Key Verse Spotlight
Proverbs 18:16 - Meaning and Application
Understand how this verse speaks to what you're facing and how to apply it today
Translation: King James Version
" A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men. "
Proverbs 18:16
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
14 The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?
15 The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge.
16 A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.
17 He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth
18 The lot causeth contentions to cease, and parteth between the mighty.
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He had already shown the strong power of gifts, meaning bribes, before, in Proverbs 17:8 and Proverbs 17:23. Here he shows the force of gifts in another sense, as presents given by people of lower rank to those above them, people who have much more than they do.
A good present can go a long way. First, it can help a man gain freedom. A gift, if he is in prison, may win his release. There are courtiers, men who serve in a king’s court, who, if they use their influence even for mistreated innocence, expect a reward for it. Or, if a poor man does not know how to get an audience with a great man, he may do it by paying a fee to that man’s servants or by giving a gift to the man himself. Such gifts will make room for him.
Second, it can help a man rise in rank. It can bring him to sit among great men, in honor and power. This shows how corrupt the world is, when a man’s gifts can get him what he wants, even if he does not deserve it or is not fit for it. So it is no wonder that some who take bribes in office first gave bribes to get their office. He who bought the law can sell it.
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From This Chapter
Proverbs 18:1
"Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom."
Proverbs 18:2
"A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover"
Proverbs 18:3
"When the wicked cometh, then cometh also contempt, and with ignominy reproach."
Proverbs 18:4
"The words of a man's mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook."
Proverbs 18:5
"It is not good to accept the person of the wicked, to overthrow the righteous in judgment."
Proverbs 18:6
"A fool's lips enter into contention, and his mouth calleth for strokes."
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