Deuteronomy 25:1

1 “If there is a ¹dispute between men and they come into court and the judges decide between them, ²acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty,

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 and they come into court and the judges decide between them, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty,

2 then if the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with a number of stripes in proportion to his offense.

3 Forty stripes may be given him, but not more, lest, if one should go on to beat him with more stripes than these, your brother be degraded in your sight.

4 “You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain.

5 “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her.

Cross References

• 1. 25:1 ch. 19:17
• 2. 25:1 [1 Kgs. 8:32; Prov. 17:15]