“Appoint judges and officials for yourselves from each of your tribes in all the towns the Lord your God is giving you. They must judge the people fairly.
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall make judges and officers in all your gates, which Yahweh your God gives you, according to your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.
- KJV 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.
- BSB You are to appoint judges and officials for your tribes in every town that the LORD your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment.
- NKJV “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates, which the Lord your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgment.
- NASB “You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your towns which the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Israel was to appoint judges and officers in every town to judge the people righteously. God's people were to have just, ordered governance.
Overview
This begins a section on civil leadership, mandating local judges and officials charged with righteous judgment. Justice was a covenant responsibility woven into the life of God's people. A society reflecting God's character must uphold fair and impartial justice, a calling fully embodied in Christ, the righteous Judge of all.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- 1 Chr 23:4David said, “Of these, twenty-four thousand were to oversee the work of Yahweh’s house, six thousand were officers and judges,
- Deut 1:15–17So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties, and captains of tens, and officers, according to your tribes.
- Deut 19:17–18then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before Yahweh, before the priests and the judges who shall be in those days;
- Deut 17:9You shall come to the priests who are Levites, and to the judge who shall be in those days. You shall inquire, and they shall give you the verdict.
- 2 Chr 19:5–11He set judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city,
- Exod 18:25–26Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
- Deut 21:2then your elders and your judges shall come out, and they shall measure to the cities which are around him who is slain.
- 1 Chr 26:29Of the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons were for the outward business over Israel, for officers and judges.
- Rom 13:1–6Let every soul be in subjection to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by God.
- Deut 17:12The man who does presumptuously, in not listening to the priest who stands to minister there before Yahweh your God, or to the judge, even that man shall die. You shall put away the evil from Israel.
- Exod 21:6then his master shall bring him to God, and shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him for ever.
- Ps 82:2–3“How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked?” Selah.
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 16:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.