Do Not Show Partiality in Judgment
Recognizing Faces — The Root of Partiality
Deut 16:19: “You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality (lo takir panim), and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous.” The phrase “takir panim” comes from nakar (to recognize) — literally to recognize the face of a person as the basis for a judicial decision. It is a comprehensive prohibition: any pre-judgment based on who the litigant is, rather than what the evidence shows, falls within its scope.
This makes commandment #547 the most general of the judicial ethics cluster. The specific prohibitions (favoring the poor in #389, favoring the great in #390, taking bribes in #392) are particular instances of lo takir panim. The general prohibition exists alongside the specific ones because bias takes forms that no specific rule can anticipate — friendship, clan loyalty, personal history, anticipated future dealings, all of these can function as “recognizing the face” in a way that distorts judgment. The Torah's general prohibition captures them all.
Deut 16:19's Three-Clause Judicial Code
The verse's structure is notable: three prohibitions in sequence. “Do not pervert justice” (lo tateh mishpat) is the general prohibition on avel — any distorted verdict. “Do not show partiality” (lo takir panim) prohibits identity-based bias. “Do not take a bribe” (lo tikach shochad) addresses the financial mechanism of corruption. Together, they form a complete judicial ethics code covering the three primary ways a judge can fail: through outcome (the verdict is wrong), through process (the judge is biased), and through mechanism (the judge is purchased).
The verse then gives its own reasoning for the bribery clause: “for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous.” This is the Torah's empirical claim: the problem with corruption is not merely that it is illegal but that it destroys the judge's capacity to perceive. Once a bribe has been taken, the judge cannot see clearly — not because they are dishonest, but because money has warped their cognition. The three clauses of Deut 16:19 are therefore arranged from most obvious (don't pervert outcomes) to most subtle (don't let money rewire your perception).
The Theology of Impartial Judgment
Deut 1:17: “For the judgment is God's.” This is the deepest foundation of judicial impartiality in the Torah. A judge who shows partiality is not merely violating a procedural rule — they are claiming that their social loyalties outrank the standard of truth that belongs to God. The human judge is a delegate, not an authority; their job is to find and execute divine truth in the particular case, not to arrange outcomes that serve their social network.
Deut 10:17 presents the divine standard: God is “the great, mighty, and awesome God, who shows no partiality (lo yissa panim) and takes no bribe.” The same phrase — lo yissa panim — is used for the divine attribute and the human prohibition. Human judges are called to image the divine character in their conduct. When a judge recognizes the face of a litigant as a factor in their verdict, they have stepped out of the imitation of God and into the imitation of every human system that protects the connected and ignores the unconnected.
- Moses — Deut 1:17: appointed judges with the explicit charge to hear “small and great alike” and not to fear any person. Moses's institutional design is the practical implementation of the lo takir panim principle.
- God — Deut 10:17: described as the one who does not show partiality and takes no bribe. The divine attribute is the standard human judges are called to imitate — the prohibition on partiality is ultimately a call to reflect the character of the divine Judge.
- The Judge — Deut 16:19: the direct addressee of all three clauses. The Torah envisions a judge who receives the case knowing that their own social loyalties, financial interests, and personal histories must be entirely suspended in favor of the truth of the matter before them.
Read the source passage in the Torah reader.
Read in the Torah Reader — Deuteronomy 16:19