Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch: A Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship (The IVP Bible Dictionary Series) by

Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Published: 2010-06-11T04:00:00+00:00

JUDGE

The pentateuchal concept of “judge” bears both similarities to and differences from the modern notion of a legal official. On the one hand, a number of pentateuchal legal texts authorized the establishment and regulated the behavior of a select body of individuals who were to preside over a variety of civil and criminal proceedings in ancient Israel. On the other hand, the language and theology of judging was not limited to this narrow legal realm. For example, the Pentateuch reflects the common ancient Near Eastern practice of closely associating the roles of judge and ruler. Moreover, the biblical text clearly presents God as the judge par excellence from whom all other judges—whether the head of a household or the legal arbiter of the entire people—derived their authority.

1. Judging as an Action

2. Judges as Agents

3. Conclusion

1. Judging as an Action.

Judging as an action is expressed in the Pentateuch by means of two roots, špṭ and dyn. The root špṭ appears sixteen times, only in the Qal stem (Gen 16:5; 19:9 [twice]; 31:53; Ex 5:21; 18:13, 16, 22 [twice], 26 [twice]; Lev 19:15; Num 35:24; Deut 1:16; 16:18; 25:1; on the Qal participle of špṭ, see below). The subject of this root in the pentateuchal passages listed above is either divine (Yahweh [Gen 16:5; Ex 5:21]; “God or gods” [ʾĕlōhîm, Gen 31:53]) or human (Lot [Gen 19:9]; trustworthy people [ʾanšê ʾĕmet] appointed by Moses [Ex 18:21-22, 26]; a court [mišpāṭ, Deut 25:1]; an assembly called to make decisions in civil cases [ʿēdâ, Num 35:24; šōpĕṭîm, Deut 1:16]; officials or scribes [šōṭĕrîm, Deut 16:18]). Judging typically takes place between individuals, such as “brothers” (ʾaḥîm, Deut 1:16), a “brother” and a “stranger” (gēr) or fellow citizens (ʿāmît, Lev 19:15).

The root dyn occurs four times, also only in Qal. Genesis 15:14 states that Yahweh will “judge” the nation that will enslave his people, while Genesis 30:6 reports that God “made justice” to Rachel by listening to her prayer and providing her with a son named Dan. In Genesis 49:16, the root dyn appears with the meaning “to govern,” as the writer makes a play on words: “Dan [dān] will govern [yādîn] (his people).” Finally, Deuteronomy 32:36 states that Yahweh will “plead the cause” [yādîn paralleled by nḥm, “to have compassion”] of his people. The noun dayyān (“judge”) is not found in the Pentateuch. (It shows up only in two places in the entire OT: 1 Sam 24:15 [MT 24:16]; Ps 68:5 [MT 68:6].) In the case of the root dyn, the subject is Yahweh, God or an individual (e.g., Dan), while the object is either peoples (e.g., Israelites, Egyptians) or individuals. The roots špṭ and dyn, though used in parallel, are not necessarily synonymous in meaning (cf. Mafico, 3.1104).

As for the meaning of špṭ, the general view is that the two notions of governing and judging constitute the makeup of this root, whose origin is West Semitic (cf. the Ugaritic title tpṭ, “ruler, judge”; Phoenician špṭ, “to rule”; South Arabian [Qatabanic] tpṭ, “to decide, order”;

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.