Proverbs 15:27

The one who is greedy for gain ¹  troubles ²  his household, ³  but whoever hates bribes ⁴  will live.

Ex 18:21; Ex 23:8; De 7:26; De 16:19; Jos 6:18; Jos 7:11,12,24,25; 1Sa 8:3-5; 2Ki 5:27; Pr 1:19; Pr 11:19,29; Pr 20:21; Pr 28:16; Pr 29:4; Isa 5:8-10; Isa 33:15,16; Jer 17:11; Hab 2:9-11; Zec 5:3,4

¹ tn Heb “the one who gains.” The phrase בּוֹצֵעַ בָּצַע (botseakh batsa’) is a participle followed by its cognate accusative. This refers to a person who is always making the big deal, getting the larger cut, or in a hurry to get rich. The verb, though, makes it clear that the gaining of a profit is by violence and usually unjust, since the root has the idea of “cut off; break off; gain by violence.” The line is contrasted with hating bribes, and so the gain in this line may be through bribery.

² sn The participle “troubles” (עֹכֵר, ’okher) can have the connotation of making things difficult for the family, or completely ruining the family (cf. NAB). In Josh 7:1 Achan took some of the “banned things” and was put to death: Because he “troubled Israel,” the Lord would “trouble” him (take his life, Josh 7:25).

³ tn Heb “his house.”

⁴ tn Heb “gifts” (so KJV). Gifts can be harmless enough, but in a setting like this the idea is that the “gift” is in exchange for some “profit [or, gain].” Therefore they are bribes (cf. ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), and to be hated or rejected. Abram, for example, would not take anything that the king of Sodom had to offer, “lest [he] say, “I have made Abram rich” (Gen 14:22-24).