SUBJECT · Complete Bible Study
A public civil officer invested with authority. The Hebrew shophetim, or judges, were magistrates having authority in the land (Deut. This unified study connects 6 installed resource categories without replacing their source records.
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Study overview
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
magistrate, judge
A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament
judge
Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon
magistrate.
Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon
beginning, corner, (at the, the) first (estate), magistrate, power, principality, principle, rule
Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon
chief (ruler), magistrate, prince, ruler
Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon
captain, magistrate
Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon
[phrase] avenge, [idiom] that condemn, contend, defend, execute (judgment), (be a) judge(-ment), [idiom] needs, plead, reason, rule.
Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897)
Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897) · View data sources
Strong's Concordance
Indexed occurrences: 1
Source: Strong's Concordance · View data sources
Strong's Concordance
Indexed occurrences: 8
Source: Strong's Concordance · View data sources
Nave's Topical Bible
Indexed references: 5
Source: Nave's Topical Bible · View data sources
Topic
Nave’s Topical Bible references for MAGISTRATE.
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In Rom. 13:2, means "condemnation," which comes on those who withstand God's ordinance of magistracy. This sentence of condemnation comes not from the magistrate, but from God, whose authority is thus resisted. In 1 Cor. 11:29 (R.V., "judgment") this word means condemnation, in the sense of exposure to severe temporal judgements from God, as the following verse explains. In Rom. 14:23 the word "damned" means "condemned" by one's own conscience, as well as by the Word of God. The apostle shows here that many things which are lawful are not expedient; and that in using our Christian liberty the question should not simply be, Is this course I follow lawful? but also, Can I follow it without doing injury to the spiritual interests of a brother in Christ? He that "doubteth", i.e., is not clear in his conscience as to "meats", will violate his conscience "if he eat," and in eating is condemned; and thus one ought not so to use his liberty as to lead one who is "weak" to bring upon himself this condemnation.
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(Heb. shophet, pl. shophetim), properly a magistrate or ruler, rather than one who judges in the sense of trying a cause. This is the name given to those rulers who presided over the affairs of the Israelites during the interval between the death of Joshua and the accession of Saul (Judg. 2:18), a period of general anarchy and confusion. "The office of judges or regents was held during life, but it was not hereditary, neither could they appoint their successors. Their authority was limited by the law alone, and in doubtful cases they were directed to consult the divine King through the priest by Urim and Thummim (Num. 27:21). Their authority extended only over those tribes by whom they had been elected or acknowledged. There was no income attached to their office, and they bore no external marks of dignity. The only cases of direct divine appointment are those of Gideon and Samson, and the latter stood in the peculiar position of having been from before his birth ordained to begin to deliver Israel.' Deborah was called to deliver Israel, but was already a judge. Samuel was called by the Lord to be a prophet but not a judge, which ensued from the high gifts the people recognized as dwelling in him; and as to Eli, the office of judge seems to have devolved naturally or rather ex officio upon him." Of five of the judges, Tola (Judg. 10:1), Jair (3), Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon (12:8-15), we have no record at all beyond the bare fact that they were judges. Sacred history is not the history of individuals but of the kingdom of God in its onward progress. In Ex. 2:14 Moses is so styled. This fact may indicate that while for revenue purposes the "taskmasters" were over the people, they were yet, just as at a later time when under the Romans, governed by their own rulers.
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(Matt. 27:19), a portable tribunal (Gr. bema) which was placed according as the magistrate might direct, and from which judgment was pronounced. In this case it was placed on a tesselated pavement, probably in front of the procurator's residence. (See [328]GABBATHA.)
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A public civil officer invested with authority. The Hebrew shophetim, or judges, were magistrates having authority in the land (Deut. 1:16, 17). In Judg. 18:7 the word "magistrate" (A.V.) is rendered in the Revised Version "possessing authority", i.e., having power to do them harm by invasion. In the time of Ezra (9:2) and Nehemiah (2:16; 4:14; 13:11) the Jewish magistrates were called seganim, properly meaning "nobles." In the New Testament the Greek word archon, rendered "magistrate" (Luke 12:58; Titus 3:1), means one first in power, and hence a prince, as in Matt. 20:25, 1 Cor. 2:6, 8. This term is used of the Messiah, "Prince of the kings of the earth" (Rev. 1:5). In Acts 16:20, 22, 35, 36, 38, the Greek term strategos, rendered "magistrate," properly signifies the leader of an army, a general, one having military authority. The strategoi were the duumviri, the two praetors appointed to preside over the administration of justice in the colonies of the Romans. They were attended by the sergeants (properly lictors or "rod bearers").
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Acts 16:35, 38 (R.V., "lictors"), officers who attended the magistrates and assisted them in the execution of justice.
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