“He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous”: This saying concerns the misconduct of judges. According to Deut 25.1 a judge is responsible to acquit or free the innocent person and to condemn the guilty person. In this saying the process is reversed. To “justify” someone means to declare that person innocent, to find the person charged with a wrong as not being guilty of the charge. But here it is “the wicked”, that is, the evil or guilty person who is declared innocent. For “condemns” see 12.2. “The righteous” refers to a good, honest, honorable person or someone who is “not guilty,” that is, “innocent.”

“Are both alike an abomination to the Lord“: For “abomination to the Lord” see 3.32. In some languages it may be more natural to reverse the two lines and say, as in Bible en français courant, “The Lord hates as much the person who declares the innocent guilty as he does one who condemns the innocent.” We may also say, for example, “The person who removes the guilt from the guilty person and the person who judges the innocent to be guilty are both hated by the Lord.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .