Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment
This is said with respect to judges and witnesses, as Aben Ezra
notes; that the one should not bear false witness in a court of
judicature to the perversion of justice, and the other should not
pronounce an unrighteous sentence, justifying the wicked and
condemning the righteous:
thou shalt not respect the person of the poor;
that is, in judgment, or in a court of judicature, when a cause
of his is brought before it; though privately his person may be
respected, and he relieved in his distress as a poor man; but in
a court of justice his person and character as a poor man are not
to be regarded; the cause is not to be given either for him or
against him on that account, without regard to the justice and
equity of it; he may be pitied in other respects but in a cause
between him and another, even a rich man, not pity, but justice,
must take place, (See Gill on Exodus
23:3):
nor honour the person of the mighty;
not fear to put him to shame and blushing, by giving the cause
against him, if he is in the wrong; his riches, his grandeur, his
honour, must not came into any account, or have any weight or
influence on the court to pervert justice: the Jewish writers,
particularly Maimonides F26 suggest that there was to be no
difference between a rich man and a poor man while their cause
was trying; that they were to be clothed either both in a rich
habit, or both in a mean one; and that their posture was to be
alike, whether sitting or standing; as well as that no favour
should be shown to one more than to another; as that one might
have liberty to speak as much and as long as he pleased, and the
other bid to be short; or the one be spoken tenderly to, and the
other harshly:
[but] in righteousness shall thou judge thy
neighbour;
be he rich or poor, doing justice to both, and showing no
partiality to either; see ( Proverbs
18:5 ) .