^{27 Tammuz 5780 | July 19, 2020}

929

Rabba Aliza Libman Baronofsky

Class of 2022

In Chapter 2, we first raised the possibility that the community’s judges were perpetuating the system of economic inequality. In today’s chapter, the prophet returns to the judicial system with a lengthy statement in verses 7-13 contrasting the evil of the judges with the power of God.

Biblical scenes of court cases are classically situated in the gates of the city (most famously in the fourth chapter of the book of Ruth.) The prophet tells us: “They hate the mochiach, rebuker in the gate.” The use of the root word for rebuke leads the commentaries to say that the prophet went to the gate to rebuke the judges for their contribution to the injustice in society. There, the prophet would have found quite a crowd of judges, litigants and other parties. These judges are not receptive to the call to change their ways.

What have these judges done? In every society, disputes arise and judges adjudicate them. In a time of increased oil and grain production, someone has to do the producing. History is full of cases where rich landowners laid out impossible conditions for their serfs. Droughts, pests and other factors could give a particular farmer a bad season – who bears the loss? If the landowner demands a specific yield, a farmer could toil endlessly without getting out of debt. The poor could bring landowners to court for a better deal – but more likely the landowner brought his serf to court to seek a legal judgement for monies not repaid. After all, farmers constantly need equipment and supplies and often have to borrow to get them.

In the second half of verse 10, the judge is said to “detest the one whose speech is unblemished.” JPS renders this “detest him whose plea is just.” In other words, though judges are empowered to use their rulings to promote justice and fairness, they unjustly side with the wealthy landowners.

Nestled between verse 10 and 12, verse 11 might initially seem to be about the wealthy officials and landowners we have discussed in previous chapters:

From the context it is clear this verse is talking about the judges castigated in the verses that precede and follow it. They have used their judicial powers to uphold the system of taxation to their own gain; as a result, they will be punished alongside the landowners when the time comes.