'Advantage' in the Bible

Now [in Haran] the Lord had said to Abram,“Go away from your country,And from your relativesAnd from your father’s house,To the land which I will show you;

"You shall not take advantage of any widow or fatherless child.

If you take advantage of them at all, and they cry at all to me, I will surely hear their cry;

If you are not pleased with her, then you must let her go where she pleases. You cannot in any case sell her; you must not take advantage of her, since you have already humiliated her.

Don't take advantage of a hired person who is poor and needy, whether he's your fellow citizen or a foreigner who lives in your city.

Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul. He said to him: “The king should not sin against his servant David. He hasn’t sinned against you; in fact, his actions have been a great advantage to you.

The messenger reported to David, “The men gained the advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we counterattacked right up to the entrance of the gate.

Nevertheless, the former governors before me placed a heavy burden on the people. They received food and wine, plus a tax of 40 shekels of silver. Even their young men took advantage of the people, but I never did so because I feared God.

“Is it any pleasure or joy to the Almighty that you are righteous?Or is it of benefit to Him that you make your ways perfect?

For thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee? and, What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin?

Job uselessly opens his mouthAnd multiplies words without knowledge [drawing the worthless conclusion that the righteous have no more advantage than the wicked].”

If you are wise, you are wise to your own advantage, but if you are a mocker, you alone must bear it.

In all labour there is advantage, And a thing of the lips is only to want.

The purposes of the diligent are only to advantage, And of every hasty one, only to want.

What advantage is to man by all his labour that he laboureth at under the sun?

and I have looked on all my works that my hands have done, and on the labour that I have laboured to do, and lo, the whole is vanity and vexation of spirit, and there is no advantage under the sun!

And I realized that there is an advantage to wisdom over folly, like the advantage of light over darkness.

So I said {to myself}, "{If I also suffer the same fate as the fool}, {what advantage is my great wisdom}?" So I said {to myself}, "This also [is] vanity!"

What advantage hath the doer in that which he is labouring at?

For the fate of people and the fate of animals is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; they all have the same breath. People have no advantage over animals since everything is futile.

After all, a king who cultivates the field is an advantage to the land.

When good things increase, those who consume them increase. So what is the advantage to their owners except to look on?

And this also is a painful evil, just as he came, so he goeth, and what advantage is to him who laboureth for wind?

What advantage then does the wise man have over the fool? What advantage is there for the poor person who knows how to conduct himself before others?

For when there are many words, they increase futility. What is the advantage for man?

Wisdom is as good as an inheritanceand an advantage to those who see the sun,

because wisdom is protection as money is protection,and the advantage of knowledgeis that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.

If the ax is dull, and one does not sharpen its edge,then one must exert more strength;however, the advantage of wisdom is that it brings success.

If the snake bites before it is charmed,then there is no advantage for the charmer.

No one sues righteously [but for the sake of doing injury to others—to take some undue advantage], and no one pleads [his case] in truth; [but rather]They trust in empty arguments and speak lies;They conceive trouble and bring forth injustice.

They come to you in crowds, and they sit in front of you as my people. They hear your words, but do not obey them. For they talk lustfully, and their heart is set on their own advantage.

The Regent Prince is not to appropriate the nation's inheritance nor take advantage of them by taking their property from them. Instead, he is to provide an inheritance for his sons from his own possessions so that my people will not be separated from their possessions.'"

His intention will be to come with the strength of his entire kingdom, and he will form alliances. He will give the king of the south a daughter in marriage in order to destroy the kingdom, but it will not turn out to his advantage.

and had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent everything she had and had found no advantage from it, but had rather got worse,

Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you directly: Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save a life or to destroy it?”

but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part [that which is to her advantage], which will not be taken away from her.”

If you, then, being evil [that is, sinful by nature], know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and continue to ask Him!”

Then they watched him carefully and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They wanted to take advantage of what he might say so that they could deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor.

You’re not considering that it is to your advantage that one man should die for the people rather than the whole nation perish.”

However, I'm telling you the truth. It's for your advantage that I'm going away, because if I don't go away, the Helper won't come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

(Now it was Caiaphas who had advised the Jewish leaders that it was to their advantage that one man die for the people.)

It was he who took shrewd advantage of our race and mistreated our fathers so that they would expose their infants and they would not survive.

For Barnabas was a good man [privately and publicly—his godly character benefited both himself and others] and he was full of the Holy Spirit and full of faith [in Jesus the Messiah, through whom believers have everlasting life]. And a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?

What then? Do we have an advantage? Not at all. For we have already charged both Jews and Greeks are all under sin,

Sin took advantage of this, and by means of the Commandment stirred up within me every kind of coveting; for apart from Law sin would be dead.

For sin seized the advantage, and by means of the Commandment it completely deceived me, and also put me to death.

Now if Israel’s transgression means riches for the world [at large] and their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment and reinstatement be!

Regarding the gospel, they are enemies for your advantage, but regarding election, they are loved because of the patriarchs,

Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let that bother you. Of course, if you have a chance to become free, take advantage of the opportunity.

But meat does not commend us to God; neither if we should not eat do we come short; nor if we should eat have we an advantage.

What then is my reward? [Just this:] that, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge [to everyone], so as not to take advantage of my rights [as a preacher and apostle] in [preaching] the gospel.

Let no one seek his own advantage, but that of the other.

just as I please everyone in all things [as much as possible adapting myself to the interests of others], not seeking my own benefit but that of the many, so that they [will be open to the message of salvation and] may be saved.

Now, believers, if I come to you speaking in unknown tongues, how will I benefit you unless I also speak to you [clearly] either by revelation [revealing God’s mystery], or by knowledge [teaching about God], or by prophecy [foretelling the future, speaking a new message from God to the people], or by instruction [teaching precepts that develop spiritual maturity]?

if after the manner of a man with wild beasts I fought in Ephesus, what the advantage to me if the dead do not rise? let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die!

Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

Make room for us in your hearts; we wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we took advantage of no one.

I give my opinion in this matter, for this is to your advantage, who were the first to begin a year ago not only to do this, but also to desire to do it.

For you tolerate it if anyone enslaves you, anyone devours you, anyone takes advantage of you, anyone exalts himself, anyone hits you in the face.

Did I take advantage of you by anyone I sent you?

I urged Titus to come, and I sent the brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Didn’t we walk in the same spirit and in the same footsteps?

Notice, it is I, Paul, who tells you that if you receive circumcision [as a supposed requirement of salvation], Christ will be of no benefit to you [for you will lack the faith in Christ that is necessary for salvation].

So then, while we [as individual believers] have the opportunity, let us do good to all people [not only being helpful, but also doing that which promotes their spiritual well-being], and especially [be a blessing] to those of the household of faith (born-again believers).

taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

who, existing in the form of God,did not consider equality with Godas something to be used for His own advantage.

But more than that, I count everything as loss compared to the priceless privilege and supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord [and of growing more deeply and thoroughly acquainted with Him—a joy unequaled]. For His sake I have lost everything, and I consider it all garbage, so that I may gain Christ,

Furthermore, you must never take advantage of or exploit a brother in this regard, because the Lord avenges all these things, just as we already told you and warned you.

For we say this to you by a revelation from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly have no advantage over those who have fallen asleep.

but instead adorned by good deeds [helping others], as is proper for women who profess to worship God.

They must be silenced, because they are upsetting whole families by teaching things they should not teach for the purpose of dishonest financial gain.

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls and will give an account for their work. Let them do this with joy and not with complaints, for this would be no advantage for you.

These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.