Deuteronomy 16:18

Provision for Justice

16:18 You must appoint judges and civil servants ¹  for each tribe in all your villages ²  that the Lord your God is giving you, and they must judge the people fairly. ³ 

Deuteronomy 17:5

17:5 you must bring to your city gates ⁴  that man or woman who has done this wicked thing – that very man or woman – and you must stone that person to death. ⁵ 

Deuteronomy 21:19

21:19 his father and mother must seize him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his city.

Deuteronomy 25:7

25:7 But if the man does not want to marry his brother’s widow, then she ⁶  must go to the elders at the town gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to preserve his brother’s name in Israel; he is unwilling to perform the duty of a brother-in-law to me!”

Job 29:7

29:7 When I went out to the city gate

and secured my seat in the public square, ⁷ 

Job 31:21

31:21 if I have raised my hand ⁸  to vote against the orphan,

when I saw my support in the court, ⁹ 

Amos 5:10-12

5:10 The Israelites ¹⁰  hate anyone who arbitrates at the city gate; ¹¹ 

they despise anyone who speaks honestly.

5:11 Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops ¹² 

and exact a grain tax from them,

you will not live in the houses you built with chiseled stone,

nor will you drink the wine from the fine ¹³  vineyards you planted. ¹⁴ 

5:12 Certainly ¹⁵  I am aware of ¹⁶  your many rebellious acts ¹⁷ 

and your numerous sins.

You ¹⁸  torment the innocent, you take bribes,

and you deny justice to ¹⁹  the needy at the city gate. ²⁰ 

Amos 5:15

5:15 Hate what is wrong, love what is right!

Promote ²¹  justice at the city gate! ²² 

Maybe the Lord, the God who commands armies, will have mercy on ²³  those who are left from ²⁴  Joseph. ²⁵ 

¹ tn The Hebrew term וְשֹׁטְרִים (vÿshoterim), usually translated “officers” (KJV, NCV) or “officials” (NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), derives from the verb שֹׁטֵר (shoter, “to write”). The noun became generic for all types of public officials. Here, however, it may be appositionally epexegetical to “judges,” thus resulting in the phrase, “judges, that is, civil officers,” etc. Whoever the שֹׁטְרִים are, their task here consists of rendering judgments and administering justice.

² tn Heb “gates.”

³ tn Heb “with judgment of righteousness”; ASV, NASB “with righteous judgment.”

⁴ tn Heb “gates.”

⁵ tn Heb “stone them with stones so that they die” (KJV similar); NCV “throw stones at that person until he dies.”

⁶ tn Heb “want to take his sister-in-law, then his sister in law.” In the second instance the pronoun (“she”) has been used in the translation to avoid redundancy.

⁷ sn In the public square. The area referred to here should not be thought of in terms of modern western dimensions. The wide space, plaza, or public square mentioned here is the open area in the gate complex where legal and business matters were conducted. The area could be as small as a few hundred square feet.

⁸ tn The expression “raised my hand” refers to a threatening manner or gesture in the court rather than a threat of physical violence in the street. Thus the words “to vote” are supplied in the translation to indicate the setting.

⁹ tn Heb “gate,” referring to the city gate where judicial decisions were rendered in the culture of the time. The translation uses the word “court” to indicate this to the modern reader, who might not associate a city gate complex with judicial functions.

¹⁰ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ sn In ancient Israelite culture, legal disputes were resolved in the city gate, where the town elders met.

¹² tn Traditionally, “because you trample on the poor” (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). The traditional view derives the verb from בּוּס (bus, “to trample”; cf. Isa. 14:25), but more likely it is cognate to an Akkadian verb meaning “to exact an agricultural tax” (see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [SBLDS], 49; S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 172-73).

¹³ tn Or “lovely”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “pleasant”; NAB “choice”; NIV “lush.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “Houses of chiseled stone you built, but you will not live in them. Fine vineyards you planted, but you will not drink their wine.”

¹⁵ tn Or “for.”

¹⁶ tn Or “I know” (so most English versions).

¹⁷ tn Or “transgressions,” “sins.” See the note on the word “crimes” in 1:3 and on the phrase “covenant violations” in 2:4.

¹⁸ tn Heb “Those who.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “turn aside.” They “turn aside” the needy by denying them the justice they deserve at the city gate (where legal decisions were made, and therefore where justice should be done).

²⁰ sn Legal disputes were resolved in the city gate, where the town elders met.

²¹ tn Heb “set up, establish.” In the ancient Near East it was the responsibility especially of the king to establish justice. Here the prophet extends that demand to local leaders and to the nation as a whole (cf. 5:24).

²² sn Legal disputes were resolved in the city gate (see the note in v. 12). This repetition of this phrase serves to highlight a deliberate contrast to the injustices cited in vv. 11-13.

²³ tn Or “will show favor to.”

²⁴ tn Or “the remnant of” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “what’s left of your people.”

²⁵ sn Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.