Bible Strands
Proverbs 15:27
He who is greedy for unjust gain brings trouble on his household, but he who hates bribes will live.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The wisdom author addresses a student or general reader within a collection of practical instructions, framing the verse as a direct contrast between two paths of conduct.
The words — בָּ֑צַע (Ba.tza') means unjust gain, and מַתָּנֹ֣ת (ma.ta.Not) literally means gifts but functions in this context as bribes.
The thread — The prohibition against corrupt profit runs through Exodus 23:8, which warns that bribes blind judgment, and Proverbs 1:19, which declares that unjust gain destroys its owner.
Why it lands — The text commands readers to refuse dishonest profit and bribes to prevent household ruin and preserve their own life.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live.
Cross-references
- Exodus 23:8 Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.
- Proverbs 1:19 Such is the fate of all who are greedy, whose unjust gain takes the lives of its possessors.
- Jeremiah 17:11 Like a partridge hatching eggs it did not lay is the man who makes a fortune unjustly. In the middle of his days his riches will desert him, and in the end he will be the fool.”
- Deuteronomy 16:19 Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.
- Proverbs 11:29 He who brings trouble on his house will inherit the wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.
- Isaiah 33:15 He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears against murderous plots and shuts his eyes tightly against evil—
- Exodus 18:21 Furthermore, select capable men from among the people—God-fearing, trustworthy men who are averse to dishonest gain. Appoint them over the people as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.
- Joshua 7:24 Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the cloak, the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his oxen and donkeys and sheep, his tent, and everything else he owned, and brought them to the Valley of Achor.
- Habakkuk 2:9 Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain, to place his nest on high and escape the hand of disaster!
- Zechariah 5:3 Then he told me, “This is the curse that is going out over the face of all the land, for according to one side of the scroll, every thief will be removed; and according to the other side, every perjurer will be removed.