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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Deuteronomy 16:18 - 16:22
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Precepts of Right Judgment
v. 18. Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, in all cities and towns, which the Lord, thy God, giveth thee, throughout thy tribes, Deu_1:12-18. So the judges were to have assistants, not only for clerical work, but also as counselors and as keepers of the genealogical records; and they shall judge the people with just judgment, with a strict regard for righteousness and justice.
v. 19. Thou shalt not wrest judgment, stretch the right, turn it aside from the right path, Exo_23:2-6; Exodus 8. Thou shalt not respect persons, either out of deference to a powerful person or out of sympathy with a needy man, neither take a gift, a bribe; for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise and pervert the words of the righteous, corrupt the good cases of those that are in the right.
v. 20. That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, pursuing justice, and justice only, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the Lord, thy God, giveth thee. Some bad transgressions that might come to the attention of the authorities are now named.
v. 21. Thou shalt not plant thee a grove, erect a wooden pillar which was used in the worship of Asherah, a heathen goddess, of any trees near unto the altar of the Lord, thy God, which thou shalt make thee.
v. 22. Neither shalt thou set thee up any image, statue or pillar, such as were erected in honor of Baal, Exo_23:33; which the Lord, thy God, hateth. The constant repetition of the same precept serves the same purpose as our daily examination for the purpose of cleansing our lives and of growing in sanctification.