Commentary for Deuteronomy 1:17
לֹֽא־תַכִּ֨ירוּ פָנִ֜ים בַּמִּשְׁפָּ֗ט כַּקָּטֹ֤ן כַּגָּדֹל֙ תִּשְׁמָע֔וּן לֹ֤א תָג֙וּרוּ֙ מִפְּנֵי־אִ֔ישׁ כִּ֥י הַמִּשְׁפָּ֖ט לֵאלֹהִ֣ים ה֑וּא וְהַדָּבָר֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִקְשֶׁ֣ה מִכֶּ֔ם תַּקְרִב֥וּן אֵלַ֖י וּשְׁמַעְתִּֽיו׃
Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; ye shall hear the small and the great alike; ye shall not be afraid of the face of any man; for the judgment is God’s; and the cause that is too hard for you ye shall bring unto me, and I will hear it.’
Rashi on Deuteronomy
לא תכירו פנים במשפט YE SHALL NOT RESPECT PERSONS IN JUDGMENT — This is addressed to him whose office it is to appoint judges — that he should not say, Mr. So-and-so is a fine or a strong man, I will make him a judge; Mr. So-and-so is my relative, I will make him a judge in the city, — while in reality he is not expert in the laws, and consequently he will condemn the innocent and acquit the guilty — I will account it unto him who appointed him as though he had shown favor in judgment (Sifrei Devarim 17:1).
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Ramban on Deuteronomy
FOR THE JUDGMENT IS G-D’S. The meaning thereof is as expressed in the verse, for ye judge not for man, but for the Eternal; and He is with you in giving judgment,89II Chronicles 19:6. These were the words of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, to the newly appointed judges. meaning to say: “It is for G-d to execute justice between His creatures for He created them with the intention that there be fairness and justice among them, and to deliver him that is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor,90Jeremiah 22:3. and He designated you [the judges] in His stead. And if you will be afraid and act corruptly ye have sinned against the Eternal91Numbers 32:23. and you will have betrayed His mission.”
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Tur HaArokh
כי המשפט לאלוקים הוא, “for the judgment is G’d’s.” Nachmanides writes that it is one of G’d’s tasks to see to it that His creatures practice justice among themselves. He has created man so that he practices fairness, etc., and the judges on earth are performing their task as G’d’s delegates when they save the oppressed from his oppressor, etc. If they (the judges) were to display fear of any man they would at the same time commit a serious breach of the trust placed in them by G’d.
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