Proverbs 18:5

It is not good to accept the person of the wicked, to overthrow the righteous in judgment. IT IS NOT GOOD TO ACCEPT THE PERSON OF THE WICKED-TO SHOW PARTIALITY TO THEM, SO AS-TO OVERTHROW THE RIGHTEOUS IN JUDGMENT....

Verse Proverbs 18:5. _TO ACCEPT THE PERSON OF THE WICKED_] We must not, in judicial cases, pay any attention to a man's _riches, influence,_ _friends, offices_, c., but judge the case according to its own merits. But when the _wicked_ rich man opposes and oppresses the poor _righteous_, then all those things should be utterly forgotten....

EXPOSITION PROVERBS 18:1 This is a difficult verse, and has obtained various interpretations. The Authorized Version gives, THROUGH DESIRE A MAN, HAVING SEPARATED HIMSELF, SEEKETH AND INTERMEDDLETH WITH ALL WISDOM; _i.e. _a man who has an earnest desire for self-improvement will hold himself aloof from worldly entanglements, and, occupying himself wholly in this pursuit, will become conversant with all wisdom. This gives good sense, and offers a contrast to the fool in Proverbs 18:2, who "hath no delight in understanding." But the Hebrew does not rightly bear this interpretation. Its conciseness occasions ambiguity. Literally, _For his desire a man who separates himself seeks_;_ in _(or _against_) all wisdom he mingles

[IT IS] NOT GOOD TO ACCEPT THE PERSON OF THE WICKED,.... For a judge to have respect to a wicked man in a cause before him, and to favour him, because he is a rich man, or a relation, or he has received some kindness from him; none of these things should have any influence upon him TO OVERTHROW THE RIGHTEOUS IN JUDGMENT: though he may be a poor man and a stranger, and to whom the judge is under no private and personal obligation; yet justice ought to be done without any respect to persons; to do otherwise is not only not good, but very bad, very sinful and criminal; it is contrary to law and justice; it is doing injury to men, and is repugnant to the will of God, and offensive to him, Leviticus 19:15....

CHAPTER 18 PROVERBS OF PERSONAL INSTRUCTION There is first a warning against separation produced by desire, that is for gratification and pleasure, and not for a righteous purpose. Such a one becomes an enemy of true wisdom and one who intermeddleth with all wisdom. This proverb finds a New Testament illustration in Alexander the coppersmith, as well as Hymenaeus and Philetus, and Diotrephes of whom John writes in his epistle. A fool foams out his own folly. This proverb in Proverbs 18:2 is illustrated by many of the critics of the Bible. They have no delight in true understanding but their own hearts are laid bare by their mad oppositions to God's Holy Word. The fool's mouth, his lips, the talebearer (whisperer), and the slothful are the themes of the proverbs in Proverbs 18:6. Then we read

PROVERBS 18:1. MT yields no satisfactory sense. The LXX reads The man who wishes to separate from his friends seeks pretexts, but is always liable to reproach. Frankenberg renders the alienated friend seeks an occasion (emending the word for - desire-'), seeks by all means to stir up strife. Proverbs 18:4. RV translates correctly, but the sense is strange. Read, perhaps, The words of the wise are deep waters, a flowing brook, a fountain of life, but this is conjecture rather than emendation. Proverbs 18:5. _cf._ Proverbs 17:26, which may have originally followed this verse....

NOT GOOD. Figure of speech _Tapeinosis_ (App-6), meaning it is very bad. TO ACCEPT THE PERSON. to show partiality. TO. Repeat the Ellipsis: "[It is not good] to". OVERTHROW. turn aside: i.e. pervert. the righteous. a righteous one....

_to overthrow_ i.e. _so as to_, or _with a view to, overthrow_. See R.V. marg. Better perhaps with R.V. text, _nor_ TO TURN ASIDE....

TO ACCEPT THE PERSON, &C.— This phrase has principally, if not always, a judicial meaning. See Leviticus 19:15.Deuteronomy 1:17; Deuteronomy 16:19. The propriety of the expression will appear, when we find that it is applied to such qualifications as have no relation to the cause; namely, riches, friendship, or family connections. These are visible like the face of one man to another: but the merits of the cause are not apparent till investigated. See Grotius, and Foster's Sermons, vol. 3: p. 12....

CHAPTER 18 TEXT Proverbs 18:1-12 1. He that separateth himself seeketh his own desire, And rageth against all sound wisdom. 2. A fool hath no delight in understanding, But only that his heart may reveal itself. 3. When the wicked cometh, there cometh also contempt, And with ignominy cometh reproach. 4. The words of a man's mouth are as deep waters; The wellspring of wisdom is as a flowing brook. 5. To respect the person of the wicked is not good, Not to turn aside the righteous in judgment. 6. A fool's lips enter into contention, And his lips are the snare of his soul. 7. A fool's mouth is his destruction, And his lips are the snare of his soul. 8. The words of a whisperer are as dainty morsels, And they go down into the innermost parts.