What is meant by “judges and officers”? The Rabbis said: [It implies] that the officer should be [virtuous] like a judge, so that his deeds should be in the presence of the rod and the whip,12In his day-to-day conduct, he should imagine the rod and whip before him, and act virtuously. so that the one flogging should not himself incur liability to be flogged. Another interpretation, Rabbi Eliezer says: In a place where there is justice, there is no judge, and in a place where there is no justice, there is a judge. What is meant by this? The explanation is that Rabbi Eliezer said: If justice is performed below [on earth], justice will not have to be performed above [by divine punishment], but if justice is not performed below, justice will be performed above.