◄ Proverbs 17:23 ►
A wicked man takes a covert bribe to subvert the course of justice.
Study Bible
A wicked man
The Hebrew word for "wicked" is "רָשָׁע" (rasha), which denotes someone who is morally wrong, guilty, or an enemy of righteousness. In the biblical context, a wicked man is not just someone who occasionally sins but is characterized by a lifestyle of rebellion against God's laws. This phrase sets the stage for understanding the moral depravity of the individual in question, highlighting a heart that is inclined towards evil and injustice. The wicked man is often contrasted with the righteous, who seeks to live in accordance with God's will.

takes a covert bribe
The act of taking a bribe is condemned throughout Scripture as it perverts justice and integrity. The Hebrew word for "bribe" is "שֹׁחַד" (shochad), which refers to a gift or payment given to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of authority. The term "covert" suggests secrecy and deceit, indicating that the bribe is hidden from public view, further emphasizing the dishonesty involved. In ancient times, as today, bribery undermines the legal system and erodes trust in leadership, which is why it is so strongly denounced in the Bible.

to subvert the course of justice
The phrase "subvert the course of justice" speaks to the intentional act of overturning or perverting what is right and fair. The Hebrew root "נָטָה" (natah) means to stretch out, bend, or turn aside, illustrating the distortion of justice. Justice, or "מִשְׁפָּט" (mishpat), is a central theme in the Bible, representing God's righteous standards and the fair treatment of individuals. Subverting justice is a grave sin because it not only harms those directly affected but also dishonors God, who is the ultimate judge and source of all justice.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Wicked Man
This refers to an individual who acts immorally or unjustly, often in opposition to God's laws. In the context of this verse, the wicked man is someone who accepts bribes, indicating a corrupt character.

2. Covert Bribe
A secret or hidden payment given to influence someone's actions, particularly in a way that is dishonest or unethical. The term "covert" suggests deceit and a lack of transparency.

3. Course of Justice
This phrase refers to the fair and impartial administration of the law. The wicked man's actions are aimed at undermining this process, leading to injustice.
Teaching Points
Integrity in Leadership
Leaders and those in positions of authority must uphold justice and resist the temptation of bribes. Integrity is essential for maintaining trust and fairness in society.

The Corrupting Power of Money
Money, when used unethically, can corrupt individuals and systems. Christians are called to be vigilant against the love of money, which can lead to all kinds of evil.

Transparency and Accountability
In both personal and professional life, transparency and accountability are crucial to prevent corruption. Christians should strive to live in the light, avoiding secretive and dishonest practices.

The Importance of Justice
Justice is a core value in the Bible, reflecting God's character. Believers are encouraged to seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God, ensuring that their actions align with His standards.

Guarding Against Temptation
Everyone faces temptations, but Christians are called to stand firm and resist actions that would lead them away from God's will, including the temptation to accept or offer bribes.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the acceptance of a bribe reflect the character of a "wicked man" as described in Proverbs 17:23?

2. In what ways can Christians ensure they are not influenced by the corrupting power of money in their daily lives?

3. How do the warnings against bribery in Exodus 23:8 and Deuteronomy 16:19 reinforce the message of Proverbs 17:23?

4. What practical steps can individuals and communities take to promote transparency and accountability in leadership?

5. How can believers actively seek justice in their communities, and what role does prayer play in this pursuit?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Exodus 23:8
This verse warns against taking bribes, as they blind the clear-sighted and subvert the cause of the righteous. It highlights the corrupting influence of bribes on justice.

Deuteronomy 16:19
This passage instructs judges not to pervert justice or show partiality, emphasizing that bribes can blind the eyes of the wise and twist the words of the righteous.

Isaiah 5:23
This verse condemns those who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice, illustrating the moral decay that results from bribery.
Sermons
Fatherhood and SonshipW. Clarkson Proverbs 17:6, 21, 25
Use and NeglectW. Clarkson Proverbs 17:16, 24
Varied Experiences of Good and Evil in LifeE. Johnson Proverbs 17:21-28
People
Solomon
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Accepts, Aside, Bosom, Bribe, Cause, Course, Decision, Gift, Judgment, Justice, Offering, Paths, Pervert, Receives, Receiveth, Robe, Secret, Sinner, Takes, Taketh, Turn, Wicked
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Proverbs 17:23

     5238   bribery
     5941   secrecy
     6604   acceptance, human

Library
April 8. "A Merry Heart Doeth Good Like a Medicine" (Prov. xvii. 22).
"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine" (Prov. xvii. 22). King Solomon left among his wise sayings a prescription for sick and sad hearts, and it is one that we can safely take. "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine." Joy is the great restorer and healer. Gladness of spirit will bring health to the bones and vitality to the nerves when all other tonics fail, and all other sedatives cease to quiet. Sick one, begin to rejoice in the Lord, and your bones will flourish like an herb, and your cheeks …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

September 12. "The Furnace for Gold; but the Lord Trieth the Hearts" (Prov. xvii. 3. )
"The furnace for gold; but the Lord trieth the hearts" (Prov. xvii. 3.) Remember that temptation is not sin unless it be accompanied with the consent of your will. There may seem to be even the inclination, and yet the real choice of your spirit is fixed immovably against it, and God regards it simply as a solicitation and credits you with an obedience all the more pleasing to Him, because the temptation was so strong. We little know how evil can find access to a pure nature and seem to incorporate …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

The Unrivalled Friend
A sermon (No. 899) delivered on Lord's Day morning, November 7th, 1869, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, by C. H. Spurgeon. "A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity."--Proverbs 17:17. There is one thing about the usefulness of which all men are agreed, namely, friendship; but most men are soon aware that counterfeits of friendship are common as autumn leaves. Few men enjoy from others the highest and truest form of friendship. The friendships of this world are …
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

Its Meaning
Deliverance from the condemning sentence of the Divine Law is the fundamental blessing in Divine salvation: so long as we continue under the curse, we can neither be holy nor happy. But as to the precise nature of that deliverance, as to exactly what it consists of, as to the ground on which it is obtained, and as to the means whereby it is secured, much confusion now obtains. Most of the errors which have been prevalent on this subject arose from the lack of a clear view of the thing itself, and …
Arthur W. Pink—The Doctrine of Justification

Religion a Weariness to the Natural Man.
"He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him."--Isaiah liii. 2. "Religion is a weariness;" such is the judgment commonly passed, often avowed, concerning the greatest of blessings which Almighty God has bestowed upon us. And when God gave the blessing, He at the same time foretold that such would be the judgment of the world upon it, even as manifested in the gracious Person of Him whom He sent to give it to us. "He hath no form nor …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

The Raising of the Young Man of Nain - the Meeting of Life and Death.
THAT early spring-tide in Galilee was surely the truest realisation of the picture in the Song of Solomon, when earth clad herself in garments of beauty, and the air was melodious with songs of new life. [2625] It seemed as if each day marked a widening circle of deepest sympathy and largest power on the part of Jesus; as if each day also brought fresh surprise, new gladness; opened hitherto unthought-of possibilities, and pointed Israel far beyond the horizon of their narrow expectancy. Yesterday …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Cæsarius of Arles.
He was born in the district of Chalons-sur-Saone, A. D. 470. He seems to have been early awakened, by a pious education, to vital Christianity. When he was between seven and eight years old, it would often happen that he would give a portion of his clothes to the poor whom he met, and would say, when he came home, that he had been, constrained to do so. When yet a youth, he entered the celebrated convent on the island of Lerins, (Lerina,) in Provence, from which a spirit of deep and practical piety …
Augustus Neander—Light in the Dark Places

Letter xxiv (Circa A. D. 1126) to Oger, Regular Canon
To Oger, Regular Canon [34] Bernard blames him for his resignation of his pastoral charge, although made from the love of a calm and pious life. None the less, he instructs him how, after becoming a private person, he ought to live in community. To Brother Oger, the Canon, Brother Bernard, monk but sinner, wishes that he may walk worthily of God even to the end, and embraces him with the fullest affection. 1. If I seem to have been too slow in replying to your letter, ascribe it to my not having …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Twenty Second Sunday after Trinity Paul's Thanks and Prayers for Churches.
Text: Philippians 1, 3-11. 3 I thank my God upon all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every supplication of mine on behalf of you all making my supplication with joy, 5 for your fellowship in furtherance of the gospel from the first day until now; 6 being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ: 7 even as it is right for me to be thus minded on behalf of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as, both in my bonds …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

How the Silent and the Talkative are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 15.) Differently to be admonished are the over-silent, and those who spend time in much speaking. For it ought to be insinuated to the over-silent that while they shun some vices unadvisedly, they are, without its being perceived, implicated in worse. For often from bridling the tongue overmuch they suffer from more grievous loquacity in the heart; so that thoughts seethe the more in the mind from being straitened by the violent guard of indiscreet silence. And for the most part they …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

"Thou Shall Keep Him in Perfect Peace, Whose Mind is Stayed on Thee, Because He Trusteth in Thee. "
Isaiah xxvi. 3.--"Thou shall keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee." All men love to have privileges above others. Every one is upon the design and search after some well-being, since Adam lost that which was true happiness. We all agree upon the general notion of it, but presently men divide in the following of particulars. Here all men are united in seeking after some good; something to satisfy their souls, and satiate their desires. Nay, but they …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

An Analysis of Augustin's Writings against the Donatists.
The object of this chapter is to present a rudimentary outline and summary of all that Augustin penned or spoke against those traditional North African Christians whom he was pleased to regard as schismatics. It will be arranged, so far as may be, in chronological order, following the dates suggested by the Benedictine edition. The necessary brevity precludes anything but a very meagre treatment of so considerable a theme. The writer takes no responsibility for the ecclesiological tenets of the …
St. Augustine—writings in connection with the donatist controversy.

An Exhortation to Peace and Unity
[ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR] This treatise was first published in 1688, after Bunyan's death, at the end of the second edition of the Barren Fig Tree, with a black border round the title. It was continued in the third edition 1692, but was subsequently omitted, although the Barren Fig Tree was printed for the same publisher. It has been printed in every edition of Bunyan's Works. Respect for the judgment of others leads me to allow it a place in the first complete edition, although I have serious …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

The Nature of Justification
Justification in the active sense (iustificatio, {GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA}) is defined by the Tridentine Council as "a translation from that state wherein man is born a child of the first Adam, to the state of grace and of the adoption of the sons of God through the second Adam, …
Joseph Pohle—Grace, Actual and Habitual

Concerning Justification.
Concerning Justification. As many as resist not this light, but receive the same, it becomes in them an holy, pure, and spiritual birth, bringing forth holiness, righteousness, purity, and all those other blessed fruits which are acceptable to God: by which holy birth, to wit, Jesus Christ formed within us, and working his works in us, as we are sanctified, so are we justified in the sight of God, according to the apostle's words; But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in …
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

Proverbs
Many specimens of the so-called Wisdom Literature are preserved for us in the book of Proverbs, for its contents are by no means confined to what we call proverbs. The first nine chapters constitute a continuous discourse, almost in the manner of a sermon; and of the last two chapters, ch. xxx. is largely made up of enigmas, and xxxi. is in part a description of the good housewife. All, however, are rightly subsumed under the idea of wisdom, which to the Hebrew had always moral relations. The Hebrew …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

Links
Proverbs 17:23 NIV
Proverbs 17:23 NLT
Proverbs 17:23 ESV
Proverbs 17:23 NASB
Proverbs 17:23 KJV

Proverbs 17:23 Commentaries

Bible Hub
Proverbs 17:22
Top of Page
Top of Page