International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Magistrate

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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Magistrate


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maj´is-trāt (שׁפט, shephaṭ, corresponding to שפט, shāphaṭ, “to judge,” “to pronounce sentence” ()): Among the ancients, the terms corresponding to our “magistrate” had a much wider signification. “Magistrates and judges” (ודיּנים שׂפטים, shōpheṭı̄m we-dhayyānı̄m) should be translated “judges and rulers” (). סגנים, ṣeghānı̄m “rulers” or “nobles,” were Babylonian magistrates or prefects of provinces (, , ; ). In the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, the Jewish magistrates bore the same title (; ; ; ). The Greek ἄρχων, árchōn, “magistrate” (; the King James Version), signifies the chief in power (, ) and “ruler” (; ).

The Messiah is designated as the “prince (archōn) of the kings of the earth” ( the King James Version), and by the same term Moses is designated the judge and leader of the Hebrews (, ). The wide application of this term is manifest from the fact that it is used of magistrates of any kind, e.g. the high priest (); civil judges (; ); ruler of the synagogue (; , ; ); persons of standing and authority among the Pharisees and other sects that appear in the Sanhedrin (; ; ). The term also designates Satan, the prince or chief of the fallen angels (; ).

In the New Testament we also find στρατηγός, stratégōs, employed to designate the Roman praetors or magistrates of Philippi, a Roman colony (, , , , ). A collective term for those clothed with power (Eng. “the powers”), ἐξουσίαι, exousı́ai, is found in the King James Version; , ; . The “higher powers” () are all those who are placed in positions of civil authority from the emperor down.

In early Hebrew history, the magisterial office was limited to the hereditary chiefs, but Moses made the judicial office elective. In his time the “heads of families” were 59 in number, and these, together with the 12 princes of the tribes, composed the Sanhedrin or Council of 71. Some of the scribes were entrusted with the business of keeping the genealogies and in this capacity were also regarded as magistrates.