Deuteronomy 25:1
in Deuteronomy 25If there is a dispute between men, they are to go to court to be judged, so that the innocent may be acquitted and the guilty condemned.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, and the judges judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.
KJV
If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 25
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Render it: (1) If there be a controversy between men, and they come to judgment, and the judges judge them, and justify the righteous and condemn the wicked (compare the marginal reference. and Exo 23:7; Pro 17:15); (2) then it shall be, etc. Deu 25:2 Scourging is named as a penalty in Lev 19:20. The beating here spoken of would be on the back with a rod or stick (compare Pro 10:13; Pro 19:29; Pro 26:3).
This site's exposition
If there be a controversy between men
on Deuteronomy 25:1-3
The court's whole work is put in one clause, justify the righteous and condemn the wicked, and Proverbs 17:15 calls the reverse of it an abomination. The beating is carried out in front of the judge and the count is capped, and the reason given for the cap is that thy brother should not seem vile unto thee, so the man under the rod is still named a brother. Later Jewish practice fixed the number at thirty-nine to stay inside the forty, which is the count Paul gives at 2 Corinthians 11:24 when he says that five times he received forty stripes save one.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
If there be a controversy between men,....
If a man were accused of a crime, and the proof fell short, so that the charge could not be made out against him by the evidence, then he was to be acquitted: " Thou shalt justify the righteous, " that is, "him that appears to the court to be so." If the accusation be proved, then the conviction of the accused is a justification of the accuser, as righteous in the prosecution.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
They shall justify the righteous - This is a very important passage, and is a key to several others. The word צדק tsadak is used here precisely in the same sense in which St. Paul sometimes uses the corresponding word δικαιοω, not to justify or make just, but to acquit, declare innocent, to remit punishment, or give reasons why such a one should not be punished; so here the magistrates הצדיקו hitsdiku, shall acquit, the righteous - declare him innocent, because he is found to be righteous and not wicked: so the Septuagint: και δικαιωσουσιν τον δικαιον they shall make righteous the righteous - declare him free from blame, not liable to punishment, acquitted; using the same word with St. Paul when he speaks of a sinner’s justification, i. e., his acquittance from blame and punishment, because of the death of Christ in his stead.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
According to the tradition of our Rabbis that stripes are administered to those who are guilty of having violated negative commandments. Makkoth 13b. [and not in civil cases, the question arises] what is its [the stripes’] connection with a quarrel between two people?
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יִהְיֶ֥ה | yihyeh | it will happen | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| רִיב֙ | riv | a dispute | H7379 → | 61 times |
| בֵּ֣ין | bein | between | H996 → | 407 times |
| אֲנָשִׁ֔ים | ʾanashim | people | H582 → | 566 times |
| וְנִגְּשׁ֥וּ | venigeshu | and they will draw near | H5066 → | 125 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַמִּשְׁפָּ֖ט | hamishpat | the place of judgment | H4941 → | 422 times |
| וּשְׁפָט֑וּם | ushefatum | and they will judge them | H8199 → | 202 times |
| וְהִצְדִּ֙יקוּ֙ | vehitzdiku | and they will declare righteous | H6663 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַצַּדִּ֔יק | hatzadik | the righteous [one] | H6662 → | 206 times |
| וְהִרְשִׁ֖יעוּ | vehirshiu | and they will condemn as guilty | H7561 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָרָשָֽׁע׃ | harasha' | the guilty [one] | H7563 → |
כִּֽי־if
ki-H3588 →4482 times
יִהְיֶ֥הit will happen
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
רִיב֙a dispute
rivH7379 →61 times
בֵּ֣יןbetween
beinH996 →407 times
אֲנָשִׁ֔יםpeople
ʾanashimH582 →566 times
וְנִגְּשׁ֥וּand they will draw near
venigeshuH5066 →125 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַמִּשְׁפָּ֖טthe place of judgment
hamishpatH4941 →422 times
וּשְׁפָט֑וּםand they will judge them
ushefatumH8199 →202 times
וְהִצְדִּ֙יקוּ֙and they will declare righteous
vehitzdikuH6663 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַצַּדִּ֔יקthe righteous [one]
hatzadikH6662 →206 times
וְהִרְשִׁ֖יעוּand they will condemn as guilty
vehirshiuH7561 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָרָשָֽׁע׃the guilty [one]
harasha'H7563 →
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
Isaiah 1:17Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 1:23
Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Micah 6:8
He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
- Jeremiah 22:3
This is what the LORD says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.…
- Psalms 82:3–4
Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; uphold the rights of the afflicted and oppressed.
- Proverbs 31:9
Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the cause of the poor and needy.
- Isaiah 1:23
Through
Proverbs 17:15Acquitting the guilty and condemning the righteous—both are detestable to the LORD.
it leads to
- Exodus 23:7
Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty.
- Proverbs 18:5
Showing partiality to the wicked is not good, nor is depriving the innocent of justice.
- Isaiah 5:23
who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice.
- Exodus 23:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
On this chapter
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.