Deuteronomy 1:16

16 At 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.

Deuteronomy 1:16 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 1:16

And I charged your judges at that time
When they were appointed and constituted, even the heads and rulers before spoken of; this charge is also new, and not recorded before:

saying, hear the causes between your brethren;
hear both sides, and all that each of them have to say; not suffer one to say all he has to say, and oblige the other to cut his words short, as the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it; but give them leave and time to tell their case, and give the best evidence they can of it:

and judge righteously;
impartially, just as the case really appears to be, and according to the evidence given:

between every man and his brother;
between an Israelite and an Israelite:

and the stranger that is with him;
between an Israelite and proselyte, whether a proselyte of the gate, or of righteousness; the same justice was to be done to them as to an Israelite.

Deuteronomy 1:16 In-Context

14 And you answered me and said, “What you propose to do is good.”

15 So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and respected men, and appointed them as leaders over you—as commanders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens, and as officers for your tribes.

16 At 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.

17 Show no partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone, for judgment belongs to God. And bring to me any case too difficult for you, and I will hear it.”

18 And at that time I commanded you all the things you were to do.