As in the other sections of Deuteronomy here too Moses' emphasis was on underlying principles more than on procedures. Here he stressed the principle of justice.
16:18-20 Probably the people chose the judges, and the leaders of the nation appointed them (cf. 1:13). "Judges"were individuals responsible for administering justice, and "officers"were administrators charged with the enforcement of law, perhaps similar to modern police officers.187The number of these in each town probably varied according to the needs of each community.
". . . in order to give the people and the judges appointed by them a brief practical admonition, as to the things they were more especially to observe in their administration of justice, Moses notices by way of example a few crimes that were deserving of punishment (vers. 21, 22, and chap. xvii. 1), and then proceeds in chap. xvii. 2-7 to describe more fully the judicial proceedings in the case of idolaters."188
"For most of us today, the notion that it is always and everywhere wrong for a judge to take a gift from a litigant probably seems so obvious as to be virtually self-evident. Nevertheless, the fact remains that that idea has historically been far from apparent to a large part of humankind. In the ancient Near East, for instance, almost every society regarded the practice of judges taking gifts from litigants as being perfectly moral and absolutely legitimate . . .
". . . a gift-giver placed upon a recipient a binding moral obligation to respond in kind . . .
"Importantly, such reciprocity is notconsidered morally reprehensible. Indeed the failure of either judge or litigant to reciprocate is what is deemed immoraland unjust . . ."189
In this respect then Israel was to be different from other nations.
". . . in Israel, as in much of the ancient world, the human judge was considered proxy for the divine judge. For instance, . . . in II Chronicles 19:6-7 . . ."190
"Deuteronomy is passionately concerned about justice(Hebrew tsedeq, mishpat): Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue' (16:20, which makes this a condition of living and prospering in the land). This follows from the doctrine of Israel as a community of brothers' equal before God."191
16:21-22 An asherah (v. 21) was perhaps a sacred tree or group of trees or more probably a wooden pole that the Canaanites used in the worship of their female fertility goddess, Asherah. Asherah was evidently both the name of a Canaanite goddess as well as a cult object used in her worship. The pagans usually made their sacred pillars (v. 22) of stone or wood and used them in the worship of Baal, the male Canaanite god of fertility, and Asherah.
"In Canaan the asherah(trees,' pillars,' or groves') were associated with oracular verdicts by their gods and goddesses."192
The judges were not to tolerate the planting (v. 21) of these trees or poles that were so common in Canaan that the people regarded them as a prominent part of the native culture.
Judges customarily dispensed justice in the open space near the main gate of the towns. This area was the main congregating place of the community (cf. Ruth 4:1-12).
17:1-7 God specified the method of execution as stoning for idolaters as well as other capital offenders. At least two and preferably three witnesses had to be willing to take the lead in stoning the convicted offender (vv. 6-7). These requirements were safeguards against injustice and perjury.
"The evidencemust be adequate and credible; and anyone ready to make a serious accusation must be prepared to be executioner as well as witness."193
17:8-13 Verses 2-7 explain a specific example of how the judges were to deal with a particular type of case. In these verses we have the legal procedure they were to follow in general.
When the priests would set up the tabernacle in the land the nation was to establish a supreme court to provide judgment in cases too difficult for the local judges. The location of this legal center may have been at the tabernacle194, or it may have been at some other place.195At least two men would decide the case: a judge and a priest. The priest's function was to clarify how the law of God related to the case. The decision of this court was final, and the people were to regard it as the will of God. People who rejected the decisions of this court were to die because to do so was to rebel against the will of God (v. 12).
