What's the point of this one?
What should a person glean from this proverb? Why did God inspire Solomon to write this one? Bribery has a distinctively negative connotation in our culture. In what kind of a culture could this proverb make sense?
NLT Pro 17:8 A bribe seems to work like magic for those who give it; they succeed in all they do.
This one appears a few verses later,
17:23 The wicked accept secret bribes to pervert justice.
Heres another that puts secret "bribes" in a positive light. It also equates gift and bribe.
21:14 A secret gift calms anger; a secret bribe pacifies fury.
posted by Emerging Kurt @ Wednesday, August 09, 2006
3 comments
3 Comments:
So you would exchange "gift" for bribery. I guess I could buy that.
We still have gifts in exchange for preferential treatment. Isn't that looked upon negatively at least in the US, the land of equality?
I guess I would expect it to say not to bribe anyone, not to give with an expectation of return. A bribe-gift seems selfish and thus not a true gift, not actual love. Am I being too black and white?
Yeah sure! From the giver's side a gift in its purest form is meant only to benefit the other. From the receipient's side a gift in its purest form meets a need I can't meet myself. When you give $200 bucks anoymously to the guy next door because he is struggling to make ends meet that is gift giving at its purest and most rewarding, in my mind. Giving him $200 w/o a need on his part, is still a gift, but is not as much a blessing for him since it wasn't needed per se. Giving the guy $200 for letting you borrow his beach side condo for a week is still a gift, if he didn't ask for the $200, but is less rewarding and more expected in our culture. If he knows you gave the gift you get the added benefit of being known as a "swell guy." Giving the guy $200 for lending you $200 is simple remuneration and can give you the pride of being a person of integrity, but isn't gift giving. You are simply doing what is expected of you.
Gift giving at its purest to me is taking the initiative to notice a need of another and meet that need without needing to recieve anything in return, not even recognition. I am to self-promoting to be able to do this very often. I think this purest kind of giving is most purely motivated by love and as a gift moves down the continuum more and more self-interest is mixed in alongside love. That isn't to say all gifts should be of the purest kind. I don't think that will work. I'm just saying this is how I see gift giving and motivation working.
What say you...
I think the little swell of pride or happiness that you feel when you give an anonymous gift is from the Holy Spirit. I often sense myself trying to orchestrate the situation so that I will end up getting recognition, which always seems to me selfish.
If someone asked me I'd tell them if it was appropriate or helpful, but there could certainly be situations where I might not tell them or just answer vaguely or change the subject.
I'm definetly not into being solemn and repressed. I wear my emotions on my sleeve.
I certainly find other kinds of gifts rewarding to give to. I don't think a gift benefitting me materially or reputationally is evil. If I buy myself a Corvette so that I can give you rides to work everyday in style that would be a gift to you and to me. But you would likely feel "more blessed" if I bought you a corvette to drive yourself to work in. You'd probably also think I was a pretty decent friend (or wierd). If you needed transportation and a Corvette just magically appeared in your driveway, you'd likely be feel just as blessed and even more in awe of someone's great generosity, maybe even spurred on to an extravagant act of generosity when you were later able. And if I could keep it a secret I would feel even better than when I gave the other two Corvettes because I would know that the gift was only known to God and me. I'd know I didn't give it to get something, but because I enjoyed giving, a characteristic that makes me like my creator.
Does that make sense?
Remember that I see this on a continuum with a selfless anonymous gift on one end and a wicked bribe on the other. So I guess maybe I mis-spoke. Pure generosity is really what I'm talking about if that is different than pure gift giving. None of my gifts are pure anything, but the swell of happiness is bigger with purer gifts.
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