Holly Bible - KJV with Concise Commentaries by Z Selam - HTML preview
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15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment; thou shalt not respect
the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor.
Judges and all in authority are here commanded to give verdict and judgment without partiality (Le 19:15); whether they were constituted judges by commission or made so in a particular case by the consent of both parties, as referees or arbitrators, they must do no wrong to either side, but, to the utmost of their skill, must go according to the rules of equity, having respect purely to the merits of the cause, and not to the characters of the person. Justice must never be perverted, either,
1. In pity to the poor: Thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, Ex 23:3. Whatever may be given to a poor man as an alms, yet let nothing be awarded him as his right but what he is legally entitled to, nor let his poverty excuse him from any just punishment for a fault. Or,
2. In veneration or fear of the mighty, in whose favour judges would be most frequently biased. The Jews say, "Judges were obliged by this law to be so impartial as not to let one of the contending parties sit while the other stood, nor permit one to say what he pleased and bid the other be short; see Jam 2:1-4.
16 Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people;
neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor: I am the Lord.
We are all forbidden to do any thing injurious to our neighbour's good name (Le 19:16), either,
1. In common conversation: Thou shalt not go up and down as a tale-bearer. It is as bad an office as a man can put himself into to be the publisher of every man's faults, divulging what was secret, aggravating crimes, and making the worst of every thing that was amiss, with design to blast and ruin