Proverbs 18:16
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
A man's gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.
American King James Version (AKJV)
A man's gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.
American Standard Version (ASV)
A man's gift maketh room for him, And bringeth him before great men.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
A man's offering makes room for him, letting him come before great men.
Webster's Revision
A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.
World English Bible
A man's gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.
English Revised Version (ERV)
A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.
Clarke's Proverbs 18:16 Bible Commentary
A man's gift maketh room for him - It is, and ever has been, a base and degrading practice in Asiatic countries, to bring a gift or present to the great man into whose presence you come. Without this there is no audience, no favor, no justice. This arose from the circumstance that men must not approach the altar of God without an offering.
Potentates, wishing to be considered as petty gods, demanded a similar homage: -
Munera, crede mihi, capiunt hominesquedeosque;
Placatur donis Jupiter ipse suis.
Ovid
"Believe me, gifts prevail much with both gods and men: even Jupiter himself is pleased with his own offerings."
Barnes's Proverbs 18:16 Bible Commentary
The "gift" (or, bribe), by a bold personification, appears as the powerful "friend at court," who introduces another, and makes him welcome in high places.