And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears.
Ibn Ezra
והריחו And his enquiry. The ear is sometimes deceived in hearing sounds, which are only imaginary; the eye, too, sees things in motion, which in reality are at rest; the sense of smell alone is not deceived. He will properly investigate the question before him by his piety; he will not judge according to what he seems to see or to hear, because the testimony of the witnesses might be false. The rebuking and judging mentioned in this verse are privileges of royalty.
Hebrew and Aramaic words are the commentator’s citations of the sacred text; the English translation that follows each is the translator’s.
Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.