Exodus 23:6 Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause. 7 Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.
But if he was to rule in his neighbor’s favor, then he would have to deliberately twist the arm of justice, and in doing so he would deny the injured man his rights. What is he supposed to do, according to the Bible? To find out what the judge is supposed to do we will have to revisit our introductory passage, because it speaks about the dangers of judges taking any gift in the first place.
Quid pro quo is, according to Oxford dictionary: a favor or advantage granted or expected in return for something. Now even though the judge and the mechanic may not have had any ulterior motives at the beginning of their relationship, the Scripture says that judges should not accept favors and gifts from the citizenry because there would always be that potential for a conflict of interest, which could easily morph into a Quid pro quo.
In other words, in order to judge impartially, judges must not have the burden of favors or gifts hanging over their consciences, because the natural, human thing to do will be to return the favor, since in most cases, the plaintiff or defendant who has favorable ties to the judge, will be expecting leniency. In fact, according to the scripture, in the capacity as judge, there are certain things he or she just cannot do, that an ordinary citizen can.
Exodus 23:8 And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blinds the wise, and perverts the words of the righteous.
May God add His blessing to the study of His word. “Good night” and God bless!