What Does Proverbs 17:8 Mean in the King James?
A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it: whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth.
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
The Hebrew gift is שֹׁחַד (shochad), an offering that can also be a bribe, so its jewel-like power lies in the favor it can turn toward its holder.
THE MEANING
The gift is a stone of favor in its holder’s eyes: its value rests in the welcome and influence it carries. Turned toward an opening, it prospers through shrewd success. The verse also names the unsettling force of a bribe, whose favor can make access bend.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse unsettles the belief that a successful opening proves the path was earned on merit alone; a gift can turn favor toward its holder.
THE ROOT
שֹׁחַד
shochad
GROWS FROM
שחד
sh-ch-d
A bribe or offered gift used to secure favor.
The Hebrew word includes both a gift and a bribe, giving the verse’s image a sharper edge than a precious object alone. This offering carries influence: it can turn favor toward the person who holds or deploys it.
ALSO GROWS
shochad: A gift or bribe.
שֹׁחַד
The same noun appears in Exodus 23:8, where the gift blinds the wise; here, the verse describes its power to secure success.
shachad: To give a bribe.
שָׁחַד
The verbal form shows the offering in action: it is given to sway how another person receives or responds.
חֵן
chen
GROWS FROM
חנן
ch-n-n
To show favor or be gracious.
The Hebrew phrase is a stone of chen, meaning favor, so the image centers on the gift’s power to be received favorably in its owner’s eyes. The English “precious” preserves its value while the root adds the sense of favor perceived or granted.
ALSO GROWS
chen: Favor, charm, or grace.
חֵן
The stone is described through favor, linking its value to the welcome it wins in the eyes of its holder.
chanan: To show favor or be gracious.
חָנַן
This verbal branch brings out the action within the image: favor is extended, and the gift gains influence through that reception.
יַשְׂכִּיל
yaskil
GROWS FROM
שׂכל
s-k-l
To act with insight or prudence, and so succeed.
The verb rendered “prospereth” can mean acting with insight or prudence, with success as its result. The proverb gives prosperity the texture of shrewd effectiveness, not merely visible wealth.
ALSO GROWS
sekel: Understanding or prudence.
שֵׂכֶל
This related noun shows that success in the verse carries a sense of insight and practical judgment.
maskil: One who acts wisely or skillfully.
מַשְׂכִּיל
This branch echoes the verse’s picture of an offering that succeeds because it is effectively directed.
THE PATTERN
An offered gift can travel ahead of its giver and shape the reception or decision that meets them.
A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me.He hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul, that he might loose him: wherefore he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him.THE THREAD
And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.The Hebrew gift here is שֹׁחַד (shochad), an offered gift or bribe, the same word used in Proverbs 17:8. Exodus shows the other edge of its power: what secures favor can also blind judgment and bend what is seen as right.
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