Proverbs 24:23
These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment.
These things also belong to the wise,.... Both what is said before concerning fearing God and the king; these belong to the wise and unwise, rich and poor, great and small; particularly judges and civil magistrates, and all subordinate governors, who have, or ought to have, a competency of wisdom; these ought to fear God and the king, as well as private subjects; and also what follows after, especially in this verse and Proverbs 24:24. Some render the words, "these things also are the sayings of wise men" {u}; not of Solomon, but of other wise men in his time, or who lived after him, and before the men of Hezekiah copied out the proverbs in the following chapters; see Proverbs 25:1; but it seems more than probable that what follows to the end of the chapter are the words of Solomon, as Proverbs 24:33 most clearly are, compared with Proverbs 6:10;
It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment; in trying causes in a court of judicature, no regard should be had to the persons of men by the judge on the bench, as the rich more than to the poor; or to a relation, a friend, an intimate acquaintance, more than to a stranger; but the justice of the cause ought to be attended to, and sentence given according to it, let it fall as it will: God does not accept persons, nor regard the rich more than the poor; nor should they that stand in his stead, and who in some sense represent him, Leviticus 19:15 Deuteronomy 1:17; nor should Christians in their communities act such a partial part, James 2:1.
{u} Mymkxl hla Mg "haec quoqne sapientum sunt", Tigurine version; "etiam haec sapientibus profecta sunt", Piscator; "etiam haecce sapientum", Cocceius, Schultens, so Grotius.