Lecture 12

^3:34^ Lamed. To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the land.

^3:35^ Lamed. To turn aside the judgment of a man before the face of the Most High.

^3:36^ Lamed. To destroy a man wrongfully in his judgment, the Lord has not known.

56. Here he takes an argument from divine justice.

And first, he excludes from it tyrannical oppression: the Lord has not known, in practice, to crush under his feet, like a tyrant, who unjustly oppresses prisoners, the afflicted. The Lord has heard the poor: and has not despised his prisoners (Ps 68:34).

Second, he denies the perversity of the judge: to turn aside, namely, from rectitude; here supply: the Lord has not known. In very deed God will not condemn without cause, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment (Job 34:12).

Third, he denies a perverse intention in the judgment, as it is among those who intend to oppress others under the mantle of justice: to destroy a man wrongfully in his judgment, that is, by a judgment, the Lord has not known. The Lord knows the ways that are on the right hand (Prov 4:27).