Verse 18. "Judges and officers shalt thou make" - JUDGES, yfp shophetim, among the Hebrews, were probably the same as our magistrates or justices of the peace. OFFICERS, yrf shoterim, seem to have been the same as our inquest sergeants, beadles, &c., whose office it was to go into the houses, shops, &c., and examine weights, measures, and the civil conduct of the people. When they found any thing amiss, they brought the person offending before the magistrate, and he was punished by the officer on the spot. They seem also to have acted as heralds in the army, chap. xx. 5. See also Rab. Maimon in Sanhedrin. In China, for all minor offenses, the person when found guilty is punished on the spot, in the presence of the magistrate or mandarin of justice.
Verse 21. "Thou shalt not plant thee a grove, &c." - We have already seen that groves were planted about idol temples for the purpose of the obscene worship performed in them. (See on "Deuteronomy xii. 3".) On this account God would have no groves or thickets about his altar, that there might be no room for suspicion that any thing contrary to the strictest purity was transacted there. Every part of the Divine worship was publicly performed, for the purpose of general edification.