Deuteronomy 16:18
Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.
Study Note
Study Note
'Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment' — the command to establish local judicial infrastructure in every city reflects the decentralized justice model of the Mosaic covenant, where access to legal redress is a covenant obligation rather than a privilege of proximity to a central administrative capital. The qualification 'just judgment' is defined in verse 19 as freedom from bribery and partiality — precisely the corruptions that Amos, Isaiah, and Micah denounce in their respective eras. The theological grounding of justice in divine gift ('which the Lord thy God giveth thee') makes judicial integrity an expression of covenant gratitude rather than mere civic virtue.
Other Translations
Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, according to thy tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.
`Judges and authorities thou dost make to thee within all thy gates which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee, for thy tribes; and they have judged the people--a righteous judgment.
You are to make judges and overseers in all your towns which the Lord your God gives you, for every tribe: and they are to be upright men, judging the people in righteousness.
Cross References
And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers …
And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they …
Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the …
So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over …
Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall …
And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and …
And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before …
Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges, …
And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely …
Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about …