Deuteronomy 1:16-17

Ver. 16, 17. I charged your judges, &c.— It was ordered by Solon, that all the Athenian judges should take this oath, "I will hear the plaintiff and defendant both alike." The Jews understand the words in the 16th verse as enjoining, that a judge was not to hear any man when the adversary was absent; but both parties were to be there present. Respecting the stranger, see Leviticus 24:22 and against partiality in judgment, Leviticus 19:15. Plutarch tells us, in his treatise of Isis and Osiris, that at Thebes were placed the statues of their judges, without hands, with their chief or president at their head, having his eyes turned downward; signifying thereby, that justice ought neither to be accessible to bribes, nor guided by favour or affection. See Isaiah 11:3. For the judgment is God's, means, that as they were God's ministers, and acted by his authority, therefore they ought to give judgment with perfect equity, resolution, and impartiality, always remembering that they were the representatives of the Almighty, and accountable to him. The expression denotes, that their integrity ought to be in some sort incorruptible, like that of God himself, in whose place they acted; and provided they behaved with courage and uprightness, they might be assured that God would protect them in the discharge of their duty. See 2 Chronicles 19:6 Spencer de Leg. Heb. lib. i. c. 4. See also Callim. Hymn. ad Jov. ver. 81. translation, ver. 128.