(the tradition) from them. Joshua, the son of Perachyah, said,
"Provide thyself with a teacher, and possess thyself of a companion
(19); and judge every man in the scale of merit."

(19) A fellow-student.

7. Nittai, the Arbelite, said, "Keep aloof from a bad neighbor (20);
associate not with the wicked, and abandon not the belief in
retribution" (21).

(20) Cf. chapter II, 14.

(21) This may mean either that one must not imagine that
punishment for evil deeds will not befall him, or when
punishment has been meted out, one must not despair of the
good.

8. Judah, the son of Tabbi, and Simeon, the son of Shatach (22),
received (the tradition) from them. Judah, the son of Tabbi, said,
"(In the judge's office) act not the counsel's part (23); while the
litigants are standing before thee, let them be regarded by thee as
guilty, but when they are departed from thy presence, regard them as
innocent, the verdict having been acquiesced in by them."

(22) Lived about 104-69 B.C.E. He was a leader of the
Pharisees at the time of Alexander Jannaeus.

(23) A judge should be strictly impartial.

9. Simeon, the son of Shatach, said, "Be very searching in the