Leviticus 19:35

19:35 You must not do injustice in the regulation of measures, whether of length, weight, or volume. ¹ 

Exodus 18:21

18:21 But you choose ²  from the people capable men, ³  God-fearing, ⁴  men of truth, ⁵  those who hate bribes, ⁶  and put them over the people ⁷  as rulers ⁸  of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

Exodus 23:2

23:2 “You must not follow a crowd ⁹  in doing evil things; ¹⁰  in a lawsuit you must not offer testimony that agrees with a crowd so as to pervert justice, ¹¹ 

Exodus 23:2-3

23:2 “You must not follow a crowd ¹²  in doing evil things; ¹³  in a lawsuit you must not offer testimony that agrees with a crowd so as to pervert justice, ¹⁴  23:3 and you must not show partiality ¹⁵  to a poor man in his lawsuit.

Exodus 23:7-8

23:7 Keep your distance ¹⁶  from a false charge ¹⁷  – do not kill the innocent and the righteous, ¹⁸  for I will not justify the wicked. ¹⁹ 

23:8 “You must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see ²⁰  and subverts the words of the righteous.

Deuteronomy 1:17

1:17 They ²¹  must not discriminate in judgment, but hear the lowly ²²  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 ²³  the words of the righteous. ²⁴ 

Deuteronomy 25:13-16

25:13 You must not have in your bag different stone weights, ²⁵  a heavy and a light one. ²⁶  25:14 You must not have in your house different measuring containers, ²⁷  a large and a small one. 25:15 You must have an accurate and correct ²⁸  stone weight and an accurate and correct measuring container, so that your life may be extended in the land the Lord your God is about to give you. 25:16 For anyone who acts dishonestly in these ways is abhorrent ²⁹  to the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 27:19

27:19 ‘Cursed is the one who perverts justice for the resident foreigner, the orphan, and the widow.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

Deuteronomy 27:2

27:2 When you cross the Jordan River ³⁰  to the land the Lord your God is giving you, you must erect great stones and cover ³¹  them with plaster.

Deuteronomy 19:6-7

19:6 Otherwise the blood avenger will chase after the killer in the heat of his anger, eventually overtake him, ³²  and kill him, ³³  though this is not a capital case ³⁴  since he did not hate him at the time of the accident. 19:7 Therefore, I am commanding you to set apart for yourselves three cities.

Psalms 82:2

82:2 He says, ³⁵  “How long will you make unjust legal decisions

and show favoritism to the wicked? ³⁶  (Selah)

Proverbs 18:5

18:5 It is terrible ³⁷  to show partiality ³⁸  to the wicked, ³⁹ 

by depriving ⁴⁰  a righteous man of justice.

Proverbs 24:23

Further Sayings of the Wise

24:23 These sayings also are from the wise:

To show partiality ⁴¹  in judgment is terrible: ⁴² 

James 2:6-9

2:6 But you have dishonored the poor! ⁴³  Are not the rich oppressing you and dragging you into the courts? 2:7 Do they not blaspheme the good name of the one you belong to? ⁴⁴  2:8 But if you fulfill the royal law as expressed in this scripture, ⁴⁵  “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” ⁴⁶  you are doing well. 2:9 But if you show prejudice, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as violators. ⁴⁷ 

[19:35]  ¹ tn That is, liquid capacity (HALOT 640 s.v. מְשׂוּרָה). Cf. ASV, NIV, NRSV, TEV “quantity”; NAB, NASB “capacity.”

[18:21]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn The description “fearers of God” uses an objective genitive. It describes them as devout, worshipful, obedient servants of God.

[18:21]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “over them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:21]  ⁸ 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.

[23:2]  ⁹ tn The word רָבִּים (rabbim), here rendered “crowd,” is also used infrequently to refer to the “mighty,” people of importance in society (Job 35:9; cf. Lev 19:15).

[23:2]  ¹⁰ tn For any individual to join a group that is bent on acting wickedly would be a violation of the Law and would incur personal responsibility.

[23:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you will not answer in a lawsuit to turn after the crowd to turn.” The form translated “agrees with” (Heb “to turn after”) is a Qal infinitive construct from נָטָה (natah); the same root is used at the end of the verse but as a Hiphil infinitive construct, “to pervert [justice].”

[23:2]  ¹² tn The word רָבִּים (rabbim), here rendered “crowd,” is also used infrequently to refer to the “mighty,” people of importance in society (Job 35:9; cf. Lev 19:15).

[23:2]  ¹³ tn For any individual to join a group that is bent on acting wickedly would be a violation of the Law and would incur personal responsibility.

[23:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “you will not answer in a lawsuit to turn after the crowd to turn.” The form translated “agrees with” (Heb “to turn after”) is a Qal infinitive construct from נָטָה (natah); the same root is used at the end of the verse but as a Hiphil infinitive construct, “to pervert [justice].”

[23:3]  ¹⁵ tn The point here is one of false sympathy and honor, the bad sense of the word הָדַר (hadar; see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 237).

[23:7]  ¹⁶ tn Or “stay away from,” or “have nothing to do with.”

[23:7]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Heb “blinds the open-eyed.”

[1:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “you,” and throughout the verse (cf. NASB, NRSV).

[1:17]  ²² tn Heb “the small,” but referring to social status, not physical stature.

[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.”

[25:13]  ²⁵ tn Heb “a stone and a stone.” The repetition of the singular noun here expresses diversity, as the following phrase indicates. See IBHS 116 §7.2.3c.

[25:13]  ²⁶ tn Heb “a large and a small,” but since the issue is the weight, “a heavy and a light one” conveys the idea better in English.

[25:14]  ²⁷ tn Heb “an ephah and an ephah.” An ephah refers to a unit of dry measure roughly equivalent to five U.S. gallons (just under 20 liters). On the repetition of the term to indicate diversity, see IBHS 116 §7.2.3c.

[25:15]  ²⁸ tn Or “just”; Heb “righteous.”

[25:16]  ²⁹ tn The Hebrew term translated here “abhorrent” (תּוֹעֵבָה, to’evah) speaks of attitudes and/or behaviors so vile as to be reprehensible to a holy God. See note on the word “abhorrent” in Deut 7:25.

[27:2]  ³⁰ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[27:2]  ³¹ tn Heb “plaster” (so KJV, ASV; likewise in v. 4). In the translation “cover” has been used for stylistic reasons.

[19:6]  ³² tn Heb “and overtake him, for the road is long.”

[19:6]  ³³ tn Heb “smite with respect to life,” that is, fatally.

[19:6]  ³⁴ tn Heb “no judgment of death.”

[82:2]  ³⁵ tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation to indicate that the following speech is God’s judicial decision (see v. 1).

[82:2]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and the face of the wicked lift up.”

[18:5]  ³⁷ 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]  ³⁸ 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]  ³⁹ tn Or “the guilty,” since in the second colon “righteous” can also be understood in contrast as “innocent” (cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT).

[18:5]  ⁴⁰ 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.

[24:23]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “to recognize faces”; KJV, ASV “to have respect of persons”; NLT “to show favoritism.”

[24:23]  ⁴² tn Heb “not good.” This is a figure known as tapeinosis – a deliberate understatement to emphasize a worst-case scenario: “it is terrible!”

[2:6]  ⁴³ tn This is singular: “the poor person,” perhaps referring to the hypothetical one described in vv. 2-3.

[2:7]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “that was invoked over you,” referring to their baptism in which they confessed their faith in Christ and were pronounced to be his own. To have the Lord’s name “named over them” is OT imagery for the Lord’s ownership of his people (cf. 2 Chr 7:14; Amos 9:12; Isa 63:19; Jer 14:9; 15:16; Dan 9:19; Acts 15:17).

[2:8]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “according to the scripture.”

[2:8]  ⁴⁶ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18 (also quoted in Matt 19:19; 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Rom 13:9; Gal 5:14).

[2:9]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “transgressors.”