Negative commandment · Lo Ta’aseh #274 of 613
Not to accept bribes
שלא ליקח שוחד
The verse · Shemot 23:8
וְשֹׁחַד לֹא תִקָּח כִּי הַשֹּׁחַד יְעַוֵּר פִּקְחִים וִיסַלֵּף דִּבְרֵי צַדִּיקִים
“And thou shalt take no bribe: for the bribe blinds the wise, and perverts the words of the righteous.”
The Rambam’s words
Not to accept bribes, as [Exodus 23:8] states: "Do not take a bribe."
שלא ליקח שוחד, שנאמר "וְשֹׁחַד לֹא תִקָּח" (שמות כג, ח).
Why · Sefer HaChinuch #83
To not take a bribe
“It is from the roots of the commandment that it was forbidden to us to take a bribe even to judge a case truthfully, in order to remove this bad practice from among us, lest we will come from this to judge falsely with bribes.”
Who & when
“And [it] is practiced in every place and at all times by males, as they judge.”
Where in the Mishneh Torah
Hilchot The Sanhedrin and the Penalties within Their Jurisdiction הלכות סנהדרין והעונשין המסורין להם