Derasha 2 on Shoftim 16:19

TT #9 · Parashas Shoftim · First Aliyah · Passuk 19

The Complete Passuk

לֹא־תַטֶּ֣ה מִשְׁפָּ֔ט לֹ֥א תַכִּ֖יר פָּנִ֑ים וְלֹא־תִקַּ֣ח שֹׁ֔חַד כִּ֣י הַשֹּׁ֗חַד יְעַוֵּר֙ עֵינֵ֣י חֲכָמִ֔ים וִֽיסַלֵּ֖ף דִּבְרֵ֥י צַדִּיקִֽם׃

You shall not judge unfairly: you shall show no partiality; you shall not take bribes, for bribes blind the eyes of the discerning and upset the plea of the just.

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Ketubot 105a.

Sefaria · Ketubot 105a

Core Text of Chazal

ת״ר, כי השוחד יעור עיני חכמים – אפילו חכם גדול ולוקח שוחד אינו נפטר מן העולם בלא סמיות הלב, ויסלף דברי צדיקים, אפילו צדיק גמור ולוקח שוחד אינו נפטר מן העולם בלא טרוף הדעת.

English: Our Rabbis taught: “For a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise” — even a great sage who takes a bribe does not leave this world without a dulling of the heart. “And perverts the words of the righteous” — even a completely righteous person who takes a bribe does not leave this world without a confusion of the mind.

On the daf / in context

Ketubot 105a reads the verse as describing the inevitable spiritual and intellectual damage caused by accepting a bribe, not merely as a reason for the prohibition.

Type of Learning

Derash on the verse (Bavli sugya) — not a formal named middah of the 13. The verse is taken as describing the consequence that inevitably follows the taking of a bribe.

What Is Learned

Even the greatest sage or the most righteous person who accepts a bribe suffers irreversible harm to clarity of judgment and purity of heart.