Leviticus 19:15

Justice, Love, and Propriety

19:15 “‘You ¹  must not deal unjustly in judgment: ²  you must neither show partiality to the poor nor honor the rich. ³  You must judge your fellow citizen fairly. ⁴ 

Deuteronomy 1:17

1:17 They ⁵  must not discriminate in judgment, but hear the lowly ⁶  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 33:9

33:9 He said to his father and mother, “I have not seen him,” ⁷ 

and he did not acknowledge his own brothers

or know his own children,

for they kept your word,

and guarded your covenant.

Proverbs 18:5

18:5 It is terrible ⁸  to show partiality ⁹  to the wicked, ¹⁰ 

by depriving ¹¹  a righteous man of justice.

Luke 20:21

20:21 Thus ¹²  they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach correctly, ¹³  and show no partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. ¹⁴ 

Acts 15:37-38

15:37 Barnabas wanted to bring John called Mark along with them too, 15:38 but Paul insisted ¹⁵  that they should not take along this one who had left them in Pamphylia ¹⁶  and had not accompanied them in the work.

Acts 15:2

15:2 When Paul and Barnabas had a major argument and debate ¹⁷  with them, the church ¹⁸  appointed Paul and Barnabas and some others from among them to go up to meet with ¹⁹  the apostles and elders in Jerusalem ²⁰  about this point of disagreement. ²¹ 

Colossians 1:16

1:16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, ²²  whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.

[19:15]  ¹ 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.

[19:15]  ² tn Heb “You shall not do injustice in judgment” (NASB similar); cf. NIV “do not pervert justice.”

[19:15]  ³ tn Heb “You shall not lift up faces of poor [people] and you shall not honor faces of great.”

[19:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “In righteousness you shall judge your fellow citizen.”

[1:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “you,” and throughout the verse (cf. NASB, NRSV).

[1:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “the small,” but referring to social status, not physical stature.

[33:9]  ⁷ sn This statement no doubt alludes to the Levites’ destruction of their own fellow tribesmen following the golden calf incident (Exod 32:25-29).

[18:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “not good.” This is a figure known as tapeinosis, a deliberate understatement to emphasize a worst-case scenario: “it is terrible!”

[18:5]  ⁹ tn The idiom “lifting up the face of” (שְׂאֵת פְּנֵי, sÿ’et pÿne) means “to show partiality” in decisions (e.g., Deut 10:17; Mal 2:9); cf. CEV, NLT “to favor.” The verbal form is the Qal infinitive construct from נָשָׂא (nasa’), which functions as the subject of the clause.

[18:5]  ¹⁰ tn Or “the guilty,” since in the second colon “righteous” can also be understood in contrast as “innocent” (cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT).

[18:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to turn aside” (so ASV); NASB “to thrust aside.” The second half of the verse may illustrate this reprehensible action. The Hiphil infinitive construct לְהַטּוֹת (lÿhatot) may serve either (1) as result, “showing partiality…so that the righteous are turned away,” or (2) as epexegetical infinitive, “showing partiality…by turning the righteous away.” The second is preferred in the translation. Depriving the innocent of their rights is a perversion of justice.

[20:21]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “thus” to indicate the implied result of the plans by the spies.

[20:21]  ¹³ tn Or “precisely”; Grk “rightly.” Jesus teaches exactly, the straight and narrow.

[20:21]  ¹⁴ 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 was specifically designed to trap Jesus.

[15:38]  ¹⁵ tn BDAG 94 s.v. ἀξιόω 2.a has “he insisted (impf.) that they should not take him along” for this phrase.

[15:38]  ¹⁶ sn Pamphylia was a province in the southern part of Asia Minor. See Acts 13:13, where it was mentioned previously.

[15:2]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “no little argument and debate” (an idiom).

[15:2]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the church, or the rest of the believers at Antioch) has been specified to avoid confusion with the Judaizers mentioned in the preceding clause.

[15:2]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “go up to,” but in this context a meeting is implied.

[15:2]  ²⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[15:2]  ²¹ tn Or “point of controversy.” It is unclear whether this event parallels Gal 2:1-10 or that Gal 2 fits with Acts 11:30. More than likely Gal 2:1-10 is to be related to Acts 11:30.

[1:16]  ²² tn BDAG 579 s.v. κυριότης 3 suggests “bearers of the ruling powers, dominions” here.