Proverbs 18:16
New International Version
A gift opens the way and ushers the giver into the presence of the great.

New Living Translation
Giving a gift can open doors; it gives access to important people!

English Standard Version
A man’s gift makes room for him and brings him before the great.

Berean Standard Bible
A man’s gift opens doors for him, and brings him before great men.

King James Bible
A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.

New King James Version
A man’s gift makes room for him, And brings him before great men.

New American Standard Bible
A person’s gift makes room for him And brings him before great people.

NASB 1995
A man’s gift makes room for him And brings him before great men.

NASB 1977
A man’s gift makes room for him, And brings him before great men.

Legacy Standard Bible
A man’s gift makes room for him And leads him into the presence of great men.

Amplified Bible
A man’s gift [given in love or courtesy] makes room for him And brings him before great men.

Christian Standard Bible
A person’s gift opens doors for him and brings him before the great.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
A gift opens doors for a man and brings him before the great.

American Standard Version
A man's gift maketh room for him, And bringeth him before great men.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
A man's gifts give him room and stand him before the great.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
A man's gift enlarges him, and seats him among princes.

Contemporary English Version
A gift will get you in to see anyone.

Douay-Rheims Bible
A man's gift enlargeth his may, and maketh him room before princes.

English Revised Version
A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
A gift opens doors for the one who gives it and brings him into the presence of great people.

Good News Translation
Do you want to meet an important person? Take a gift and it will be easy.

International Standard Version
A person's gift opens doors for him, bringing him access to important people.

JPS Tanakh 1917
A man's gift maketh room for him, And bringeth him before great men.

Literal Standard Version
The gift of a man makes room for him, | And it leads him before the great.

Majority Standard Bible
A man’s gift opens doors for him, and brings him before great men.

New American Bible
Gifts clear the way for people, winning access to the great.

NET Bible
A person's gift makes room for him, and leads him before important people.

New Revised Standard Version
A gift opens doors; it gives access to the great.

New Heart English Bible
A man's gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.

Webster's Bible Translation
A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.

World English Bible
A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.

Young's Literal Translation
The gift of a man maketh room for him, And before the great it leadeth him.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Selfishness of the Unfriendly
15The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks it out. 16A man’s gift opens doors for him, and brings him before great men. 17The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.…

Cross References
Genesis 32:20
You are also to say, 'Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.'" For he thought, "I will appease Esau with the gift that is going before me. After that I can face him, and perhaps he will accept me."

1 Samuel 16:20
And Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and one young goat, and sent them to Saul with his son David.

1 Samuel 25:27
Now let this gift your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow you.

Proverbs 18:17
The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

Proverbs 19:6
Many seek the favor of the prince, and everyone is a friend of the gift giver.

Proverbs 21:14
A gift in secret soothes anger, and a covert bribe pacifies great wrath.


Treasury of Scripture

A man's gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.

Proverbs 17:8
A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it: whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth.

Proverbs 19:6
Many will intreat the favour of the prince: and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts.

Proverbs 21:14
A gift in secret pacifieth anger: and a reward in the bosom strong wrath.

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Proverbs 18
1. A fool delights not in understanding














(16) A man's gift.--Judicious liberality "maketh room for him," helps him to make his way through life. (Comp. Luke 16:9, and the advice there given so to use temporal riches as to gain those of heaven.)

Verse 16. - A man's gift maketh room for him (comp. Proverbs 19:6). Mattam, "gift," has been taken in different senses. Some consider it to mean a bribe offered for underhand or fraudulent purposes; but the context does not lead to this conclusion, and the parallel passage mentioned above makes against it. Hitzig sees in it a spiritual gift, equivalent to χάρισμα; but such a meaning is not elsewhere attached to the word. The term here signifies the present which duty or friendship offers to one whom one wishes to please. This paves a man's way to a great person's presence. Bringeth him before great men. The Oriental custom of offering suitable gifts to one in authority, when a favour or an audience is desired, is here alluded to (comp. 1 Samuel 10:27; 1 Kings 4:21; 1 Kings 10:25). So the Magi brought gifts so the newborn King at Bethlehem (Matthew 2:11). In a spiritual sense, the right use of riches opens the way to eternal life, evincing a man's practical love of God and man; as Christ says (Luke 16:9), "Make to yourselves friends by means of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when it shall fail, they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles" (Revised Version).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
A man’s
אָ֭דָם (’ā·ḏām)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 120: Ruddy, a human being

gift
מַתָּ֣ן (mat·tān)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4976: A present

opens doors
יַרְחִ֣יב (yar·ḥîḇ)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7337: To be or grow wide or large

for him,
ל֑וֹ (lōw)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew

and brings
יַנְחֶֽנּוּ׃ (yan·ḥen·nū)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine singular | third person masculine singular
Strong's 5148: To guide, to transport

him before
וְלִפְנֵ֖י (wə·lip̄·nê)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l | Noun - common plural construct
Strong's 6440: The face

great men.
גְדֹלִ֣ים (ḡə·ḏō·lîm)
Adjective - masculine plural
Strong's 1419: Great, older, insolent


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OT Poetry: Proverbs 18:16 A man's gift makes room for him (Prov. Pro Pr)
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