A legal and judicial term for reaching a verdict before hearing the case—prejudice in its literal sense of 'judging beforehand.' Classical usage included both prejudgment and its Latin equivalent praejudicium. Paul's charge to Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:21 is to keep his instructions without prejudice—without deciding cases before examining evidence, without favoritism that judges based on status rather than facts. It warns against the partiality that predetermines outcomes regardless of truth.