Exodus 18:21-22

18:21 But you choose ¹  from the people capable men, ²  God-fearing, ³  men of truth, ⁴  those who hate bribes, ⁵  and put them over the people ⁶  as rulers ⁷  of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 18:22 They will judge ⁸  the people under normal circumstances, ⁹  and every difficult case ¹⁰  they will bring to you, but every small case ¹¹  they themselves will judge, so that ¹²  you may make it easier for yourself, ¹³  and they will bear the burden ¹⁴  with you.

Exodus 23:6-8

23:6 “You must not turn away justice for your poor people in their lawsuits. 23:7 Keep your distance ¹⁵  from a false charge ¹⁶  – do not kill the innocent and the righteous, ¹⁷  for I will not justify the wicked. ¹⁸ 

23:8 “You must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see ¹⁹  and subverts the words of the righteous.

Deuteronomy 16:18-19

Provision for Justice

16:18 You must appoint judges and civil servants ²⁰  for each tribe in all your villages ²¹  that the Lord your God is giving you, and they must judge the people fairly. ²²  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 ²³  the words of the righteous. ²⁴ 

Deuteronomy 25:1-2

25:1 If controversy arises between people, ²⁵  they should go to court for judgment. When the judges ²⁶  hear the case, they shall exonerate ²⁷  the innocent but condemn ²⁸  the guilty. 25:2 Then, ²⁹  if the guilty person is sentenced to a beating, ³⁰  the judge shall force him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of blows his wicked behavior deserves. ³¹ 

Deuteronomy 19:10

19:10 You must not shed innocent blood ³²  in your land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, for that would make you guilty. ³³ 

[18:21]  ¹ tn The construction uses the independent pronoun for emphasis, and then the imperfect tense “see” (חָזָה, khazah) – “and you will see from all….” Both in Hebrew and Ugaritic expressions of “seeing” are used in the sense of choosing (Gen 41:33). See U. Cassuto, Exodus, 220.

[18:21]  ² tn The expression is אַנְשֵׁי־חַיִל (’anshe khayil, “capable men”). The attributive genitive is the word used in expressions like “mighty man of valor.” The word describes these men as respected, influential, powerful people, those looked up to by the community as leaders, and those who will have the needs of the community in mind.

[18:21]  ³ tn The description “fearers of God” uses an objective genitive. It describes them as devout, worshipful, obedient servants of God.

[18:21]  ⁴ tn The expression “men of truth” (אַנְשֵׁי אֱמֶת, ’anshe ’emet) indicates that these men must be seekers of truth, who know that the task of a judge is to give true judgment (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 220). The word “truth” includes the ideas of faithfulness or reliability, as well as factuality itself. It could be understood to mean “truthful men,” men whose word is reliable and true.

[18:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “haters of bribes.” Here is another objective genitive, one that refers to unjust gain. To hate unjust gain is to reject and refuse it. Their decisions will not be swayed by greed.

[18:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “over them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:21]  ⁷ sn It is not clear how this structure would work in a judicial setting. The language of “captains of thousands,” etc., is used more for military ranks. There must have been more detailed instruction involved here, for each Israelite would have come under four leaders with this arrangement, and perhaps difficult cases would be sent to the next level. But since the task of these men would also involve instruction and guidance, the breakdown would be very useful. Deut 1:9, 13 suggest that the choice of these people was not simply Moses’ alone.

[18:22]  ⁸ tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive, making it equivalent to the imperfect of instruction in the preceding verse.

[18:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “in every time,” meaning “in all normal cases” or “under normal circumstances.” The same phrase occurs in v. 26.

[18:22]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “great thing.”

[18:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “thing.”

[18:22]  ¹² tn The vav here shows the result or the purpose of the instructions given.

[18:22]  ¹³ tn The expression וְהָקֵל מֵעָלֶיךָ (vÿhaqel me’aleykha) means literally “and make it light off yourself.” The word plays against the word for “heavy” used earlier – since it was a heavy or burdensome task, Moses must lighten the load.

[18:22]  ¹⁴ tn Here “the burden” has been supplied.

[23:7]  ¹⁵ tn Or “stay away from,” or “have nothing to do with.”

[23:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “a false matter,” this expression in this context would have to be a case in law that was false or that could only be won by falsehood.

[23:7]  ¹⁷ tn The two clauses probably should be related: the getting involved in the false charge could lead to the death of an innocent person (so, e.g., Naboth in 1 Kgs 21:10-13).

[23:7]  ¹⁸ sn God will not declare right the one who is in the wrong. Society should also be consistent, but it cannot see the intents and motives, as God can.

[23:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “blinds the open-eyed.”

[16:18]  ²⁰ 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.

[16:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “gates.”

[16:18]  ²² tn Heb “with judgment of righteousness”; ASV, NASB “with righteous judgment.”

[16:19]  ²³ tn Heb “twist, overturn”; NRSV “subverts the cause.”

[16:19]  ²⁴ tn Or “innocent”; NRSV “those who are in the right”; NLT “the godly.”

[25:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “men.”

[25:1]  ²⁶ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the judges) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “declare to be just”; KJV, NASB “justify the righteous”; NAB, NIV “acquitting the innocent.”

[25:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “declare to be evil”; NIV “condemning the guilty (+ party NAB).”

[25:2]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and it will be.”

[25:2]  ³⁰ tn Heb “if the evil one is a son of smiting.”

[25:2]  ³¹ tn Heb “according to his wickedness, by number.”

[19:10]  ³² tn Heb “innocent blood must not be shed.” The Hebrew phrase דָּם נָקִי (dam naqiy) means the blood of a person to whom no culpability or responsibility adheres because what he did was without malice aforethought (HALOT 224 s.v דָּם 4.b).

[19:10]  ³³ tn Heb “and blood will be upon you” (cf. KJV, ASV); NRSV “thereby bringing bloodguilt upon you.”