Mishlei 17:8 - Blinded by Bribes

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Artwork: Lion's Eye Diamond, by Lindsey Look

Mishlei 17:8 - Blinded by Bribes

משלי יז:ח

אֶבֶן חֵן הַשֹּׁחַד בְּעֵינֵי בְעָלָיו אֶל כָּל אֲשֶׁר יִפְנֶה יַשְׂכִּיל:

Mishlei 17:8

A bribe is a charming gem in the eyes of its owner; wherever he turns he will succeed. 

The major questions on this pasuk are:

(1) In what sense is a bribe considered to be "a charming gem in the eyes of its owner? This is clearly a mashal (metaphor). What is the nimshal (i.e. what does the metaphor represent)? And why does the pasuk specify "in the eyes of its owner"? Why not just say"a bribe is a charming gem"?

(2) Who is "its owner"? The term "owner" can refer either to the giver of the bribe or to the recipient of the bribe. 

(3) How can Shlomo ha'Melech say "wherever he turns he will succeed"? Regardless of whether this is referring to the giver or receiver of the bribe, the statement is patently false. Just do a search on Google news for the term "bribery" and you'll see countless examples of individuals whose success was cut short because of their involvement in bribery. Moreover, even if Shlomo's statement were true, is he advocating bribery? Doesn't the Torah prohibit and condemn bribery, saying: "you shall not accept a bribe, for the bribe will blind the eyes of the wise and corrupt principles of justice" (Devarim 16:19)?

[Time to think! You'll get way more out of this blog post if you work on the pasuk yourself before reading what I have to say. Read on when ready.]

Here's my four-sentence summary of the main idea:

When a bribe is effective, it allows a person to sidestep or shortcut the system in order to obtain a benefit or avoid a consequence or cost. Ironically, the bribe-giver can easily become charmed and blinded by his own bribe – charmed into thinking he can succeed wherever he turns, and blinded to the true probabilities of success and failure. The more he relies on bribes to fuel his rise to “success,” the more reckless he will be in using them. Ultimately, the habitual bribe-giver will fall prey to the very types of systemic consequences he seeks to avoid. 

This pasuk utilizes a stylistic maneuver which Shlomo ha'Melech utilzes from time to time, namely, stating the fool's perspective as if it is reality. It is as if our pasuk says: "A bribe is a charming gem in the eyes of its owner [in that it causes him to believe that] wherever he turns he will succeed." I'd quote more examples of this from elsewhere in Mishlei, but I don't want to spoil future Mishlei posts.

The last time I taught this pasuk in class, a student of mine came up with another way to read this pasuk which leads to the same idea. She moved the asnachta (i.e. the semi-colon) so that the pasuk reads: "A bribe is a charming gem; in the eyes of its owner, wherever he turns he will succeed." I thought this was an elegant interpretive solution.