Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Mga Kawikaan 17:8

וקומו שובו אל האיש, you will have to face the man on the strength of the gift which has preceded you. The matter is as stated in Proverbs 17,8 אבן חן השחד בעיני בעליו אל כל אשר יפנה ישכיל, “a bribe seems like charm to its owner. Wherever he turns he seems to prosper

ולא תקח שוחד, “and do not accept bribes.” Even in order to hand down a true verdict. The reason is that once one has received the bribe one can no longer be neutral, objective, or as the Torah calls it: “the bribe blinds even the eyes of the wise.” Our sages in Ketuvot 105 dissect the word שחד into שהוא חד, meaning once one accepts a bribe the giver and the recipient become as one. After that the judge cannot recognise incriminating argu-ments against the giver. The recipient is called a רשע, a wicked person, as we know from Proverbs 17,23: “a wicked man pulls a bribe out of his bosom.” We also have another verse in Proverbs 21,14: “a bribe in private (bosom) pacifies strong rage.” A third verse compares bribes to stones; Proverbs 17,8 reads: “a bribe seems like a charm, אבן חן, to its owner.” The reason the bribe is compared to a stone, אבן is that whenever it falls it breaks (Tanchuma Toldot 8).

they have not prospered They have not prospered in their kingdom. Comp. (Prov. 17:8) “To all that he turns, he will prosper (ישכיל).