(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 25:1–4, “If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked. And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number. Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee. Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.”
People can only see problems from their own point of view. When people have a different point of view it can become impossible for them to agree. In order to prevent a simple disagreement from escalating there were judges, at different levels with different responsibilities, who would look at the issue without any personal prejudice and decide what the outcome should be. Judges had to have integrity and not be persuaded by bribes or some other kind of inducement or the entire system would self destruct. After a judgment had been made, from time to time, a punishment needed to be administered to the person who was in the wrong. However, justice executed should not lead to degradation. No one, in a position of authority ,should be so filled with anger, bitterness of hatred that they want be see a person completely broken. For this reason, punishments were limited to a reasonable extent. A person who has been given a position of authority can, sometimes, become corrupted by the authority and even enjoy the process of punishing others. A person like that loses their respect for mankind and becomes like a beast. The fact that the instruction concerning muzzling an ox that is treading out the corn is repeated here shows us that a person who is put in a position of authority should be paid for their work and not expected to live in poverty.
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