Deuteronomy 1:16
in Deuteronomy 1At that time I charged your judges: “Hear the disputes between your brothers, and judge fairly between a man and his brother or a foreign resident.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the sojourner that is with him.
KJV
And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.
⋯
This verse in Deuteronomy 1
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThou shalt not long for division, but shalt bring those who contend to peace. Thou shalt judge righteously, thou shalt not respect persons in reproving for transgressions. Thou shalt not be undecided whether it shall be or no.
This site's exposition
And I charged your judges at that time
on Deuteronomy 1:16-18
The charge has four parts: hear the causes, judge righteously, cover the stranger as well as the brother, and hear the small as well as the great. The ground given is that the judgment is God's, so the bench is held on loan, and Jehoshaphat repeats the same reasoning to his own judges at 2 Chronicles 19:6. Clarke notes that the Hebrew behind respect persons is literally to know faces, so both halves of verse 17 turn on the same figure, the face of the great man and the face of the poor one.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
You are God's vicegerents, you act for him, and therefore must act like him; you are his representatives, but if you judge unrighteously, you misrepresent him. The judgment is his, and therefore he will protect you in doing right, and will certainly call you to account if you do wrong." 3.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
And I charged your judges at that time,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
A reference is here made to the suggestion of Jethro (Ex 18:18). In noticing his practical adoption of a plan by which the administration of justice was committed to a select number of subordinate officers, Moses, by a beautiful allusion to the patriarchal blessing, ascribed the necessity of that memorable change in the government to the vast increase of the population.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָאֲצַוֶּה֙ | vaatzaveh | and I commanded | H6680 → | 494 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שֹׁ֣פְטֵיכֶ֔ם | shofeteikhem | judges your | H8199 → | 202 times |
| בָּעֵ֥ת | baet | at the time | H6256 → | 296 times |
| הַהִ֖וא | hahiv' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| לֵאמֹ֑ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| שָׁמֹ֤עַ | shamoa' | hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| בֵּין־ | bein- | between | H996 → | 407 times |
| אֲחֵיכֶם֙ | ʾacheikhem | countrymen your | H251 → | 630 times |
| וּשְׁפַטְתֶּ֣ם | ushefatem | and you will judge | H8199 → | 202 times |
| צֶ֔דֶק | tzedek | righteousness | H6664 → | 119 times |
| בֵּֽין־ | bein- | between | H996 → | 407 times |
| אִ֥ישׁ | ʾish | anyone | H376 → | 1663 times |
| וּבֵין־ | uvein- | and between | H996 → | 407 times |
| אָחִ֖יו | ʾachiv | countryman his | H251 → | 630 times |
| וּבֵ֥ין | uvein | and between | H996 → | 407 times |
| גֵּרֽוֹ׃ | gero | sojourner his | H1616 → | 92 times |
וָאֲצַוֶּה֙and I commanded
vaatzavehH6680 →494 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שֹׁ֣פְטֵיכֶ֔םjudges your
shofeteikhemH8199 →202 times
בָּעֵ֥תat the time
baetH6256 →296 times
הַהִ֖וא<the> that
hahiv'H1931 →1879 times
לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
שָׁמֹ֤עַhear
shamoa'H8085 →1159 times
בֵּין־between
bein-H996 →407 times
אֲחֵיכֶם֙countrymen your
ʾacheikhemH251 →630 times
וּשְׁפַטְתֶּ֣םand you will judge
ushefatemH8199 →202 times
צֶ֔דֶקrighteousness
tzedekH6664 →119 times
בֵּֽין־between
bein-H996 →407 times
אִ֥ישׁanyone
ʾishH376 →1663 times
וּבֵין־and between
uvein-H996 →407 times
אָחִ֖יוcountryman his
ʾachivH251 →630 times
וּבֵ֥יןand between
uveinH996 →407 times
גֵּרֽוֹ׃sojourner his
geroH1616 →92 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
John 7:24Stop judging by outward appearances, and start judging justly.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 11:3–4
And He will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what His eyes see, and He will not decide by what His ears hear,
- James 2:9
But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
- Proverbs 17:15
Acquitting the guilty and condemning the righteous—both are detestable to the LORD.
- John 8:15
You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.
- Proverbs 24:23
These also are sayings of the wise: To show partiality in judgment is not good.
- Isaiah 11:3–4
Through
1 Timothy 5:21I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels to maintain these principles without bias, and to do nothing out of partiality.
it leads to
- 2 Timothy 4:1
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom:
- 2 Peter 2:4
For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;
- 1 Timothy 6:13
I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who made the good confession in His testimony before Pontius Pilate:
- 2 Timothy 4:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Deuteronomy

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Didache, The Didache, Chapter 4; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
