Bible Strands
Proverbs 17:15
Acquitting the guilty and condemning the righteous—both are detestable to the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The author addresses a general audience within a collection of wisdom instructions, placing this maxim between a warning to abandon disputes before they erupt and a rebuke of the fool who hoards wealth without seeking understanding.
The words — The Hebrew מַצְדִּיק (matz.Dik) denotes one who justifies or acquits, while תּוֹעֲבַת (to.'a.Vat) translates literally to abomination or detestable thing.
The thread — The prohibition against perverting judicial outcomes runs through Exodus 23:7, Proverbs 18:5, and Isaiah 5:23, all condemning the corruption of legal verdicts for either the wicked or the innocent.
Why it lands — The text demands strict impartiality in judgment, warning that corrupting verdicts harms both the guilty and the righteous equally and violates divine standards of justice.
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 justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord.
Cross-references
- Exodus 23:7 Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty.
- Proverbs 18:5 Showing partiality to the wicked is not good, nor is depriving the innocent of justice.
- Isaiah 5:23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice.
- Proverbs 24:23 These also are sayings of the wise: To show partiality in judgment is not good.
- Amos 6:12 “Do horses gallop on the cliffs? Does one plow the sea with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—
- Proverbs 15:8 The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.
- Isaiah 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.
- Amos 5:7 There are those who turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness to the ground.
- Amos 5:12 For I know that your transgressions are many and your sins are numerous. You oppress the righteous by taking bribes; you deprive the poor of justice in the gate.
- 1 Kings 21:13 And the two scoundrels came in and sat opposite Naboth, and these men testified against him before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both God and the king!” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death.