19 Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. Proverbs 17:8 A bribe is a charm to its giver; wherever he turns, he succeeds. Proverbs 17:23 A wicked man takes a covert bribe to subvert the course of justice. Ecclesiastes 4:1 Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their oppressors, and there was no comforter. Ecclesiastes 5:8 If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and others higher still are over them. Ecclesiastes 8:9 All this I have seen, applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun; there is a time when one man lords it over another to his own detriment. Treasury of Scripture Surely oppression makes a wise man mad; and a gift destroys the heart. oppression Deuteronomy 28:33,34,65 The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway: … a gift Exodus 23:8 And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous. Deuteronomy 16:19 Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous. 1 Samuel 8:3 And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment. Jump to Previous Bribe Corrupts Cruel Destroyeth Destroys Destruction Extortion Fool Foolish Gift Heart Mad Makes Maketh Mind Money Oppression Surely Troubled Turneth Turns Understanding Ways WiseJump to Next Bribe Corrupts Cruel Destroyeth Destroys Destruction Extortion Fool Foolish Gift Heart Mad Makes Maketh Mind Money Oppression Surely Troubled Turneth Turns Understanding Ways WiseEcclesiastes 7 1. remedies against vanity are, a good name2. mortification 7. patience 11. wisdom 23. The difficulty of wisdom (7) Surely.--Rather, For. This change is required not only by literalness, but by the fact that the verse comes in a series of paragraphs, each commencing with the word "better," as does the next verse. This verse therefore cannot introduce a new subject, but must be connected with what has gone before. But it is so hard to do this satisfactorily, that Delitzsch conjectures that a line may have dropped out, and that this verse may have begun with "Better: e.g., "Better is a little with righteousness, &c," as in Proverbs 16:8. If this be thought too strong a remedy, we may explain the connection, that by listening to faithful rebuke rather than to the flattery of fools, a ruler may be checked in a course of oppression or corruption which threatens to undermine his understanding. As we understand the passage, he becomes mad who commits, not who suffers, the oppression.Verse 7. - The verse begins with ki, which usually introduces a reason for what has preceded; but the difficulty in finding the connection has led to various explanations and evasions. The Authorized Version boldly separates the verse from what has gone before, and makes a new paragraph beginning with "surely:" Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad. Delitzsch supposes that something has been lost between vers. 6 and 7, and he supplies the gap by a clause borrowed from Proverbs 16:8, "Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right;" and then the sentence proceeds naturally, "For oppression," etc. But this is scarcely satisfactory, as it is mere conjecture wholly unsupported by external evidence. The Vulgate leaves ki untranslated; the Septuagint has ὅτι. Looking at the various paragraphs, all beginning with rob, rendered "better," viz. vers. 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, we must regard the present verse as connected with what precedes, a new subject being introduced at ver. 8. Putting ver. 6 in a parenthesis as merely presenting an illustration of the talk of fools, we may see in ver. 7 a confirmation of the first part of ver. 5. The rebuke of the wise is useful even in the case of rulers who are tempted -to excess and injustice. The "oppression" in the text is the exercise of irresponsible power, that which a man inflicts, not what he suffers; this makes him "mad," even though he be in other respects and under other circumstances wise; he ceases to be directed by reason and principle, and needs the correction of faithful rebuke. The Septuagint and Vulgate, rendering respectively συκοφαντία and calumnia, imply that the evil which distracts the wise man is false accusation. And a gift destroyeth the heart. The admission of bribery is likewise an evil that calls for wise rebuke. So Proverbs 15:27, "He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live." The phrase, "destroys the heart," means corrupts the understanding, deprives a man of wisdom, makes him no better than a fool (comp. Hosea 4:11, where the same effect is attributed to whoredom and drunkenness). The Septuagint has, ἀπόλλυσι τὴν καρδίαν εὐγενείας αὐτοῦ, "destroys the heart of his nobility;" the Vulgate, perdet robur cordis illius, "will destroy the strength of his heart." The interpretation given above seems to be the most reasonable way of dealing with the existing text; but Nowack and Volck adopt Delitzsch's emendation. Parallel Commentaries ... Hebrew Surelyכִּ֥י (kî) Conjunction Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction extortion הָעֹ֖שֶׁק (hā·‘ō·šeq) Article | Noun - masculine singular Strong's 6233: Injury, fraud, distress, unjust gain turns a wise man חָכָ֑ם (ḥā·ḵām) Adjective - masculine singular Strong's 2450: Wise into a fool, יְהוֹלֵ֣ל (yə·hō·w·lêl) Verb - Piel - Imperfect - third person masculine singular Strong's 1984: To shine and a bribe מַתָּנָֽה׃ (mat·tā·nāh) Noun - feminine singular Strong's 4979: A present, a sacrificial offering, a bribe corrupts וִֽיאַבֵּ֥ד (wî·’ab·bêḏ) Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Conjunctive imperfect - third person masculine singular Strong's 6: To wander away, lose oneself, to perish the heart. לֵ֖ב (lêḇ) Noun - masculine singular Strong's 3820: The heart, the feelings, the will, the intellect, centre Links Ecclesiastes 7:7 NIVEcclesiastes 7:7 NLT Ecclesiastes 7:7 ESV Ecclesiastes 7:7 NASB Ecclesiastes 7:7 KJV Ecclesiastes 7:7 BibleApps.com Ecclesiastes 7:7 Biblia Paralela Ecclesiastes 7:7 Chinese Bible Ecclesiastes 7:7 French Bible Ecclesiastes 7:7 Catholic Bible OT Poetry: Ecclesiastes 7:7 Surely extortion makes the wise man foolish (Ecclesiast. Ec Ecc Eccles.) |
    |