Proverbs 18:5

18:5 It is terrible ¹  to show partiality ²  to the wicked, ³ 

by depriving ⁴  a righteous man of justice.

Proverbs 28:21

28:21 To show partiality ⁵  is terrible, ⁶ 

for a person will transgress over the smallest piece of bread. ⁷ 

Leviticus 19:15

Justice, Love, and Propriety

19:15 “‘You ⁸  must not deal unjustly in judgment: ⁹  you must neither show partiality to the poor nor honor the rich. ¹⁰  You must judge your fellow citizen fairly. ¹¹ 

Deuteronomy 1:17

1:17 They ¹²  must not discriminate in judgment, but hear the lowly ¹³  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 ¹⁴  the words of the righteous. ¹⁵ 

Deuteronomy 16:2

16:2 You must sacrifice the Passover animal ¹⁶  (from the flock or the herd) to the Lord your God in the place where he ¹⁷  chooses to locate his name.

Deuteronomy 19:7

19:7 Therefore, I am commanding you to set apart for yourselves three cities.

Psalms 82:2-4

82:2 He says, ¹⁸  “How long will you make unjust legal decisions

and show favoritism to the wicked? ¹⁹  (Selah)

82:3 Defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless! ²⁰ 

Vindicate the oppressed and suffering!

82:4 Rescue the poor and needy!

Deliver them from the power ²¹  of the wicked!

John 7:24

7:24 Do not judge according to external appearance, ²²  but judge with proper ²³  judgment.”

John 7:1

The Feast of Tabernacles

7:1 After this ²⁴  Jesus traveled throughout Galilee. ²⁵  He ²⁶  stayed out of Judea ²⁷  because the Jewish leaders ²⁸  wanted ²⁹  to kill him.

John 5:20-21

5:20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does, and will show him greater deeds than these, so that you will be amazed. 5:21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, ³⁰  so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. ³¹ 

James 2:4-6

2:4 If so, have you not made distinctions ³²  among yourselves and become judges with evil motives? ³³  2:5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! ³⁴  Did not God choose the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him? 2:6 But you have dishonored the poor! ³⁵  Are not the rich oppressing you and dragging you into the courts?

James 2:1

Prejudice and the Law of Love

2:1 My brothers and sisters, ³⁶  do not show prejudice ³⁷  if you possess faith ³⁸  in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. ³⁹ 

James 1:17

1:17 All generous giving and every perfect gift ⁴⁰  is from above, coming down ⁴¹  from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change. ⁴² 

[18:5]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn Or “the guilty,” since in the second colon “righteous” can also be understood in contrast as “innocent” (cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT).

[18:5]  ⁴ 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.

[28:21]  ⁵ tn The construction uses the Hiphil infinitive הַכֵּר (hakken) as the subject of the sentence: “to have respect for [or, recognize] persons is not good” (e.g., 24:23; 18:5; Deut 1:17; Lev 19:15). Such favoritism is “not good”; instead, it is a miscarriage of justice and is to be avoided.

[28:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “not good.” This is a figure of speech known as tapeinosis – a deliberate understatement to emphasize a worst-case scenario: “it is terrible!”

[28:21]  ⁷ tn The meaning and connection of the line is not readily clear. It could be taken in one of two ways: (1) a person can steal even a small piece of bread if hungry, and so the court should show some compassion, or it should show no partiality even in such a pathetic case; (2) a person could be bribed for a very small price (a small piece of bread being the figure representing this). This second view harmonizes best with the law.

[19:15]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “You shall not do injustice in judgment” (NASB similar); cf. NIV “do not pervert justice.”

[19:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “You shall not lift up faces of poor [people] and you shall not honor faces of great.”

[19:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “In righteousness you shall judge your fellow citizen.”

[1:17]  ¹² tn Heb “you,” and throughout the verse (cf. NASB, NRSV).

[1:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “the small,” but referring to social status, not physical stature.

[16:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “twist, overturn”; NRSV “subverts the cause.”

[16:19]  ¹⁵ tn Or “innocent”; NRSV “those who are in the right”; NLT “the godly.”

[16:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “sacrifice the Passover” (so NASB). The word “animal” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[16:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in the previous verse.

[82:2]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and the face of the wicked lift up.”

[82:3]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew noun יָתוֹם (yatom) refers to one who has lost his father (not necessarily his mother, see Ps 109:9). Because they were so vulnerable and were frequently exploited, fatherless children are often mentioned as epitomizing the oppressed (see Pss 10:14; 68:5; 94:6; 146:9; as well as Job 6:27; 22:9; 24:3, 9; 29:12; 31:17, 21).

[82:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “hand.”

[7:24]  ²² tn Or “based on sight.”

[7:24]  ²³ tn Or “honest”; Grk “righteous.”

[7:1]  ²⁴ sn Again, the transition is indicated by the imprecise temporal indicator After this. Clearly, though, the author has left out much of the events of Jesus’ ministry, because chap. 6 took place near the Passover (6:4). This would have been the Passover between winter/spring of a.d. 32, just one year before Jesus’ crucifixion (assuming a date of a.d. 33 for the crucifixion), or the Passover of winter/spring a.d. 29, assuming a date of a.d. 30 for the crucifixion.

[7:1]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Jesus was traveling around in Galilee.”

[7:1]  ²⁶ tn Grk “For he.” Here γάρ (gar, “for”) has not been translated.

[7:1]  ²⁷ tn Grk “he did not want to travel around in Judea.”

[7:1]  ²⁸ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.) Here the phrase should be restricted to the Jewish authorities or leaders who were Jesus’ primary opponents.

[7:1]  ²⁹ tn Grk “were seeking.”

[5:21]  ³⁰ tn Grk “and makes them live.”

[5:21]  ³¹ tn Grk “the Son makes whomever he wants to live.”

[2:4]  ³² tn Grk “have you not made distinctions” (as the conclusion to the series of “if” clauses in vv. 2-3).

[2:4]  ³³ tn Grk “judges of evil reasonings.”

[2:5]  ³⁴ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[2:6]  ³⁵ tn This is singular: “the poor person,” perhaps referring to the hypothetical one described in vv. 2-3.

[2:1]  ³⁶ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[2:1]  ³⁷ tn Or “partiality.”

[2:1]  ³⁸ tn Grk “do not have faith with personal prejudice,” with emphasis on the last phrase.

[2:1]  ³⁹ tn Grk “our Lord Jesus Christ of glory.” Here δόξης (doxhs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[1:17]  ⁴⁰ tn The first phrase refers to the action of giving and the second to what is given.

[1:17]  ⁴¹ tn Or “All generous giving and every perfect gift from above is coming down.”

[1:17]  ⁴² tn Grk “variation or shadow of turning” (referring to the motions of heavenly bodies causing variations of light and darkness).