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 perverts the words of the righteous.
Parallel Translations
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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 perverts the words of the righteous.
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Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
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Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons; neither shalt thou take a gift; for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
Cross-references (25)
Passages linked to Deuteronomy 16:19 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Leviticus 19:15 “ ‘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 neighbor in righteousness.
- Exodus 23:2 “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil. You shall not testify in court to side with a multitude to pervert justice.
- Proverbs 17:23 A wicked man receives a bribe in secret, to pervert the ways of justice.
- Deuteronomy 10:17 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 bribes.
- Deuteronomy 24:17 You shall not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, nor take a widow’s clothing in pledge;
- Habakkuk 1:4 Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails; for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice comes out perverted.
- Deuteronomy 27:19 ‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, fatherless, and widow.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
- Proverbs 24:23 These also are sayings of the wise. To show partiality in judgment is not good.
- Ecclesiastes 7:7 Surely extortion makes the wise man foolish; and a bribe destroys the understanding.
- Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do well. Seek justice. Relieve the oppressed. Defend the fatherless. Plead for the widow.”
- Exodus 23:6-8 “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 righteous; for I will not justify the wicked. “You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds those who have sight and perverts the words of the righteous.
- Deuteronomy 1:16-17 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.”
- 1 Samuel 8:3 His sons didn’t walk in his ways, but turned away after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.
- Micah 7:3 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 desire of his soul. Thus they conspire together.
- Acts 10:34 Peter opened his mouth and said, “Truly I perceive that God doesn’t show favoritism;
- Acts 16:37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly without a trial, men who are Romans, and have cast us into prison! Do they now release us secretly? No, most certainly, but let them come themselves and bring us out!”
- 1 Samuel 12:3 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 defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Of whose hand have I taken a bribe to make me blind my eyes? I will restore it to you.”
- Job 31:21-22 if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate, then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder blade, and my arm be broken from the bone.
- Proverbs 24:28 Don’t be a witness against your neighbor without cause. Don’t deceive with your lips.
- Isaiah 1:23 Your princes are rebellious and companions of thieves. Everyone loves bribes and follows after rewards. They don’t defend the fatherless, neither does the cause of the widow come to them.
- Isaiah 33:15 He who walks righteously and speaks blamelessly, he who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing to take a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from looking at evil—
- Jeremiah 5:28 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 may prosper; and they don’t defend the rights of the needy.
- Ezekiel 22:12 In you have they taken bribes to shed blood. You have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbors by oppression, and have forgotten me,” says the Lord Yahweh.
- Acts 23:3 Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit to judge me according to the law, and command me to be struck contrary to the law?”
- Zephaniah 3:3-5 Her princes within her are roaring lions. Her judges are evening wolves. They leave nothing until the next day. Her prophets are arrogant and treacherous people. Her priests have profaned the sanctuary. They have done violence to the law. Yahweh, within her, is righteous. He will do no wrong. Every morning he brings his justice to light. He doesn’t fail, but the unjust know no shame.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Deu 16:19 Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt…
Deu 16:19 Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
Ver. 19. Neither take a gift.] Rain is good, and ground is good; yet, ex eorum coniunctione fit luturn, by the mixture of those two is made dirt: so giving is kind, and taking is courteous; yet the mixing of them makes the smooth paths of justice foul and uneven.
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 Not wrest judgment, i.e. not give a perverse, forced,…
Not wrest judgment, i.e. not give a perverse, forced, and unjust sentence. See Poole "Exo 23:8".
Not respect persons, i.e. not give sentence according to the quality of the person, his riches or poverty, friendship or enmity, but according to the justice of the cause.
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A gift doth blind the eyes of the wise; corrupts and biasseth his mind, that as he will not, so ofttimes he cannot, discern between right and wrong.
The words of the righteous; either,
1. The words, i.e. the sentence, of those judges who are inclined and used to do righteous things, and have the repute of righteous men, it makes them give wrong judgment. Or,
2. The words, i.e. the matters, or causes, (as word oft signifies,) of righteous persons, or of them whose cause is just.
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 That which is altogether just shalt thou follow,.... Or…
That which is altogether just shalt thou follow,.... Or "justice", "justice" (a), strict justice, and nothing else:
that thou mayest live and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee; that is, continue in the possession of it.
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(a)
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 Wrest judgment - Not give an unjust sentence. A…
Wrest judgment - Not give an unjust sentence. A gift doth blind the eyes - Biasseth his mind, that he cannot discern between right and wrong. The words - That is the sentence, of those Judges who are used to do righteous things, it makes them give wrong judgment.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Deu 16:19-20. Thou shalt not wrest judgment — Not…
Deu 16:19-20. Thou shalt not wrest judgment — Not give a forced and unjust sentence. Thou shalt not respect persons — Not give sentence according to the quality of the person, his riches or poverty, friendship or enmity, but according to the justice of the cause. A gift doth blind the eyes of the wise — Biases his mind, that he cannot discern between right and wrong. And pervert the words of the righteous — That is, the sentence of those judges who are inclined and used to do righteous things, and have the reputation of being righteous men; it makes them give a wrong judgment. That which is altogether just — Hebrew, righteousness, righteousness, doubling the expression to give it emphasis; that is, nothing but righteousness in all causes and times, and to all persons equally.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Just. Avarice is like a cloud, (Calmet) which darkens…
Just. Avarice is like a cloud, (Calmet) which darkens the understanding. Oppression troubleth the wise, and (Hebrew) "a present destroyeth the heart." A timid or interested judge is unfit for his office. Sir Thomas More was very careful not to receive presents, while he was high chancellor of England. (Haydock) --- If even the just are in danger of being perverted by presents, what must we think of others? (Du Hamel)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 19. Thou] The whole people are responsible for the…
19. Thou] The whole people are responsible for the impartial discharge of justice: characteristic of D.
shalt not wrest judgement] E, Exo_23:6 : the judgement of thy poor in his cause.
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thou shalt not respect persons] See on Deu_1:17.
neither shalt thou take a gift, etc.] So E, Exo_23:8, except that for the eyes of the wise it has the open-eyed or them that have sight.
a gift] Heb. shoḥad, of a present in order to influence justice, a bribe (Deu_10:17), a prevalent temptation of judges in the East, where he is regarded as still a just judge who takes gifts only from the party in the right, as it were a fee for his judgement or an inducement to hasten it. Here, however, the acceptance of any gift by a judge is forbidden. In the Code of Ḫammurabi the 5th law, expelling from office the judge who alters his decision, implies that he does this for some unjust reason such as a bribe. On bribery among the settled Arabs see Doughty Ar. Des. i. 607.
words] Statements or pleas, equivalent to cause or case.
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 (19) See Exo_23:6; Exo_23:8.
(19) See Exo_23:6; Exo_23:8.
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 Cf. Exo_23:6, 8 Respect persons (cf. Deu_1:17) Pervert the…
Cf. Exo_23:6, 8 Respect persons (cf. Deu_1:17) Pervert the words margin, matters of the righteous; rather, the case or the cause of the righteous.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift.
Deu_16:19
Thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift.
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Equality before the law
I. Some facts and tendencies in legal administration.
1. The sentence pronounced against a poor man is often very heavy, and that against a rich man very light. In New Jersey a poor man was sentenced to five years of hard labour in prison for stealing a ham; in the same court a rich banker, who had ruined two banks and stolen the money of hundreds of people, received the same sentence.
2. After conviction rich convicts receive favours. In the case just cited the poor man and the rich man went to the same prison. But the poor man was put at hard labour; the rich man was made clerk in the prison library.
3. Rich men have an unfair advantage over poor men when brought to trial. The big fee that hires the eloquent pleader buys out the law.
4. Even judges are sometimes corrupt.
5. Juries are accused of taking bribes.
II. The perils of these forms of injustice.
1. They threaten the property and lives of the poor.
2. They weaken the spirit of obedience (Num_22:23).
3. They develop the communistic spirit of destruction.
4. We are all unsafe when one poor wretch is unsafe only because he lacks money or friends.
III. The remedies for existing evils.
1. More and better teaching, in home, school, and church, on Gods law of equality.
2. Wiser conversation on such matters when citizens meet together. It is dangerous and unpatriotic to treat the miscarriage of justice as a jest.
3. A sound public opinion should be cultivated by press, pulpit, and platform.
4. Our social power may be used to condemn a triumph over the law.
5. Seek to associate in all minds the idea of obedience to God with that of just judgment. (Homiletic Monthly.)
An upright judge
Judge Sewall, of Massachusetts, went into a hatters shop in order to purchase a pair of shoe brushes. The master of the shop presented him with a couple. What is your price? said the judge. If they will answer your purpose, replied the other, you may have them and welcome. The judge, upon hearing this, laid them down, and bowing, was leaving the shop; upon which the hatter said to him, Pray, sir, your honour has forgotten the principal object of your visit. By no means, answered the judge; if you please to set a price, I am ready to purchase; but ever since it has fallen to my lot to occupy a seat on the bench, I have studiously avoided receiving to the value of a single copper, lest at some future period of my life it might have some kind of influence in determining my judgment.
The acceptance of bribes discouraged
In the Soudan, he said, he had £6000 a year, as Governor, but he brought nothing out of the country when he returned to England. He spent his income in adding to the insufficient salaries of the officials, to keep them from accepting bribes, and thus to secure justice for the people at large. (Memoir of General Gordon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 16:19 show partiality: See study note on 1:16-17.
16:19 show partiality: See study note on 1:16-17.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.