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parallelVerse INT GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOS JDG RUTH 1SA 2SA PSA AMOS HOS 1KI 2KI 1CH 2CH PRO ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL JOB YHN MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC GAL 1TH 2TH 1COR 2COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1TIM TIT 1PET 2PET 2TIM HEB YUD 1YHN 2YHN 3YHN REV
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Pro 17 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26 V27 V28
Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
(All still tentative.)
Bribes
Some verses in Scripture condemn bribes as perverting justice (15:27; 17:23). Yet bribes can be used for good purposes and may even be encouraged (17:8; 18:16; 21:14).
As with other topics in Proverbs, the teaching on bribery may seem contradictory, but these proverbs all ring true when applied to the right circumstances, which seem to be connected to the reason for which a bribe or gift is given. If someone gives a bribe so that a judge will condemn an innocent person or set a guilty person free, then it is an evil bribe (see Exod 23:8; Deut 16:19; 27:25; Ps 15:5). However, if a bribe helps an innocent person to find justice or serves some good purpose, then it seems to be allowable. An example of the latter from modern times might be a “gift” to a foreign immigration official that expedites the processing of a visa for a missionary.
Passages for Further Study
Exod 23:8; Deut 10:17; 16:19; 1 Sam 8:1-3; Prov 17:8, 23; 18:16; 29:4; Eccl 7:7; Isa 1:23; 33:14-16; Amos 5:12; Mic 3:9-12; 7:3; Matt 28:11-15
Chapter 17 continues the section of the book written by Solomon that is filled mainly with short, individual proverbs.
Chapters 16–22 mostly contain proverbs in which the second of two parallel clauses completes, emphasizes, or qualifies the idea of the first clause. Chapter 17 also contains contrasting parallelism (17:9, 22, 24) and parallelism in which both clauses have the same meaning for emphasis (17:21, 28). (See: figs-parallelism)
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