Reference: Appeal
Easton
a reference of any case from an inferior to a superior court. Moses established in the wilderness a series of judicatories such that appeals could be made from a lower to a higher (Ex 18:13-26.)
Under the Roman law the most remarkable case of appeal is that of Paul from the tribunal of Festus at Caesarea to that of the emperor at Rome (Ac 25:11-12,21,25). Paul availed himself of the privilege of a Roman citizen in this matter.
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Next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. When Moses' father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, What is this that you do for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening? read more. Moses said to his father-in-law, Because the people come to me to inquire of God. When they have a dispute they come to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor, and I make them know the statutes of God and His laws. Moses' father-in-law said to him, The thing that you are doing is not good. You will surely wear out both yourself and this people with you, for the thing is too heavy for you; you are not able to perform it all by yourself. Listen now to [me]; I will counsel you, and God will be with you. You shall represent the people before God, bringing their cases and causes to Him, Teaching them the decrees and laws, showing them the way they must walk and the work they must do. Moreover, you shall choose able men from all the people -- "God-fearing men of truth who hate unjust gain -- "and place them over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, to be their rulers. And let them judge the people at all times; every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they shall judge. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you will do this, and God so commands you, you will be able to endure [the strain], and all these people also will go to their [tents] in peace. So Moses listened to and heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And they judged the people at all times; the hard cases they brought to Moses, but every small matter they decided themselves.
If then I am a wrongdoer and a criminal and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not beg off and seek to escape death; but if there is no ground for their accusations against me, no one can give me up and make a present of me [ give me up freely] to them. I appeal to Caesar. Then Festus, when he had consulted with the [ men who formed his] council, answered, You have appealed to Caesar; to Caesar you shall go.
But when Paul had appealed to have his case retained for examination and decision by the emperor, I ordered that he be detained until I could send him to Caesar.
But I found nothing that he had done deserving of death. Still, as he himself appealed to the emperor, I determined to send him to Rome.
Fausets
De 17:8-9 implies a court of appeal in hard cases; compare Jg 4:5. The king subsequently deputized persons to inquire into and decide appeals (2Sa 15:3). Jehoshaphat appointed Levites, priests, and some of the fathers to constitute a court of appeal (2Ch 19:8). Compare Ezr 7:25. Afterward the final appeal lay to the Sanhedrim. A Roman citizen could appeal, in criminal cases, from the magistrate to the people; and in after times to the emperor, who succeeded to the power of the people. Paul's appeal (Ac 25:11) was from a trial by a provincial magistrate to one by the emperor.
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If there arises a matter too hard for you in judgment -- "between one kind of bloodshed and another, between one legality and another, between one kind of assault and another, matters of controversy within your towns -- "then arise and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses.
If there arises a matter too hard for you in judgment -- "between one kind of bloodshed and another, between one legality and another, between one kind of assault and another, matters of controversy within your towns -- "then arise and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. And you shall come to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall consult them and they shall make clear to you the decision.
And you shall come to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall consult them and they shall make clear to you the decision.
She sat under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came up to her for judgment.
She sat under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came up to her for judgment.
Absalom would say to him, Your claims are good and right, but there is no man appointed as the king's agent to hear you.
Absalom would say to him, Your claims are good and right, but there is no man appointed as the king's agent to hear you.
Also in Jerusalem, Jehoshaphat set certain Levites, priests, and heads of families of Israel to give judgment for the Lord and decide controversies. When they [of the commission] returned to Jerusalem,
Also in Jerusalem, Jehoshaphat set certain Levites, priests, and heads of families of Israel to give judgment for the Lord and decide controversies. When they [of the commission] returned to Jerusalem,
You, Ezra, after the wisdom of your God, which is [in His instructions] in your hand, set magistrates and judges who may judge all the people [west] of the River; choose those who know the instructions of your God, and teach him who does not know them.
You, Ezra, after the wisdom of your God, which is [in His instructions] in your hand, set magistrates and judges who may judge all the people [west] of the River; choose those who know the instructions of your God, and teach him who does not know them.
If then I am a wrongdoer and a criminal and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not beg off and seek to escape death; but if there is no ground for their accusations against me, no one can give me up and make a present of me [ give me up freely] to them. I appeal to Caesar.
If then I am a wrongdoer and a criminal and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not beg off and seek to escape death; but if there is no ground for their accusations against me, no one can give me up and make a present of me [ give me up freely] to them. I appeal to Caesar.
Hastings
Morish
It would appear from the arrangements made by Moses that some of the judges were accounted as judges of appeal, but that Moses himself, as having the mind of God, was the ultimate judge. Ex 18:13-26. It is not probable, when the kingdom was established, that all causes were tried at Jerusalem; but only cases of appeal from the tribal judges; and it was such that Absalom alludes to in 2Sa 15:2-3: see also De 16:18. It is evident from De 17:8-12 that the mind of God was to be sought where He put His name, if the matter was too hard for the judges. The Jewish writers say that before and after the time of Christ on earth, appeals could be carried through the various courts to the Grand Sanhedrim at Jerusalem.
In the case of Paul appealing to Caesar, it was not an appeal from a judgement already given, as is the case in what is now called an appeal; but Paul, knowing the deadly enmity of the Jews, and the corruption of the governors, elected to be judged at the court of Caesar, which, as a Roman, he had the right to do. Ac 25:11. There is One who "cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity." Ps 98:9.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. When Moses' father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, What is this that you do for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening? read more. Moses said to his father-in-law, Because the people come to me to inquire of God. When they have a dispute they come to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor, and I make them know the statutes of God and His laws. Moses' father-in-law said to him, The thing that you are doing is not good. You will surely wear out both yourself and this people with you, for the thing is too heavy for you; you are not able to perform it all by yourself. Listen now to [me]; I will counsel you, and God will be with you. You shall represent the people before God, bringing their cases and causes to Him, Teaching them the decrees and laws, showing them the way they must walk and the work they must do. Moreover, you shall choose able men from all the people -- "God-fearing men of truth who hate unjust gain -- "and place them over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, to be their rulers. And let them judge the people at all times; every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they shall judge. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you will do this, and God so commands you, you will be able to endure [the strain], and all these people also will go to their [tents] in peace. So Moses listened to and heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And they judged the people at all times; the hard cases they brought to Moses, but every small matter they decided themselves.
You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns which the Lord your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.
If there arises a matter too hard for you in judgment -- "between one kind of bloodshed and another, between one legality and another, between one kind of assault and another, matters of controversy within your towns -- "then arise and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. And you shall come to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall consult them and they shall make clear to you the decision. read more. And you shall do according to the decision which they declare to you from that place which the Lord chooses; and you shall be watchful to do according to all that they tell you; According to the decision of the law which they shall teach you and the judgment which they shall announce to you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside from the verdict they give you, either to the right hand or the left. The man who does presumptuously and will not listen to the priest who stands to minister there before the Lord your God or to the judge, that man shall die; so you shall purge the evil from Israel.
And [he] rose up early and stood beside the gateway; and when any man who had a controversy came to the king for judgment, Absalom called to him, Of what city are you? And he would say, Your servant is of such and such a tribe of Israel. Absalom would say to him, Your claims are good and right, but there is no man appointed as the king's agent to hear you.
Before the Lord, for He is coming to judge [and rule] the earth; with righteousness will He judge [and rule] the world, and the peoples with equity.
If then I am a wrongdoer and a criminal and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not beg off and seek to escape death; but if there is no ground for their accusations against me, no one can give me up and make a present of me [ give me up freely] to them. I appeal to Caesar.
Smith
Appeal.
The principle, of appeal was recognized by the Mosaic law in the establishment of a central court under the presidency of the judge or ruler for the time being, before which all cased too difficult for the local court were to be tried.
De 17:8-9
According to the above regulation, the appeal lay in the time of the Judges to the judge,
and under the monarchy to the king. Jehoshaphat delegated his judicial authority to a court permanently established for the purpose.
These courts were re-established by Ezra.
After the institution of the Sanhedrin the final appeal lay to them. St. Paul, as a Roman citizen, exercized a right of appeal from the jurisdiction of the local court at Jerusalem to the emperor.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
If there arises a matter too hard for you in judgment -- "between one kind of bloodshed and another, between one legality and another, between one kind of assault and another, matters of controversy within your towns -- "then arise and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. And you shall come to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall consult them and they shall make clear to you the decision.
She sat under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came up to her for judgment.
Also in Jerusalem, Jehoshaphat set certain Levites, priests, and heads of families of Israel to give judgment for the Lord and decide controversies. When they [of the commission] returned to Jerusalem,
You, Ezra, after the wisdom of your God, which is [in His instructions] in your hand, set magistrates and judges who may judge all the people [west] of the River; choose those who know the instructions of your God, and teach him who does not know them.
If then I am a wrongdoer and a criminal and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not beg off and seek to escape death; but if there is no ground for their accusations against me, no one can give me up and make a present of me [ give me up freely] to them. I appeal to Caesar.