A Bribe Blinds the Eyes of the Wise

"And you shall take no bribe" (Exodus 23:8). Do not say, "I will take the money but I will not pervert the judgment"; Scripture teaches, "for the bribe blinds the eyes of the wise." And these matters are an argument from minor to major: if of one who takes [a bribe] but not in order to pervert, the Torah said, "for the bribe blinds," how much more so of one who takes in order to pervert. "For the bribe blinds the eyes of the wise" - the wise in Torah. Or perhaps "the eyes of the wise" as its plain meaning [physical sight]? Scripture teaches, "for the bribe [blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the words of the righteous]." [The] clear-sighted - these are the clear-minded, who declare clean and unclean by their own discernment. From here they said: anyone who takes money and perverts judgment does not depart from the world before the light of his eyes diminishes. Rabbi Nathan says: before one of three things befalls him - either his mind becomes confused in Torah, so that he declares the clean unclean and the unclean clean; or he becomes dependent on others; or the light of his eyes diminishes. "And subverts the words of the righteous" - he hates the just words [ha-metzudakim] that were spoken at Sinai.