25:1 If controversy arises between people, 3 they should go to court for judgment. When the judges 4 hear the case, they shall exonerate 5 the innocent but condemn 6 the guilty.
1 tn Heb “innocent blood must not be shed.” The Hebrew phrase דָּם נָקִי (dam naqiy) means the blood of a person to whom no culpability or responsibility adheres because what he did was without malice aforethought (HALOT 224 s.v דָּם 4.b).
2 tn Heb “and blood will be upon you” (cf. KJV, ASV); NRSV “thereby bringing bloodguilt upon you.”
3 tn Heb “men.”
4 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the judges) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Heb “declare to be just”; KJV, NASB “justify the righteous”; NAB, NIV “acquitting the innocent.”
6 tn Heb “declare to be evil”; NIV “condemning the guilty (+ party NAB).”