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
25:1 If controversy arises between people, 5 they should go to court for judgment. When the judges 6 hear the case, they shall exonerate 7 the innocent but condemn 8 the guilty. 25:2 Then, 9 if the guilty person is sentenced to a beating, 10 the judge shall force him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of blows his wicked behavior deserves. 11
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.
2 tn Heb “You shall not do injustice in judgment” (NASB similar); cf. NIV “do not pervert justice.”
3 tn Heb “You shall not lift up faces of poor [people] and you shall not honor faces of great.”
4 tn Heb “In righteousness you shall judge your fellow citizen.”
5 tn Heb “men.”
6 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the judges) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Heb “declare to be just”; KJV, NASB “justify the righteous”; NAB, NIV “acquitting the innocent.”
8 tn Heb “declare to be evil”; NIV “condemning the guilty (+ party NAB).”
9 tn Heb “and it will be.”
10 tn Heb “if the evil one is a son of smiting.”
11 tn Heb “according to his wickedness, by number.”
13 tn Grk “judge.”
14 tn Grk “knows.”
15 tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “does it?”).