25:1 If controversy arises between people, 1 they should go to court for judgment. When the judges 2 hear the case, they shall exonerate 3 the innocent but condemn 4 the guilty. 25:2 Then, 5 if the guilty person is sentenced to a beating, 6 the judge shall force him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of blows his wicked behavior deserves. 7 25:3 The judge 8 may sentence him to forty blows, 9 but no more. If he is struck with more than these, you might view your fellow Israelite 10 with contempt.
25:4 You must not muzzle your 11 ox when it is treading grain.
1 tn Heb “men.”
2 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the judges) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “declare to be just”; KJV, NASB “justify the righteous”; NAB, NIV “acquitting the innocent.”
4 tn Heb “declare to be evil”; NIV “condemning the guilty (+ party NAB).”
5 tn Heb “and it will be.”
6 tn Heb “if the evil one is a son of smiting.”
7 tn Heb “according to his wickedness, by number.”
8 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the judge) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Heb “Forty blows he may strike him”; however, since the judge is to witness the punishment (v. 2) it is unlikely the judge himself administered it.
10 tn Heb “your brothers” but not limited only to an actual sibling; cf. NAB) “your kinsman”; NRSV, NLT “your neighbor.”
11 tn Heb “an.” By implication this is one’s own animal.