Proverbs 15:27

Proverbs 15:27, in plain English

When you're always grasping for money and gain through dishonest means, you wreck your own household, but someone who refuses to be corrupted by bribes actually gets to live well.

Why it's here

This hits the heart of a real temptation—the promise that cutting corners and taking bribes will make you rich and successful. Solomon says the opposite is true: it destroys your family and your life. Meanwhile, the person who says no to corruption ends up with genuine security.

Who's speaking

Solomon, speaking from both observation and the wisdom tradition about how choices compound.

Where it sits in the story

The Bible consistently shows that dishonest gain is actually poverty in disguise. Judas got thirty pieces of silver and hung himself. The rich young ruler had everything but was spiritually empty. Jesus taught that you can't serve both God and money—you have to choose, because they pull you in opposite directions.

The scholarly reading

The person who greedily pursues dishonest gain creates chaos and misery for his own family, while the person who refuses bribes preserves his household's stability.

Language and setting

The Hebrew בֹּצַע בֶּצַע (botzea betza, 'greedy for unjust gain'—literally 'one who gains gain') uses the noun twice for rhetorical force, emphasizing obsessive acquisition. Such greed (תַּאֲוָה, ta'avah) inevitably leads to שְׁלוֹם (shalom, 'trouble'—or rather, the shattering of shalom) in one's בַּיִת (bayit, household). The contrast partner celebrates the one who שׂוֹנֵא (sone, 'hates') bribes—not merely refuses them but viscerally opposes them, recognizing them as corrosive to social trust. Remarkably, the consequence is personal survival and flourishing (יִחְיֶה, yichye, 'will live'), suggesting that ethical integrity is not altruistic restraint but enlightened self-interest.

Voice

The wisdom teachers, drawing on observed patterns of household economics and social stability.

Significance

This verse embodies the Mosaic law's prohibition of bribery (Exodus 23:8) and prefigures the New Testament's warnings about mammon's spiritual danger (Matthew 6:24; 1 Timothy 6:10). Throughout Scripture, the pursuit of unrighteously gained wealth is portrayed as a kind of spiritual self-immolation.

25The LORD tears down the house of the proud, but He protects the boundaries of the widow.

26The LORD detests the thoughts of the wicked, but the words of the pure are pleasant to Him.

27He who is greedy for unjust gain brings trouble on his household, but he who hates bribes will live.

28The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked blurts out evil.

29The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous.

Read all of Proverbs 15 — A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The first proverb most children learn — and most adults forget.