What Does Proverbs 17:23 Mean in the King James?
A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
A bribe does not merely sway a verdict; it bends the path judgment travels.
THE MEANING
A hidden payment reaches the person who decides, and the road of judgment bends around it. The word translated “gift” is שֹׁחַד (shochad, a bribe or inducement), bringing the payment’s influence into view. The verse speaks now wherever private advantage alters the route by which a decision is made.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that a payment stays between giver and recipient. This verse shows it altering the public route of judgment.
THE ROOT
לְהַטּוֹת
lehatot
GROWS FROM
נטה
natah
To stretch out, incline, or bend.
“pervert” in this verse is lehatot. The root describes a direction being shifted. Here, judgment has a path, and the payment makes that path bend.
ALSO GROWS
Stretch out: Extend or stretch outward.
נָטָה
The root’s concrete motion shows how “perverting” turns a judicial route from its course.
Incline: Lean or turn toward.
נָטָה
The same root can describe an inclination, exposing how what a judge leans toward can redirect a decision.
מִשְׁפָּט
mishpat
GROWS FROM
שפט
sh-p-t
To judge, decide, or govern.
Mishpat is tied to the act of judging, not only to an abstract standard of fairness. The bribe bends the route by which judgment is carried out.
ALSO GROWS
Judge: To judge or decide.
שָׁפַט
This verbal branch makes clear that judgment is an action that can be redirected.
Judge: A person who judges, an adjudicator.
שֹׁפֵט
This branch connects the bent path of justice to the person carrying out the judging.
THE PATTERN
When private money enters the channel of judgment, it bends what should be decided by truth.
And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.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.And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,THE THREAD
And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.The word translated “gift” is שֹׁחַד (shochad, a bribe) in both verses. Exodus names its effect as blindness and bent speech; Proverbs shows the same payment bending the path of judgment.
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