Deuteronomy 25:1

Fairness and Mercy

1 If 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.

Deuteronomy 25:1 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 25:1

If there be a controversy between men
Between two or more:

and they come unto judgment;
into a court of judicature, bring their cause thither:

that [the judges] may judge them;
who were never less than three; the great sanhedrim at Jerusalem consisted of seventy one, the lesser court was of twenty three, and the least of all three only:

then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked:
acquit the one, whose cause is good, and condemn the other to punishment, who is guilty of a crime, and as that deserves; which is to do righteous judgment; the contrary to this is an abomination to the Lord, ( Proverbs 17:15 ) .

Deuteronomy 25:1 In-Context

1 If 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.

2 If the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall have him lie down and be flogged in his presence with the number of lashes his crime warrants.

3 He may receive no more than forty lashes, lest your brother be beaten any more than that and be degraded in your sight.

4 Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.

5 When brothers dwell together and one of them dies without a son, the widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother is to take her as his wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law for her.