Proverbs 24:23

Further Sayings of the Wise

24:23 These sayings also are from the wise:

To show partiality ¹  in judgment is terrible: ² 

Proverbs 28:21

28:21 To show partiality ³  is terrible, ⁴ 

for a person will transgress over the smallest piece of bread. ⁵ 

Leviticus 19:15

Justice, Love, and Propriety

19:15 “‘You ⁶  must not deal unjustly in judgment: ⁷  you must neither show partiality to the poor nor honor the rich. ⁸  You must judge your fellow citizen fairly. ⁹ 

Deuteronomy 1:16-17

1:16 I furthermore admonished your judges at that time that they ¹⁰  should pay attention to issues among your fellow citizens ¹¹  and judge fairly, ¹²  whether between one citizen and another ¹³  or a citizen and a resident foreigner. ¹⁴  1:17 They ¹⁵  must not discriminate in judgment, but hear the lowly ¹⁶  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 ¹⁷  the words of the righteous. ¹⁸ 

Job 13:7-8

13:7 Will you speak wickedly ¹⁹  on God’s behalf? ²⁰ 

Will you speak deceitfully for him?

13:8 Will you show him partiality? ²¹ 

Will you argue the case ²²  for God?

Job 34:19

34:19 who shows no partiality to princes,

and does not take note of ²³  the rich more than the poor,

because all of them are the work of his hands?

Matthew 22:16

22:16 They sent to him their disciples along with the Herodians, ²⁴  saying, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful, and teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. ²⁵  You do not court anyone’s favor because you show no partiality. ²⁶ 

[24:23]  ¹ tn Heb “to recognize faces”; KJV, ASV “to have respect of persons”; NLT “to show favoritism.”

[24:23]  ² tn Heb “not good.” This is a figure known as tapeinosis – a deliberate understatement to emphasize a worst-case scenario: “it is terrible!”

[28:21]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “You shall not do injustice in judgment” (NASB similar); cf. NIV “do not pervert justice.”

[19:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “You shall not lift up faces of poor [people] and you shall not honor faces of great.”

[19:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “In righteousness you shall judge your fellow citizen.”

[1:16]  ¹⁰ tn Or “you.” A number of English versions treat the remainder of this verse and v. 17 as direct discourse rather than indirect discourse (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[1:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “brothers.” The term “brothers” could, in English, be understood to refer to siblings, so “fellow citizens” has been used in the translation.

[1:16]  ¹² tn The Hebrew word צֶדֶק (tsedeq, “fairly”) carries the basic idea of conformity to a norm of expected behavior or character, one established by God himself. Fair judgment adheres strictly to that norm or standard (see D. Reimer, NIDOTTE 3:750).

[1:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “between a man and his brother.”

[1:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “his stranger” or “his sojourner”; NAB, NIV “an alien”; NRSV “resident alien.” The Hebrew word גֵּר (ger) commonly means “foreigner.”

[1:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “you,” and throughout the verse (cf. NASB, NRSV).

[1:17]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the small,” but referring to social status, not physical stature.

[16:19]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “twist, overturn”; NRSV “subverts the cause.”

[16:19]  ¹⁸ tn Or “innocent”; NRSV “those who are in the right”; NLT “the godly.”

[13:7]  ¹⁹ tn The construction literally reads “speak iniquity.” The form functions adverbially. The noun עַוְלָה (’avlah) means “perversion; injustice; iniquity; falsehood.” Here it is parallel to רְמִיָּה (rÿmiyyah, “fraud; deceit; treachery”).

[13:7]  ²⁰ tn The expression “for God” means “in favor of God” or “on God’s behalf.” Job is amazed that they will say false things on God’s behalf.

[13:8]  ²¹ sn The idiom used here is “Will you lift up his face?” Here Job is being very sarcastic, for this expression usually means that a judge is taking a bribe. Job is accusing them of taking God’s side.

[13:8]  ²² tn The same root is used here (רִיב, riv, “dispute, contention”) as in v. 6b (see note).

[34:19]  ²³ tn The verb means “to give recognition; to take note of” and in this passage with לִפְנֵי (lifne, “before”) it means to show preferential treatment to the rich before the poor. The word for “rich” here is an unusual word, found parallel to “noble” (Isa 32:2). P. Joüon thinks it is a term of social distinction (Bib 18 [1937]: 207-8).

[22:16]  ²⁴ sn The Herodians are mentioned in the NT only once in Matt (22:16 = Mark 12:13) and twice in Mark (3:6; 12:13; some mss also read “Herodians” instead of “Herod” in Mark 8:15). It is generally assumed that as a group the Herodians were Jewish supporters of the Herodian dynasty (or of Herod Antipas in particular). In every instance they are linked with the Pharisees. This probably reflects agreement regarding political objectives (nationalism as opposed to submission to the yoke of Roman oppression) rather than philosophy or religious beliefs.

[22:16]  ²⁵ 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 of the Pharisees and Herodians was specifically designed to trap Jesus.

[22:16]  ²⁶ tn Grk “And it is not a concern to you about anyone because you do not see the face of men.”