Proverbs displays what seems to be a contradictory attitude toward bribery. On the one hand, Proverbs 17:23 says:
A wicked man accepts a bribe in secret
to pervert the course of justice.
On the other hand, Proverbs 17:8 says:
A bribe is a charm to the one who gives it;
wherever he turns, he succeeds.
In the first instance, bribery is bad because it perverts justice. In the second instance, however, bribery is a key to success. The morally curious person is left wondering, “To bribe or not to bribe?” Now perhaps that question sounds a bit dodgy. Surely the Bible isn’t suggesting that bribery is ever acceptable!
Take a closer look at 17:23. Notice the character of the person who accepts a bribe to pervert justice. He is “wicked.” It should go without saying that the person who offers a bribe to pervert justice is equally wicked.
Proverbs 28:21 offers a moral evaluation of the act bribery itself when it says:
To show partiality is not good —
yet a man will do wrong for a piece of bread.
Why is bribery wrong? Not merely because it perverts justice, as in 17:23, but also because it exploits the needy. Bribery takes advantage of the financial problems of the person to whom you’re offering the bribe.
In the end, Proverbs 15:27 points out the negative consequences of receiving bribes:
A greedy man brings trouble to his family,
but he who hates bribes will live.
But what about the connection between bribery and success in Proverbs 17:8? Or what about Proverbs 21:14?
A gift given in secret soothes anger,
and a bribe concealed in the cloak pacifies great wrath.
This verse points out the positive consequences of bribery, describing it as a gift. Indeed, two other proverbs speak about the positive benefits of gift-giving.
A gift opens the way for the giver
and ushers him into the presence of the great (Prov. 18:16).
Many curry favor with a ruler,
and everyone is the friend of a man who gives gifts (Prov. 19:6).
One proverb even warns against promising a gift, but not delivering it:
Like clouds and wind without rain
is a man who boasts of gifts he does not give (Prov. 25:14).
What, then, is the relevant moral difference between bribery and gift-giving? Is one wrong and the other right? Remember what Tremper Longman has written about proverbs as a literary genre: “Proverbs are not universally true laws but circumstantially relevant principles.” What is the circumstantially relevant principle that distinguishes bribery and gift-giving?
Two words: desired outcome. When you bribe someone, your desired outcome is to gain an unfair advantage over another person. This is, as Proverbs clearly teaches us, a perversion of justice. But when you give a gift, your desired outcome is a harmonious relationship. Both bribes and gifts grease the skids, in other words. But a bribe greases them to derail a train, while a gift greases them to get the train back on track.
So, give; but don’t bribe!
GeorgePWood.com 
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