Key Verse Spotlight
Proverbs 21:14 - Meaning and Application
Understand how this verse speaks to what you're facing-and how to apply it today
Translation: King James Version
" A gift in secret pacifieth anger: and a reward in the bosom strong wrath. "
Proverbs 21:14
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
The righteous man wisely considereth the house of the wicked: but God overthroweth the wicked for their wickedness.
Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.
A gift in secret pacifieth anger: and a reward in the bosom strong wrath.
It is joy to the just to do judgment: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity.
The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.
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Here we see, first, the power that gifts often have. Nothing is more fierce than anger. Strong wrath can be very hard to calm. Yet a well-chosen present, given with care, can turn away some people’s anger when it seemed impossible to quiet it, and can soften even the sharpest resentment.
We also see the strategy often used in giving and receiving bribes. The gift must be given in secret, and the reward must be hidden in the bosom, that is, kept out of sight. The one who takes it does not want to seem greedy, or to be known as receiving it, and he does not want to feel obliged to someone who has offended him. But if it is done privately, all seems well.
No one should be too open in giving any gift, or boast about the presents he sends. But if the gift is really a bribe meant to twist justice, that is so shameful that even those who like it are ashamed of it.
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From This Chapter
Proverbs 21:1
"The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will."
Proverbs 21:2
"Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts."
Proverbs 21:3
"To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice."
Proverbs 21:4
"An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin."
Proverbs 21:5
"The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want."
Proverbs 21:6
"The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death."
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