I commanded your judges at that time, saying, “Hear cases between your brothers and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the foreigner who is living with him. You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.”
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Deuteronomy 1:16-17 sits inside this longer paragraph.
You answered me, and said, “The thing which you have spoken is good to do.” So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and respected men, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, captains of hundreds, captains of fifties, captains of tens, and officers, according to your tribes. I commanded your judges at that time, saying, “Hear cases between your brothers and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the foreigner who is living with him. You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.” I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do. We traveled from Horeb and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw, by the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as Yahweh our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh Barnea. I said to you, “You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which Yahweh our God gives to us. Behold, Yahweh your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as Yahweh the God of your fathers has spoken to you. Don’t be afraid, neither be dismayed.”
Parallel Translations
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I commanded your judges at that time, saying, “Hear cases between your brothers and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the foreigner who is living with him.
You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.”
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And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.
Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.
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And I charged your judges at that time, saying: 'Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.
Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; ye shall hear the small and the great alike; ye shall not be afraid of the face of any man; for the judgment is God's; and the cause that is too hard for you ye shall bring unto me, and I will hear it.'
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Commandments (2)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (58)
- Deuteronomy 16:19 (v17) You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality. You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and…
- Exodus 18:26 (v17) They judged the people at all times. They brought the hard cases to Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.
- James 2:9 (v17) But if you show partiality, you commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors.
- Leviticus 19:15 (vv16–17) “ ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor show favoritism to the great; but you shall judge your…
- 2 Chronicles 19:6 (v17) and said to the judges, “Consider what you do, for you don’t judge for man, but for Yahweh; and he is with you in the judgment.
Show all 56 cross-references
- Proverbs 24:23 (v17) These also are sayings of the wise. To show partiality in judgment is not good.
- Exodus 18:22 (v17) Let them judge the people at all times. It shall be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they shall…
- John 7:24 (v16) Don’t judge according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”
- James 2:1-5 (v17) My brothers, don’t hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory with partiality. For if a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes…
- 1 Peter 1:17 (v17) If you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work, pass the time of your living as…
- Exodus 23:6-7 (v17) “You shall not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. “Keep far from a false charge, and don’t kill the innocent and…
- Deuteronomy 10:17 (v17) For Yahweh your God, he is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, the mighty, and the awesome, who doesn’t respect persons or take…
- 1 Samuel 16:7 (v17) But Yahweh said to Samuel, “Don’t look on his face, or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for I don’t see as man…
- 2 Samuel 14:14 (v17) For we must die, and are like water spilled on the ground, which can’t be gathered up again; neither does God take away life, but devises…
- Proverbs 22:22-23 (v17) Don’t exploit the poor, because he is poor; and don’t crush the needy in court; for Yahweh will plead their case, and plunder the life of…
- Proverbs 29:25 (v17) The fear of man proves to be a snare, but whoever puts his trust in Yahweh is kept safe.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:4 (v17) But even as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News, so we speak: not as pleasing men, but God, who tests our…
- Exodus 23:2-3 (vv16–17) “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil. You shall not testify in court to side with a multitude to pervert justice. You shall not favor a…
- Exodus 22:21 (v16) “You shall not wrong an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
- Exodus 23:7-9 (v16) “Keep far from a false charge, and don’t kill the innocent and righteous; for I will not justify the wicked. “You shall take no bribe, for…
- Leviticus 24:22 (v16) You shall have one kind of law for the foreigner as well as the native-born; for I am Yahweh your God.’ ”
- Deuteronomy 16:18-19 (v16) You shall make judges and officers in all your gates, which Yahweh your God gives you, according to your tribes; and they shall judge the…
- 2 Chronicles 19:6-10 (v16) and said to the judges, “Consider what you do, for you don’t judge for man, but for Yahweh; and he is with you in the judgment. Now…
- Matthew 22:16 (v17) They sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are honest, and teach the way of God in…
- Mark 12:14 (v17) When they had come, they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you are honest, and don’t defer to anyone; for you aren’t partial to anyone, but…
- Luke 20:21 (v17) They asked him, “Teacher, we know that you say and teach what is right, and aren’t partial to anyone, but truly teach the way of God.
- Romans 2:11 (v17) For there is no partiality with God.
- Ephesians 6:9 (v17) You masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and…
- Colossians 3:25 (v17) But he who does wrong will receive again for the wrong that he has done, and there is no partiality.
- 1 Timothy 5:21 (v16) I command you in the sight of God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the chosen angels, that you observe these things without prejudice, doing…
- Exodus 18:18 (v17) You will surely wear away, both you, and this people that is with you; for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to perform it…
- Numbers 27:19 (v16) Set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and commission him in their sight.
- Deuteronomy 17:8-10 (v17) If there arises a matter too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being…
- Deuteronomy 24:14 (v16) You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the foreigners who are in your…
- Deuteronomy 24:17 (v17) You shall not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, nor take a widow’s clothing in pledge;
- Deuteronomy 27:11 (v16) Moses commanded the people the same day, saying,
- Deuteronomy 31:14 (v16) Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, your days approach that you must die. Call Joshua, and present yourselves in the Tent of Meeting, that I may…
- 1 Samuel 12:3-4 (v17) Here I am. Witness against me before Yahweh, and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I…
- 2 Samuel 23:3 (v16) The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, ‘One who rules over men righteously, who rules in the fear of God,
- 1 Kings 21:8-14 (v17) So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and to the nobles who were in his…
- Job 22:6-9 (v17) For you have taken pledges from your brother for nothing, and stripped the naked of their clothing. You haven’t given water to the weary to…
- Job 29:11-17 (v17) For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it commended me: Because I delivered the poor who cried, and the…
- Job 31:13-16 (v17) “If I have despised the cause of my male servant or of my female servant, when they contended with me, what then will I do when God rises…
- Job 31:34 (v17) because I feared the great multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and didn’t go out of the door—
- Psalms 58:1 (v16) Do you indeed speak righteousness, silent ones? Do you judge blamelessly, you sons of men?
- Psalms 82:3-4 (v17) “Defend the weak, the poor, and the fatherless. Maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy. Deliver them out…
- Jeremiah 1:17 (v17) “You therefore put your belt on your waist, arise, and say to them all that I command you. Don’t be dismayed at them, lest I dismay you…
- Jeremiah 5:28-29 (v17) They have grown fat. They shine; yes, they excel in deeds of wickedness. They don’t plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they…
- Amos 5:11-12 (v17) Therefore, because you trample on the poor, and take taxes from him of wheat: You have built houses of cut stone, but you will not dwell in…
- Micah 2:1-3 (v17) Woe to those who devise iniquity and work evil on their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of…
- Micah 3:1-4 (v17) I said, “Please listen, you heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: Isn’t it for you to know justice? You who hate the good, and…
- Micah 7:3-4 (v17) Their hands are on that which is evil to do it diligently. The ruler and judge ask for a bribe; and the powerful man dictates the evil…
- Acts 10:34-35 (v17) Peter opened his mouth and said, “Truly I perceive that God doesn’t show favoritism; but in every nation he who fears him and works…
- 1 Timothy 6:17 (v16) Charge those who are rich in this present world that they not be arrogant, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on the…
- Deuteronomy 10:18-19 (v16) He executes justice for the fatherless and widow and loves the foreigner in giving him food and clothing. Therefore love the foreigner, for…
- 1 Thessalonians 2:11 (v16) As you know, we exhorted, comforted, and implored every one of you, as a father does his own children,
56 distinct cross-references across this passage (58 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v17 And you are his Lieutenants.
And you are his Lieutenants.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv16–17 Deu 1:16 And I charged your judges at that…
Deu 1:16 And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear [the causes] between your brethren, and judge righteously between [every] man and his brother, and the stranger [that is] with him.
Ver. 16. Hear the causes, &c.] Hear them out. In the Forum of Rome the accuser had six hours allotted him to accuse, the accused had nine hours to make his answer {a}
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And judge righteously.] So upright was the sentence of the Areopagites in Athens, that none could ever say he was unjustly condemned; nay, both parties, as well those that are cast as they that cast, are alike contented. {b}
{a} Ulpian., in Orat. Demosth. de fal legat.
{b} ηππωμενοι σπεργουσιν ομοιως τοιν κεκρατηκοσι.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv16–17 That converseth or dealeth with him. To such God…
That converseth or dealeth with him. To such God would have justice equally administered as to his own people, partly for the honour of religion, and partly for the interest which every man hath in matters of common right.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv16–17 And I charged your judges at that time,.... When…
And I charged your judges at that time,.... When they were appointed and constituted, even the heads and rulers before spoken of; this charge is also new, and not recorded before:
saying, hear the causes between your brethren; hear both sides, and all that each of them have to say; not suffer one to say all he has to say, and oblige the other to cut his words short, as the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it; but give them leave and time to tell their case, and give the best evidence they can of it:
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and judge righteously; impartially, just as the case really appears to be, and according to the evidence given:
between every man and his brother; between an Israelite and an Israelite:
and the stranger that is with him; between an Israelite and proselyte, whether a proselyte of the gate, or of righteousness; the same justice was to be done to them as to an Israelite.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv16–17 The stranger - That converseth or dealeth with himn.…
The stranger - That converseth or dealeth with himn. To Such God would have justice equally adtninistred as to his own people, partly for the honour of religion, and partly for the interest which every man hath in matters of common right.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v17 Verse 17. Ye shall not respect persons] Heb. faces.…
Verse 17. Ye shall not respect persons] Heb. faces. Let not the bold, daring countenance of the rich or mighty induce you to give an unrighteous decision; and let not the abject look of the poor man induce you either to favour him in an unrighteous cause, or to give judgment against him at the demand of the oppressor. Be uncorrupt and incorruptible, for the judgment is God's; ye minister in the place of God, act like HIM.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv16–17 Deu 1:16. The stranger — That converseth or dealeth…
Deu 1:16. The stranger — That converseth or dealeth with him. To such God would have justice equally administered as to his own people, partly for the honour of religion, and partly for the interest which every man hath in matters of common right.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v17 17. The judgment is God’s — It is to…
17. The judgment is God’s — It is to be administered in the name of God, who is the source of all justice, and who, by implication, is supposed to so aid that the judgment is essentially his.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv16–17 16. judges] Unless the previous emendation be accepted the…
16. judges] Unless the previous emendation be accepted the term judges appears here for the first time in the passage.
Hear … and judge righteously] The two indispensables: patient, equal hearing, and impartial decision.
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your brethren] Your fellow-Israelites.
the stranger that is with him] His Gêr or sojourner: any non-Israelite who leaving his own kin settles under the protection of an Israelite family or individual; in distinction from the ‘ezraḥ or born Israelite (Jos_8:33). The Ar. equivalents are ǧar and ṣarîḥ. See W. R. Smith, OTJC2, 342n., and Rel. Sem. 75 ff. In E the Gêr is not to be wronged, Exo_22:21; Exo_23:9, and to have rest on the Sabbath, Exo_23:12; cp. Exo_20:8. In D his equal rights at law are reiterated here, Deu_24:17, Deu_27:19; not to be oppressed, Deu_24:14, but cherished, Deu_10:19; to share with the Levite and the poor, Deu_14:29, Deu_16:11-14, Deu_24:19 ff., Deu_26:11 ff.; to rest on the Sabbath, Deu_5:14; enter the covenant, Deu_29:11; and keep the Law, Deu_31:12; only he is to have freedom in meats forbidden to Israel, Deu_14:21; if Israel persists in sin the Gêr shall rise over him, Deut 18:43. See on Deu_10:19 and Deu_14:21 where the different treatment of the Gêr in P is noted.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv16–17 (16) And I charged your judges . . .…
(16) And I charged your judges . . . saying.—These instructions given by Moses are an admirable expansion, but only an expansion, of those of Jethro(Exo_18:21), that the judges must be “able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness”—a sentence older than the Decalogue itself.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On v17 Ye shall not respect persons; literally, look at or…
Ye shall not respect persons; literally, look at or regard aces, i.e. ye shall not deal partially, favoring the one party rather than the other (comp. Exo_23:2, Exo_23:3; Lev_19:15) the small as well as the great were to be heard, and neither for favor nor from fear were they to pervert justice. The judgment is God"s; i.e. appointed by God and administered in his name, the judge acting for God and by his authority, and being answerable to him. (comp. 2Ch_19:6) Hence the phrases, "to inquire of God," "to bring before God" (Exo_18:15, 19 21:6 22:8, etc.) phrases still in use among the Arabs for a summoning to judicial trial.
In the case of a matter coming before the judges which they found it beyond their power to decide, they were to bring it before Moses as a superior authority. (see Exo_18:26) "Some think there were certain causes reserved to the cognizance of Moses; but the contrary appears by these words, that all manner of causes were brought before the judges; and they, not the people, brought such causes before Moses as they found too hard for them to determine. So that they, not the person whose cause it was, judged of the difficulty of the cause. See Selden, lib. 1. "De Synedriis, cap. 16." (Bishop Patrick).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v17 General Information:
General Information:
Moses continues speaking to the judges, so the commands are plural. (See: Pronouns)
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You will not show partiality
"Do not show partiality"
you will hear the small and the great alike
These two extremes "small" and "great" represent all people. AT: "you will treat all people alike" (See: Merism)
You will not be afraid of the face of man
The word "face" is a metonym for the whole person. "You will not" is a command. "Do not be afraid of anyone" (See: Synecdoche)
at that time
This means the time when they were at Horeb, at Mount Sinai. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
partial
fear
face
judge
God
command
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v16 1:16-17 Be . . . impartial (literally Do not…
1:16-17 Be . . . impartial (literally Do not notice faces): People appearing before the court should be treated as though they were wearing a mask to conceal their identity. Judges were not to be influenced by rich and powerful persons in the community but were to judge on the basis of God’s own impartiality (10:17) and treat all persons equally under the law.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.