Proverbs Chapter 18 verse 16 Holy Bible
A man's gift maketh room for him, And bringeth him before great men.
read chapter 18 in ASV
A man's offering makes room for him, letting him come before great men.
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A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.
read chapter 18 in DARBY
A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.
read chapter 18 in KJV
read chapter 18 in WBT
A man's gift makes room for him, And brings him before great men.
read chapter 18 in WEB
The gift of a man maketh room for him, And before the great it leadeth him.
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Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 16. - A man's gift maketh room for him (comp. Proverbs 19:6). Mattam, "gift," has been taken in different senses. Some consider it to mean a bribe offered for underhand or fraudulent purposes; but the context does not lead to this conclusion, and the parallel passage mentioned above makes against it. Hitzig sees in it a spiritual gift, equivalent to χάρισμα; but such a meaning is not elsewhere attached to the word. The term here signifies the present which duty or friendship offers to one whom one wishes to please. This paves a man's way to a great person's presence. Bringeth him before great men. The Oriental custom of offering suitable gifts to one in authority, when a favour or an audience is desired, is here alluded to (comp. 1 Samuel 10:27; 1 Kings 4:21; 1 Kings 10:25). So the Magi brought gifts so the newborn King at Bethlehem (Matthew 2:11). In a spiritual sense, the right use of riches opens the way to eternal life, evincing a man's practical love of God and man; as Christ says (Luke 16:9), "Make to yourselves friends by means of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when it shall fail, they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles" (Revised Version).
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(16) A man's gift.--Judicious liberality "maketh room for him," helps him to make his way through life. (Comp. Luke 16:9, and the advice there given so to use temporal riches as to gain those of heaven.)