Job 13:8

13:8 Will you show him partiality? ¹ 

Will you argue the case ²  for God?

Job 34:19

34:19 who shows no partiality to princes,

and does not take note of ³  the rich more than the poor,

because all of them are the work of his hands?

Leviticus 19:15

Justice, Love, and Propriety

19:15 “‘You ⁴  must not deal unjustly in judgment: ⁵  you must neither show partiality to the poor nor honor the rich. ⁶  You must judge your fellow citizen fairly. ⁷ 

Deuteronomy 1:17

1:17 They ⁸  must not discriminate in judgment, but hear the lowly ⁹  and the great alike. Nor should they be intimidated by human beings, for judgment belongs to God. If the matter being adjudicated is too difficult for them, they should bring it before me for a hearing.

Deuteronomy 16:19

16:19 You must not pervert justice or show favor. Do not take a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and distort ¹⁰  the words of the righteous. ¹¹ 

Proverbs 24:23

Further Sayings of the Wise

24:23 These sayings also are from the wise:

To show partiality ¹²  in judgment is terrible: ¹³ 

Matthew 22:16

22:16 They sent to him their disciples along with the Herodians, ¹⁴  saying, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful, and teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. ¹⁵  You do not court anyone’s favor because you show no partiality. ¹⁶ 

¹ sn The idiom used here is “Will you lift up his face?” Here Job is being very sarcastic, for this expression usually means that a judge is taking a bribe. Job is accusing them of taking God’s side.

² tn The same root is used here (רִיב, riv, “dispute, contention”) as in v. 6b (see note).

³ tn The verb means “to give recognition; to take note of” and in this passage with לִפְנֵי (lifne, “before”) it means to show preferential treatment to the rich before the poor. The word for “rich” here is an unusual word, found parallel to “noble” (Isa 32:2). P. Joüon thinks it is a term of social distinction (Bib 18 [1937]: 207-8).

⁴ tc Smr has the singular rather than the plural “you” of the MT, which brings this verb form into line with the ones surrounding it.

⁵ tn Heb “You shall not do injustice in judgment” (NASB similar); cf. NIV “do not pervert justice.”

⁶ tn Heb “You shall not lift up faces of poor [people] and you shall not honor faces of great.”

⁷ tn Heb “In righteousness you shall judge your fellow citizen.”

⁸ tn Heb “you,” and throughout the verse (cf. NASB, NRSV).

⁹ tn Heb “the small,” but referring to social status, not physical stature.

¹⁰ tn Heb “twist, overturn”; NRSV “subverts the cause.”

¹¹ tn Or “innocent”; NRSV “those who are in the right”; NLT “the godly.”

¹² tn Heb “to recognize faces”; KJV, ASV “to have respect of persons”; NLT “to show favoritism.”

¹³ tn Heb “not good.” This is a figure known as tapeinosis – a deliberate understatement to emphasize a worst-case scenario: “it is terrible!”

¹⁴ sn The Herodians are mentioned in the NT only once in Matt (22:16 = Mark 12:13) and twice in Mark (3:6; 12:13; some mss also read “Herodians” instead of “Herod” in Mark 8:15). It is generally assumed that as a group the Herodians were Jewish supporters of the Herodian dynasty (or of Herod Antipas in particular). In every instance they are linked with the Pharisees. This probably reflects agreement regarding political objectives (nationalism as opposed to submission to the yoke of Roman oppression) rather than philosophy or religious beliefs.

¹⁵ sn Teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Very few comments are as deceitful as this one; they did not really believe this at all. The question of the Pharisees and Herodians was specifically designed to trap Jesus.

¹⁶ tn Grk “And it is not a concern to you about anyone because you do not see the face of men.”