Deuteronomy 17:8-12

Appeal to a Higher Court

17:8 If a matter is too difficult for you to judge – bloodshed, ¹  legal claim, ²  or assault ³  – matters of controversy in your villages ⁴  – you must leave there and go up to the place the Lord your God chooses. ⁵  17:9 You will go to the Levitical priests and the judge in office in those days and seek a solution; they will render a verdict. 17:10 You must then do as they have determined at that place the Lord chooses. Be careful to do just as you are taught. 17:11 You must do what you are instructed, and the verdict they pronounce to you, without fail. Do not deviate right or left from what they tell you. 17:12 The person who pays no attention ⁶  to the priest currently serving the Lord your God there, or to the verdict – that person must die, so that you may purge evil from Israel.

Deuteronomy 25:1-3

25:1 If controversy arises between people, ⁷  they should go to court for judgment. When the judges ⁸  hear the case, they shall exonerate ⁹  the innocent but condemn ¹⁰  the guilty. 25:2 Then, ¹¹  if the guilty person is sentenced to a beating, ¹²  the judge shall force him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of blows his wicked behavior deserves. ¹³  25:3 The judge ¹⁴  may sentence him to forty blows, ¹⁵  but no more. If he is struck with more than these, you might view your fellow Israelite ¹⁶  with contempt.

[17:8]  ¹ tn Heb “between blood and blood.”

[17:8]  ² tn Heb “between claim and claim.”

[17:8]  ³ tn Heb “between blow and blow.”

[17:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “gates.”

[17:8]  ⁵ tc Several Greek recensions add “to place his name there,” thus completing the usual formula to describe the central sanctuary (cf. Deut 12:5, 11, 14, 18; 16:6). However, the context suggests that the local Levitical towns, and not the central sanctuary, are in mind.

[17:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “who acts presumptuously not to listen” (cf. NASB).

[25:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “men.”

[25:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the judges) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “declare to be just”; KJV, NASB “justify the righteous”; NAB, NIV “acquitting the innocent.”

[25:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “declare to be evil”; NIV “condemning the guilty (+ party NAB).”

[25:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and it will be.”

[25:2]  ¹² tn Heb “if the evil one is a son of smiting.”

[25:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “according to his wickedness, by number.”

[25:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the judge) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Forty blows he may strike him”; however, since the judge is to witness the punishment (v. 2) it is unlikely the judge himself administered it.

[25:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “your brothers” but not limited only to an actual sibling; cf. NAB) “your kinsman”; NRSV, NLT “your neighbor.”