Adam Clarke on Proverbs 18:16

A man's gift maketh room for him - It is, and ever has been, a base and degrading practice in Asiatic countries, to bring a gift or present to the great man into whose presence you come. Without this there is no audience, no favor, no justice. This arose from the circumstance that men must not approach the altar of God without an offering.

Potentates, wishing to be considered as petty gods, demanded a similar homage: -

Munera, crede mihi, capiunt hominesquedeosque;

Placatur donis Jupiter ipse suis.

Ovid "Believe me, gifts prevail much with both gods and men: even Jupiter himself is pleased with his own offerings."