Proverbs 29:4

Pro 29:4 The king by judgment establisheth the land: but he that receiveth gifts overthroweth it.

Ver. 4. The king by judgment stablisheth the land.] This one piece of Solomon’s politics hath much more good advice in it than all Lypsius’s Beehive, or Machiavel’s Spider web.

But he that receiveth gifts.] Heb., A man of oblations; that is, as some interpret it, a man that sacreligiously meddleth with things dedicated to pious uses, and makes a gain of them to himself. See Pro 20:25.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pro 29:4. The king by judgment — By the free and impartial exercise of justice; establisheth the land — Restores his kingdom to a firm and good state, though it might before be in great disorder; but he that receiveth gifts — Hebrew, אישׁ תרומות, a man of oblations, or gifts, whose delight and common practice it is to take bribes and sell justice; overthroweth it —

Subverts it utterly, though it might before be never so well settled.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

29:4 A just king looks out for the rights of others; a ruler who accepts bribes uses his office for personal gain (see also 17:23; 22:16; 28:21).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Here is, 1. The happiness of a people under a good government. The care and business of a prince should be to establish the land, to maintain its fundamental laws, to settle the minds of his subjects and make them easy, to secure their liberties and properties from hostilities and for posterity, and to set in order the things that are wanting; this he must do by judgment, by wise counsels, and by the steady administration of justice, without respect of persons, which will have these good effects. 2. The misery of a people under a bad government: A man of oblations (so it is in the margin) overthrows the land; a man that is either sacrilegious or superstitious, or that invades the priest's office, as Saul and Uzziah - or a man that aims at nothing but getting money, and will, for a good bribe, connive at the most guilty, and, in hope of one, persecute the innocent - such governors as these will ruin a country.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

by judgment--that is, righteous decisions, opposed to those procured by gifts (compare Pro 28:21), by which good government is perverted.

land--for nation.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 4. He that receiveth gifts] This was notoriously the case in this kingdom, before the passing of the Magna Charta, or great charter of liberties. Hence that article in it, Nulli vendemus justitiam; "We will not sell justice to any." I have met with cases in our ancient records where, in order to get his right, a man was obliged almost to ruin himself in presents to the king, queen, and their favourites, to get the case decided in his favour.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(4) By judgment.—Upright decisions.

He that receiveth gifts.—To pervert justice (Pro_15:27).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. receiveth] The R.V., exacteth, is scarcely an improvement, for it is enough to “overthrow the land” that the king be open to receive gifts. The Heb., a man of offerings, will bear either sense. The rendering of R.V. marg., that imposeth tribute, sacrifices the contrast in the two members of the proverb, between the impartial administration of justice and the venality and corruption which are the curse of Oriental courts.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The king by judgment establisheth the land,.... By executing, judgment and justice among his subjects, he establishes the laws of the land, and the government of it; he secures its peace and prosperity, and preserves his people in the possession at their properties and privileges; and makes them rich and powerful, and the state stable and flourishing, so that it continues firm to posterity; such a king was Solomon, Ch2 9:8;

but he that receiveth gifts overthroweth it; that, is, a king that does so; Gersom observes that he is not called a king, because such a man is not worthy of the name, who takes gifts and is bribed by them to pervert judgment and justice; whereby the laws of the nation are violated, and the persons and properties of his subjects become the prey of wicked men; and so the state is subverted and falls to ruin: it is in the original text, "a man of oblations" (k); the word is generally used of the sacred oblations or offerings under the law; hence some understand it of a sacrilegious prince who of his own arbitrary power converts sacred things to civil uses. The Targum, Septuagint, Syriac and Arabic versions render it, a wicked and ungodly man; and the Vulgate Latin version, a covetous man; as such a prince must be in whatsoever light he is seen, whether as a perverter of justice through bribes, or as a sacrilegious man; though it may be rendered, "a man of exactions" (l), for it is used of the oblation of a prince which he receives from his people, Eze 45:9; as Aben Ezra observes; and so it may be interpreted of a king that lays heavy taxes upon his people, and thereby brings them to distress and poverty, and the state to ruin.

(k) "vir oblationam", Montanus, Baynus, Grotius, Gejerus, Schultens. (l) "Vir exactionum", Mercerus; "qui levat exactiones", Munster; "qui tributa imponit", so some in Vatablus; "qui tribbuta extorquet", Tigurine version.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

By judgment; by the free and impartial exercise of justice.

He that receiveth gifts, Heb. a man (for he would not vouchsafe to call him a king, as being unworthy of that name and office) of oblations or gifts, i.e. whose delight and common practice it is to take bribes, and sell justice.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. By judgment — Administrative justice.

He that receiveth gifts — “A man of exactions, or of oblations, exacts tribute.” — Conant. “Is fond of bribes.” — Zockler. The idea seems to be, that such a man sits upon the throne to receive oblations rather than to dispense justice — that he makes himself a god to be appeased by offerings, and sells favours to the highest bidder. Such, indeed, was and is the character of many of the eastern despots. Nor has this form of iniquity been confined to the East. Dr. Clarke says: “I have met with cases in our ancient records where, in order to get his right, a man was obliged almost to ruin himself in presents to the king, queen, and their favourites.” One of the articles of the Magna Charta is:

Nulli vendemus justitiam; “We will sell justice to no one.” Under our system of government, and in our times, perhaps the most likely place to find the development of this evil is in the legislative department — national and local. Legislators who receive, directly or indirectly, a compensation for their votes, are acting on the principle condemned in this proverb, and are contributing their share to the ruin of their country. Compare Eze_45:9.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Many of the proverbs in this chapter seem to suit the time of Jeroboam II. (see on Pro_28:3) The king by judgment establisheth the land. The king, the fountain of justice, by his equitable government brings his country into a healthy and settled condition. (1Ki_15:4; comp. Ver. 14; Pro_16:12 Pro_25:5) In the security of the throne the land and people participate. He that receiveth gifts overthroweth it. The expression, twOmWrT vyai (ish terumoth), "man of offerings," "man of gifts," is ambiguous: it may mean "the taker of bribes," the unrighteous ruler who sells justice, (Pro_15:27) or it may signify "the imposer of taxes" (Eze_45:13, etc.) or forced benevolences. Aquila and Theodotion have anhtwn , "man of heave offerings," and Wordsworth regards him as a man who claims and receives gifts, as if he were a deity on earth. Whichever sense we give to the phrase, the contrast lies between the inflexibly upright ruler and the iniquitous or extortionate prince. The Septuagint gives paranomov , "a transgressor;" Vulgate, vir avarus.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Judgment - By the free and impartial exercise of justice. Gifts - Bribes.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

A series of six proverb follows, beginning with a proverb of the king:

4 A king by righteousness bringeth the land to a good condition;

But a man of taxes bringeth it down.

The Hiph. חעמיד signifies to make it so that a person or matter comes to stand erect and stand fast (e.g., Kg1 15:4); הרס, to tear down, is the contrary of building up and extending (Psa 28:5), cf. נהרס, opp. רוּם, of the state, Pro 11:11. By 'אישׁ תּר is meant the king, or a man of this kind; but it is questionable whether as a man of gifts, i.e., one who lets gifts be made to him (Grotius, Fleischer, Ewald, Bertheau, Zckler), or as a man of taxes, i.e., who imposes them (Midrash, Aben Ezra, Ralbag, Rosenmller, Hitzig). Both interpretations are possible, for 'תר means tax (lifting, raising = dedicating), free-will offerings, as well as gifts that are obligatory and required by the laws of nature. Since the word, in the only other place where it occurs, Eze 45:13-16, is used of the relation of the people to the prince, and denotes a legally-imposed tax, so it appears also here, in passing over from the religious sphere to the secular, to be meant of taxes, and that according to its fundamental conception of gifts, i.e., such taxes as are given on account of anything, such as the produce of the soil, manufactures, heritages. Thus also is to be understood Aquila's and Theodotion's ἀνὴρ ἀφαιρεμάτων, and the rendering also of the Venet. ἐράνων. A man on the throne, covetous of such gifts, brings the land to ruin by exacting contributions; on the contrary, a king helps the land to a good position, and an enduring prosperity, by the exercise of right, and that in appointing a well-proportioned and fit measure of taxation.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Of what avail are the best laws, if they be badly administered? Partiality and injustice absolutely make them null and void. And yet it requires great integrity and moral courage to withstand the temptations of worldly policy and self-interest. God’s own throne is built and established by judgment.†1 This then can be the only establishment of the land.†2 The compromise of it to some private ends provokes the anger of God to the chastisement, if not the overthrow, of the land. The article in our Magna Charta — ’We will sell justice to none’ — is but too plain evidence of the recklessness of all social principles, ere the great standard was erected among us.

Under the godly government of Samuel the land was established by judgment.†3 "But his sons walked not in his ways." They were men of oblations. They received gifts; and the Theocracy — the great palladium of the land — was overthrown.†4 The righteous administration of David "bore up the pillars" of the land, at a time of great national weakness.†5 The same principles in the godly successors were the source of strength and prosperity.†6 The want of uprightness in Saul shook the kingdom from his grasp;†7 and the covetousness of Johoiakim†8 destroyed its foundations, and buried him in its ruins. Let the same consistency pervade every grade of official responsibility. No respect will be paid to dignity, temporal or spiritual, except it be established with judgment. Let men of God be in our high places; and "righteousness will exalt a nation," and our Church will be "the joy and praise of the whole earth." (Pro 14:34 .)

Footnotes:

†1 Psa 89:14; Psa 97:2 . Isa 9:7 .

†2 Pro 29:14; Pro 16:10-12 ; Pro 20:8, Pro 20:26 ; Pro 25:5 . 2Ch 9:8 .

†3 1Sa 7:3-12, 1Sa 7:15-17 .

†4 1Sa 8:2-7 .

†5 Psa 75:2-6, Psa 75:10 . 2Sa 8:15 .

†6 2Ch 1:1 ; 2Ch 14:2-7 ; 2Ch 19:6-7, with 2Ch 20:27-30 ; 2Ch 31:20-21 . Isa 32:1-2 .

†7 1Sa 13:13 .

†8 Jer 22:13-19.

Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

establishes the country If he is an honest judge, he establishes the country.

but a haughty man Heb. תרומות, a haughty man, who does not care to take time in judgment. Our Rabbis (Keth. 105b) stated: “If the judge is like a king, who does not have to acquire friends and accept bribes, he establishes the country. But if he is like a priest, who asks for terumoth in the threshing floors, he tears it down.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.