Proverbs 18:5
Showing partiality to the wicked is not good, nor is depriving the innocent of justice.
Showing partiality
The Hebrew root for "showing partiality" is "נָשָׂא פָּנִים" (nasa panim), which literally means "lifting up the face." This phrase conveys the idea of giving undue favor or preference to someone based on their status or relationship rather than on merit or justice. In ancient Israel, judges and leaders were expected to be impartial, reflecting God's own nature as a just and fair judge. The concept of impartiality is deeply rooted in the Mosaic Law, where God commands His people to judge fairly and without bias (Leviticus 19:15). This principle is timeless, reminding believers that true justice requires an unbiased heart, reflecting God's righteousness.

to the wicked
The term "wicked" in Hebrew is "רָשָׁע" (rasha), referring to those who are morally wrong, guilty, or hostile to God. In the biblical context, the wicked are often those who oppose God's laws and oppress others. The Bible consistently warns against aligning with or favoring the wicked, as it leads to corruption and injustice. Proverbs, as a book of wisdom, frequently contrasts the way of the wicked with the way of the righteous, urging believers to pursue righteousness and shun evil. This phrase serves as a caution against compromising one's integrity by supporting those who act against God's will.

is not good
The phrase "is not good" underscores the moral and ethical standard expected of God's people. In Hebrew, "טוֹב" (tov) means good, beneficial, or right. The negation here emphasizes that showing partiality to the wicked is contrary to God's nature and His expectations for justice. Throughout Scripture, what is "good" is often aligned with God's character and His commandments. This phrase serves as a reminder that actions contrary to God's standards are inherently flawed and lead to negative consequences.

nor is depriving
The Hebrew word for "depriving" is "הַטּוֹת" (hatot), which means to turn aside, pervert, or withhold. This term is often used in legal contexts to describe the act of twisting or distorting justice. In ancient Israel, justice was a foundational principle, and any act of depriving someone of their rightful due was seen as a grave offense. This phrase highlights the active wrongdoing involved in denying justice, emphasizing the responsibility of those in authority to uphold fairness and righteousness.

the innocent
The word "innocent" in Hebrew is "צַדִּיק" (tzaddik), which means just, righteous, or blameless. In the biblical context, the innocent are those who live according to God's laws and are undeserving of punishment or harm. Protecting the innocent is a recurring theme in Scripture, reflecting God's heart for justice and His desire to defend the vulnerable. This phrase calls believers to advocate for those who are wronged and to ensure that justice is served for the righteous.

of justice
The Hebrew term for "justice" is "מִשְׁפָּט" (mishpat), which encompasses judgment, rights, and legal decisions. Justice is a central theme in the Bible, reflecting God's character as a just and righteous judge. In ancient Israel, justice was not merely a legal concept but a divine mandate, integral to maintaining social order and reflecting God's kingdom on earth. This phrase serves as a call to action for believers to uphold justice in all areas of life, ensuring that God's standards are met and His righteousness is displayed.

Persons / Places / Events
1. The Wicked
In the context of Proverbs, the wicked are those who live in opposition to God's righteous standards. They are often characterized by deceit, injustice, and immorality.

2. The Innocent
These are individuals who are blameless or righteous, often suffering unjustly at the hands of the wicked or corrupt systems.

3. Solomon
Traditionally attributed as the author of Proverbs, Solomon was the king of Israel known for his wisdom. His proverbs often address themes of justice, righteousness, and the fear of the Lord.

4. Ancient Israel
The cultural and historical backdrop of Proverbs, where justice was a central theme in the community's covenant relationship with God.

5. Judicial System
The verse implicitly references the judicial processes of ancient Israel, where judges were expected to uphold God's laws without partiality.
Teaching Points
The Importance of Impartiality
God calls His people to be impartial in their judgments, reflecting His own just nature. Partiality undermines justice and can lead to societal decay.

Upholding Justice for the Innocent
Protecting the rights of the innocent is a biblical mandate. Believers are called to advocate for those who cannot defend themselves and to ensure that justice prevails.

The Consequences of Injustice
Injustice not only harms individuals but also disrupts the community's moral fabric. It is crucial to address and rectify injustices to maintain societal harmony.

Reflecting God's Character
As followers of Christ, believers are to mirror God's character by being just and fair in all dealings, whether in personal relationships or broader societal interactions.

The Role of the Church in Justice
The church should be a beacon of justice, standing against partiality and advocating for the oppressed, reflecting the kingdom values of righteousness and equity.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does showing partiality to the wicked contradict the character of God as revealed in Scripture?

2. In what ways can we ensure that we are not depriving the innocent of justice in our daily lives and communities?

3. How does the theme of justice in Proverbs 18:5 relate to the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament?

4. What practical steps can the church take to address and prevent partiality and injustice within its community?

5. Reflect on a time when you witnessed or experienced partiality. How did it affect your understanding of justice, and what biblical principles can guide your response in the future?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Deuteronomy 16:19
This verse warns against perverting justice and showing partiality, emphasizing the importance of fairness in judgment.

James 2:1-9
James speaks against favoritism, particularly in the context of the church, highlighting the need for impartiality among believers.

Isaiah 5:23
This verse condemns those who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of their rights, echoing the themes of justice and righteousness.
Unsocial VicesE. Johnson Proverbs 18:1-9
People
Solomon
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Accept, Acceptance, Aside, Decision, Deprive, Evil-doer, Face, Faces, Innocent, Judgment, Justice, Overthrow, Partial, Partiality, Respect, Righteous, Thrust, Turn, Upright, Wicked, Wrong
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Proverbs 18:5

     5203   acquittal
     5361   justice, human
     5625   witnesses, false
     5882   impartiality
     8278   innocence, teaching on

Library
Two Fortresses
'The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe. 11. The rich man's wealth is his strong city, and as an high wall in his own conceit'--PROVERBS xviii. 10,11. The mere reading of these two verses shows that, contrary to the usual rule in the Book of Proverbs, they have a bearing on each other. They are intended to suggest a very strong contrast, and that contrast is even more emphatic in the original than in our translation; because, as the margin of your Bibles
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Our Stronghold
A sermon (No. 491) delivered on Lord's Day Evening, October 26th, 1862, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, by C. H. Spurgeon. "The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe." {safe: Heb. set aloft}---- Proverbs 18:10. Strong towers were a greater security in a bygone age than they are now. Then, when troops of marauders invaded the land, strong castles were set upon the various hill-tops and the inhabitants gathered up their little wealth and fled thither
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

Pride and Humility
A sermon (No. 97) delivered on Sabbath Morning, August 17, 1856 by C. H. Spurgeon. "Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honor is humility."--Proverbs 18:12. Almost every event has its prophetic prelude. It is an old and common saying that "coming events cast their shadows before them;" the wise man teaches us the same lesson in the verse before us. When destruction walks through the land it casts its shadow; it is in the shape of pride. When honor visits a man's house it casts
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

The Cause and Cure of a Wounded Spirit
A sermon (2494) intended for reading on Lord's Day, December 6th, 1896, delivered by C. H. Spurgeon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington on Thursday Evening, April 16th, 1885. "The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?"--Proverbs 18:14. Every man sooner or later has some kind of infirmity to bear. It may be that his constitution from the very first will be inclined to certain disease and pains, or possibly he may in passing through life suffer from accident
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

A Faithful Friend
A sermon (No. 120) delivered on Sabbath Morning, March 8, 1857, by C. H. Spurgeon at The Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens. "There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother."--Proverbs 18:24. Cicero has well said, "Friendship is the only thing in the world concerning the usefulness of which all mankind are agreed." Friendship seems as necessary an element of a comfortable existence in this world as fire or water, or even air itself. A man may drag along a miserable existence in proud solitary
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

Pride and Humility
I. In the first place, we shall have something to say concerning the vice of PRIDE. "Before destruction the heart of man is haughty." Pride, what is it? Pride, where is its seat? The heart of man. And pride, what is its consequence? Destruction. 1. In the first place, I must try to describe pride to you. I might paint it as being the worst malformation of all the monstrous things in creation; it hath nothing lovely in it, nothing in proportion, but everything in disorder. It is altogether the very
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 2: 1856

A Faithful Friend
Friendship, however, though very pleasing and exceedingly blessed, has been the cause of the greatest misery to men when it has been unworthy and unfaithful; for just in proportion as a good friend is sweet, a false friend is full of bitterness. "A faithless friend is sharper than an adder's tooth." It is sweet to repose in some one; but O! how bitter to have that support snapped, and to receive a grievous fall as the effect of your confidence. Fidelity is an absolute necessary in a true friend;
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857

Would that I were More Closely Bound
"There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother." -- Proverbs 18:24. Would that I were more closely bound To my Beloved, who ever lives; Would that my soul were always found Abiding in the peace He gives; Would, that I might more clearly see His love an heritage for me More surely know, more meekly own, His bounteous grace my strength alone! And much I wish but I will pray For wisdom that the lowly find, -- And, O my Savior, every day, More of Thy meek and quiet mind. The comfort of a mind
Miss A. L. Waring—Hymns and Meditations

Epistle cxv. To Syagrius, Bishop of Augustodunum (Autun).
To Syagrius, Bishop of Augustodunum (Autun). Gregory to Syagrius, &c. If in secular affairs every man should have his right and his proper rank preserved to him, how much more in ecclesiastical arrangements ought no confusion to be let in; lest discord should find place there, whence the blessings of peace should proceed. And this will in this way be secured, if nothing is yielded to power but all to equity. Now it has been reported to us that our most beloved brother Ursicinus, bishop of the city
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Have Read the Letter which You in Your Wisdom have Written Me. You Inveigh against Me
I have read the letter which you in your wisdom have written me. You inveigh against me, and, though you once praised me and called me true partner and brother, you now write books to summon me to reply to the charges with which you terrify me. I see that in you are fulfilled the words of Solomon: "In the mouth of the foolish is the rod of contumely," and "A fool receives not the words of prudence, unless you say what is passing in his heart;" and the words of Isaiah: "The fool will speak folly,
Various—Life and Works of Rufinus with Jerome's Apology Against Rufinus.

Messiah Unpitied, and Without a Comforter
Reproach [Rebuke] hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. T he greatness of suffering cannot be certainly estimated by the single consideration of the immediate, apparent cause; the impression it actually makes upon the mind of the sufferer, must likewise be taken into the account. That which is a heavy trial to one person, may be much lighter to another, and, perhaps, no trial at all. And a state
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

"And if Christ be in You, the Body is Dead Because of Sin: but the Spirit is Life Because of Righteousness. "
Rom. viii. 10.--"And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin: but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." "The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law," saith our apostle, 1 Cor. xv. 56. These two concur to make man mortal, and these two are the bitter ingredients of death. Sin procured it, and the law appointed it, and God hath seen to the exact execution of that law in all ages; for what man liveth and shall not taste of death? Two only escaped the common
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Commerce
The remarkable change which we have noticed in the views of Jewish authorities, from contempt to almost affectation of manual labour, could certainly not have been arbitrary. But as we fail to discover here any religious motive, we can only account for it on the score of altered political and social circumstances. So long as the people were, at least nominally, independent, and in possession of their own land, constant engagement in a trade would probably mark an inferior social stage, and imply
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

Letter xxvi. (Circa A. D. 1127) to the Same
To the Same He excuses the brevity of his letter on the ground that Lent is a time of silence; and also that on account of his profession and his ignorance he does not dare to assume the function of teaching. 1. You will, perhaps, be angry, or, to speak more gently, will wonder that in place of a longer letter which you had hoped for from me you receive this brief note. But remember what says the wise man, that there is a time for all things under the heaven; both a time to speak and a time to keep
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

How those are to be Admonished who do not Even Begin Good Things, and those who do not Finish them when Begun.
(Admonition 35.) Differently to be admonished are they who do not even begin good things, and those who in no wise complete such as they have begun. For as to those who do not even begin good things, for them the first need is, not to build up what they may wholesomely love, but to demolish that wherein they are wrongly occupied. For they will not follow the untried things they hear of, unless they first come to feel how pernicious are the things that they have tried; since neither does one desire
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Of the Character of the Unregenerate.
Ephes. ii. 1, 2. And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. AMONG all the various trusts which men can repose in each other, hardly any appears to be more solemn and tremendous, than the direction of their sacred time, and especially of those hours which they spend in the exercise of public devotion.
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration

"Boast not Thyself of To-Morrow, for Thou Knowest not what a Day May Bring Forth. "
Prov. xxvii. 1.--"Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." There are some peculiar gifts that God hath given to man in his first creation, and endued his nature with, beyond other living creatures, which being rightly ordered and improved towards the right objects, do advance the soul of man to a wonderful height of happiness, that no other sublunary creature is capable of. But by reason of man's fall into sin, these are quite disordered and turned out of
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"Thou Shall Keep Him in Perfect Peace, Whose Mind is Stayed on Thee, Because He Trusteth in Thee. "
Isaiah xxvi. 3.--"Thou shall keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee." All men love to have privileges above others. Every one is upon the design and search after some well-being, since Adam lost that which was true happiness. We all agree upon the general notion of it, but presently men divide in the following of particulars. Here all men are united in seeking after some good; something to satisfy their souls, and satiate their desires. Nay, but they
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

An Exhortation to Peace and Unity
[ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR] This treatise was first published in 1688, after Bunyan's death, at the end of the second edition of the Barren Fig Tree, with a black border round the title. It was continued in the third edition 1692, but was subsequently omitted, although the Barren Fig Tree was printed for the same publisher. It has been printed in every edition of Bunyan's Works. Respect for the judgment of others leads me to allow it a place in the first complete edition, although I have serious
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Directions to Awakened Sinners.
Acts ix. 6. Acts ix. 6. And he, trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do. THESE are the words of Saul, who also is called Paul, (Acts xiii. 9,) when he was stricken to the ground as he was going to Damascus; and any one who had looked upon him in his present circumstances and knew nothing more of him than that view, in comparison with his past life, could have given, would have imagined him one of the most miserable creatures that ever lived upon earth, and would have expected
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration

Mothers, Daughters, and Wives in Israel
In order accurately to understand the position of woman in Israel, it is only necessary carefully to peruse the New Testament. The picture of social life there presented gives a full view of the place which she held in private and in public life. Here we do not find that separation, so common among Orientals at all times, but a woman mingles freely with others both at home and abroad. So far from suffering under social inferiority, she takes influential and often leading part in all movements, specially
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

We Shall not be Curious in the Ranking of the Duties in which Christian Love...
We shall not be curious in the ranking of the duties in which Christian love should exercise itself. All the commandments of the second table are but branches of it: they might be reduced all to the works of righteousness and of mercy. But truly these are interwoven through other. Though mercy uses to be restricted to the showing of compassion upon men in misery, yet there is a righteousness in that mercy, and there is mercy in the most part of the acts of righteousness, as in not judging rashly,
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Concerning Baptism.
Concerning Baptism. [967] As there is one Lord, and one faith, so there is one baptism; which is not the putting away the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience before God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And this baptism is a pure and spiritual thing, to wit, the baptism of the Spirit and Fire, by which we are buried with him, that being washed and purged from our sins, we may walk in newness of life: of which the baptism of John was a figure, which was commanded for a time,
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

Proverbs
Many specimens of the so-called Wisdom Literature are preserved for us in the book of Proverbs, for its contents are by no means confined to what we call proverbs. The first nine chapters constitute a continuous discourse, almost in the manner of a sermon; and of the last two chapters, ch. xxx. is largely made up of enigmas, and xxxi. is in part a description of the good housewife. All, however, are rightly subsumed under the idea of wisdom, which to the Hebrew had always moral relations. The Hebrew
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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