He who profits illicitly troubles his own house,
But he who hates bribes will live.Proverbs 15:27 from New American Standard Bible
I looked at lots of translations and in each of them they boiled down “profits illicitly” to another word that is thrown around a lot in our current society ->Â greed
The definition of “greed” has changed over the years, really it just evolved from “An eager desire or longing” to “reprehensible acquisitiveness; insatiable desire for wealth” and neither are automatically “profits illicitly” …
It can be, I mean it gets back to the question of how you gained the income you did (honestly or dishonestly); yet it does not mean you should not have any eager desire or longing.
If the war is on “desire” or “longing” well then the war is on the inherent nature of how we were made, we were all created, or born, with desires – some have been shaped and formed as we grow up in this world/society/culture/etc yet, there had to be some there from birth or we would not have lived.
What this says and shows to me is the importance of reading multiple translations, especially with something either strikes you as “just wrong” or “perfectly fine”. Not every verse or word, but in generally – there will be parts that strike you, sit on you … lean up against you, to help make you better.
Now look at all that I have written, have I even dealt with the topic of this verse so far?
Why is it the hatred of bribery will cause real life, or one to live?
The way a person is able to bribe someone means that he is willing to cause the rules of the game to be changed to his favor instead of achieving a result under the rules previously established, or from the light.
Taking that step causes something within him to die.
This all goes back to character and integrity, being in the light … acting the same way as you say you are striving to be.
So, this comes back to the overuse of the word “greed” in our society. Is it really “an eager desire” that you condemn or think of when you hear the term geeeeeed or greeeeedy or is it something much more subjective and closer to the definition of envy?
Part of the Proverbs Challenge series
