Reference: Government
Hastings
The purpose of this article will be to sketch in outline the forms of government among the Hebrews at successive periods of their history. The indications are in many cases vague, and it is impossible to reconstruct the complete system; at no period was there a definitely conceived, still less a written, constitution in the modern sense. For fuller details reference should be made throughout to the separate articles on the officials, etc., mentioned.
We may at once set aside Legislation, one of the most important departments of government as now understood. In ancient communities, law rested on Divine command and immemorial custom, and could as a rule be altered only by 'fictions.' The idea of avowedly new legislation to meet fresh circumstances was foreign to early modes of thought. At no period do we find a legislative body in the Bible. Grote's dictum that 'The human king on earth is not a lawmaker, but a judge,' applies to all the Biblical forms of government. The main functions of government were judicial, military, and at later periods financial, and to a limited extent administrative.
1. During the nomadic or patriarchal age the unit is the family or clan, and, for certain purposes, the tribe. The head of the house, owing to his position and experience, was the supreme ruler and judge, in fact the only permanent official. He had undisputed authority within his family group (Ge 22; 38:24; De 21:13; Jg 11:34). Heads of families make agreements with one another and settle quarrels among their dependents (Ge 21:22; 31:45); the only sanction to which they can appeal is the Divine justice which 'watches' between them (Ge 31:49,53; 49:7). Their hold over the individual lay in the fact that to disobey was to become an outlaw; and to be an outcast from the tribe was to be without protector or avenger. The heads of families combined form, in a somewhat more advanced stage, the 'elders' (Ex 3:15; 18:21; Nu 22:7); and sometimes, particularly in time of war, there is a single chief for the whole tribe. Moses is an extreme instance of this, and we can see that his position was felt to be unusual (Ex 2:14; 4:1; Nu 16). It was undefined, and rested on his personal influence, backed by the Divine sanction, which, as his followers realized, had marked him out. This enables him to nominate Joshua as his successor.
2. The period of the 'Judges' marks a higher stage; at the same time, as a period of transition it appeared rightly to later generations as a time of lawlessness. The name 'Judges,' though including the notion of champion or deliverer, points to the fact that their chief function was judicial. The position was not hereditary, thus differing from that of king (Jg 9 ff. Gideon and Abimelech), though Samuel is able to delegate his authority to his sons (1Sa 8:1). Their status was gained by personal exploits, implying Divine sanction, which was sometimes expressed in other ways; e.g. gift of prophecy (Deborah, Samuel). Their power rested on the moral authority of the strong man, and, though sometimes extending over several tribes, was probably never national. During this period the nomadic tribe gives way to the local; ties of place are more important than ties of birth. A town holds together its neighbouring villages ('daughters'), as able to give them protection (Nu 21:25,32; Jos 17:11). The elders become the 'elders of the city'; Jg 8:6,14,18 mentions officials (s
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech, with Phicol chieftain of his host, spake unto Abraham, saying, - God, is with thee in all that, thou art doing.
also, The Watch Tower, as to which it is said, Yahweh watch betwixt me and thee, when we are parted one from another.
The Gods of Abraham and the Gods of Nahor judge betwixt us - the Gods of their fathers. And Jacob sware by the Dread of his father Isaac:
Accursed, be their anger, because fierce, And their wrath because cruel, - I divide them in Jacob, And I disperse them in Israel.
And he said - Who hath set thee for a chief and a judge over us? To slay me, art thou thinking, as thou didst slay the Egyptian? Then was Moses afraid, and said - Surely the thing is, known!
And God said yet further unto Moses - Thus shalt thou say unto the sons of Israel, Yahweh God of your fathers. God of Abraham God of Isaac and God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you. This, is my name to times age-abiding, And, this, my memorial to generation after generation.
Then responded Moses, and said, And lo! they will not believe me, neither hearken to my voice, - for they will say, Yahweh, hath not appeared unto thee.
And Moses said unto Joshua - Choose for us men, and go forth, fight with Amalek, - to-morrow, am, I, stationing myself upon the top of the hill, with the staff of God in my hand.
And Moses said to his father-in-law, - Because the people come in unto me to seek God:
Now, hearken thou to my voice - let me counsel thee, and may God be with thee: Be, thou, for the people, in front of God, so shalt, thou, bring the matters unto God;
Thou thyself, therefore shalt look out, from among all the people - men of ability, reverers of God, men of fidelity, haters of extortion, - and place them over them as rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
And Moses brought forth the people, to meet God out of the camp, - and they stationed themselves in the lower part of the mount,
then shall his lord bring him near unto God, and shall bring him near unto the door, or unto the door-post, - and his lord shall pierce his ear with an awl, so shall he serve him all his life.
if the thief be found, he shall give in restitution double, if the thief be not found, then shall the owner of the house be brought near unto God to swear that he hath not laid his hand on the property of his neighbour.
So Israel took all these cities, - and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all her villages;
And Moses sent to spy out Jazer, and they captured the villages thereof, - and dispossessed the Amorites that were there.
And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian went their way, with the rewards of divination in their hand, - so they came in unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.
Judges and officers, shalt thou appoint thee in all thy gates, which Yahweh thy God is giving unto thee, by thy tribes, - and they shall judge the people, with righteous judgment,
When any matter of judgment, shall be too difficult for thee - between blood and blood between plea and plea or between stroke and stroke, matters of contention within thy gates, then shalt thou arise and go up unto the place which Yahweh thy God shall choose; and shalt come in unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge who shall be in those days, - and shalt enquire and they shall declare unto thee, the sentence of judgment; read more. and thou shalt do according to the sentence which they shall declare unto thee, out of that place, which Yahweh, shall choose, - yea thou shalt observe to do according to all which they shall direct thee: according to the direction wherewith they direct thee and after the judgment which they shall announce to thee, shalt thou do, - thou shalt not turn aside from the sentence which they shall declare unto thee to the right hand or to the left. And, the man who shall do presumptuously by not hearkening unto the priest that standeth to minister there to Yahweh thy God, or unto the judge, that man shall die, and so shalt thou consume the wicked thing out of Israel. And, all the people, shall hear and fear, - and shall not act presumptuously any more. When thou shalt enter into the land which Yahweh thy God is giving unto thee, and shalt possess it and dwell therein, - and shalt say - I will set over me a king, like all the nations that are round about me,
then shall the elders of his city send and fetch him from thence, - and deliver him into the hand of the blood redeemer that he die;
neither shall thine eye pity, - life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
and put away the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thy house, and bewail her father and her mother for the space of a month, - and after that, mayest thou go in unto her, and he her husband, and she shall be thy wife.
then shall the father of the damsel and her mother take and bring forth the tokens of the virginity of the damsel, unto the elders of the city, in the gate;
And Manasseh had - in Issachar and in Asher - Bethshean and her towns, and Ibleam and her towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, and the inhabitants of En-dor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and her towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo, and her towns - the three heights,
And the princes of Succoth said, Are the palms of the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in thy power, - that we should give to thine army bread?
and caught a young man, of the men of Succoth, and enquired of him, - so he wrote down for him the princes of Succoth, and the elders thereof, seventy-seven men.
Then said he unto Zebah and unto Zalmunna, What manner of men were they, whom ye slew at Tabor? And they said, As thou art, so were they, each one, as handsome as the sons of a king.
When, therefore, it came to pass that the sons of Ammon made war with Israel, then went the elders of Gilead, to summon Jephthah out of the land of Tob.
Then came Jephthah towards Mizpah, unto his own house, and lo! his daughter, coming forth to meet him, with timbrels, and with dances, - and, she, was none other than his only child, he had not, besides her, either son or daughter.
And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he appointed his sons judges to Israel;
so shall, even we, become like all the nations, - and our king shall judge us, and go forth before us, and fight our battles.
But, abandoned men, said - How can this one save us? So they treated him with contempt, and brought him no present, - but he was as one that was deaf.
And the king said unto the runners that were stationed by him - Turn ye round and put to death the priests of Yahweh, because, their hand also, is with David, and because they knew that he was, in flight, and unveiled not mine ear. But the servants of the king were not willing to thrust forth their hand, to fall upon the priests of Yahweh.
and, Joab, son of Zeruiah, was over the army, - and, Jehoshaphat, son of Ahilud, was remembrancer.
And so it was, in the morning, that David wrote a letter unto Joab, - and sent it by the hand of Uriah;
And Absolom used to rise up early, and take his stand beside the way of the gate, - and so it was - when any man who had a controversy would come unto the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said: Of what city, art, thou? And he said, Of one of the tribes of Israel, is thy servant. And Absolom said unto him,
And, King David, sent unto Zadok and unto Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak ye unto the elders of Judah, saying, Wherefore should ye be behindhand, in bringing back the king unto his home, - seeing that, the speech of all Israel, hath come unto the king, regarding his home?
And King Solomon raised a labour-band, out of all Israel, - and it came to pass that, the labour-band, was thirty thousand men.
besides the tribute of the subjugated, and of the travelling merchants, - and of all the kings of Arabia, and the pashas of the land.
And the horses that Solomon had were, an export, out of Egypt, - and, a company of the merchants of the king, used to fetch, a drove, at a price, And a chariot came up and forth out of Egypt, for six hundred shekels of silver and a horse for a hundred and fifty, - and, so, for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, by their means, came they forth.
Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who used to stand before Solomon his father, while he yet lived, saying, - How do, ye, advise, that I answer this people?
So she wrote letters, in the name of Ahab, and sealed them with his signet-ring, - and sent the letters unto the elders, and unto the nobles who were in his city, dwelling with Naboth.
So the men of his city, the elders and the nobles who dwelt in his city, did just as Jezebel had sent unto them, - as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them:
So the king said unto Hazael - Take in thy hand a present, and go to meet the man of God, - so shalt thou enquire of Yahweh, from him, saying, Shall I recover from this sickness?
But, in the seventh year, Jehoiada sent and took the captains over hundreds, of the Carian body-guard, and of the runners, and brought them unto him, in the house of Yahweh, - and, when he had solemnised a Covenant with them, and put them on oath, in the house of Yahweh, then shewed he them the king's son;
And Jehoiada solemnised a covenant between Yahweh, and the king, and the people, that they should become a people unto Yahweh, - also between the king and the people.
And all the people of Judah took Azariah, he, being sixteen yearn old, - and made, him, king instead of his father Amaziah.
And Hezekiah delivered up all the silver that was found in the house of Yahweh, and in the treasuries of the house of the king.
Then the people of the land smote all who had conspired against King Amon, - and the people of the land made, Josiah his son, king, in his stead.
Of these - to preside over the work of the house of Yahweh, were twenty-four thousand, - and officers and judges, six thousand;
Of the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons, were for the outward business over Israel, - as officers, and as judges.
And he stationed judges in the land, throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city; and said unto the judges, See what, ye, are doing, inasmuch as, not for man, must ye judge, but for Yahweh, - who will be with you, in the word of justice. read more. Now, therefore, let the dread of Yahweh be upon you, - observe and do, for there is, with Yahweh our God, neither perversity nor respect of persons nor the taking of bribes. And, even in Jerusalem, did Jehoshaphat station some of the Levites and the priests, and of the ancestral chiefs of Israel, to pronounce the just sentence of Yahweh, and to settle disputes, - when they returned to Jerusalem. And he laid charge upon them, saying, - Thus, shall ye act, in the fear of Yahweh, faithfully and with an undivided heart. Any dispute that shall come in unto you from among your brethren who are dwelling in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment and statutes and regulations, then shall ye warn them, that they may not become guilty against Yahweh, and so wrath come upon you and upon your brethren, - Thus, shall ye act, and not incur guilt. And lo! Amariah the chief priest, is over you as to every matter of Yahweh, and Zebadiah son of Ishmael the chief ruler for the house of Judah, as to every matter of the king, and, as officers, the Levites are before you, - Be strong and act, and Yahweh be with the good!
At that time, came unto them Tattenai pasha Beyond the River, and Shethar-bozenai, and their associates, - and, thus, spake they unto them, Who hath issued unto you an edict, this house, to build, and, this wall, to complete?
Then asked we of these elders, thus, we said to them, - Who hath issued to you an edict, this house, to build, and, this wall, to complete?
let alone the work of this house of God, - the pasha of Judah, and the elders of Judah, this house of God, shall build upon its place;
and, whosoever should not come within three days, according to the counsel of the rulers and the elders, all his goods should be devoted, - and, himself, be separated from the convocation of them of the Exile.
Let, we beseech thee, our rulers take up their station for all the convocation, and, all who, throughout our cities, have married foreign women, let them come in at times appointed, and, with them, the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the glow of the anger of our God be turned from us, concerning this matter.
Now, the deputies, knew not whither I had gone, nor what I was doing, - not even to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the deputies, nor to the rest who were doing the work, had I as yet told it.
Moreover, from the day I was commanded to become their pasha in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year, even unto the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, twelve years, I and my brethren, pasha's bread, have not eaten;
And, Pethahiah son of Meshezabel, of the sons of Zerah, son of Judah, was at the hand of the king, in every matter pertaining to the people.
But as for these, With wine, do they reel, and With strong drink, do they stagger, - Priest and prophet, reel with strong drink They are swallowed up through wine They stagger through strong drink, They reel in prophetic vision, They totter in pronouncing judgment.
Nevertheless Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah, interceded with the king, not to burn the roll, - but he hearkened not unto them.
And it came to pass, in the sixth year in the sixth month, on the fifth of the month, I being seated in my house, and the elders of Judah being seated before me, then fell upon me there the hand of My Lord Yahweh.
And it came to pass in the seventh year in the fifth month, on the tent of the month, that there came in men of the elders of Israel to enquire of Yahweh, - and they sat before me.
And in a controversy, They shall stand up for justice, With my judgments, shall they judge it, And my laws and my statutes in all mine appointed assemblies, shall they observe, And my sabbaths, shall they hallow.
A lion, hath roared, Who will not fear? My Lord Yahweh, hath spoken, Who can forbear to prophesy?
Hear ye this word, ye heifers of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, - who say to their lords, Bring in, and let us drink!
Moreover also, I, have given you cleanness of teeth throughout all your cities, and want of bread throughout all your dwelling-places, - Yet have ye not returned unto me, Declareth Yahweh.
Here, My Lord, Yahweh gave me to see, and lo! he was preparing the locust, in the beginning of the shooting up of the after-grass, - and lo! after-grass, cometh after the mowings for the king.
But, I, say unto you, that, every one who is angry with his brother, shall be, liable, to judgment, - and, whosoever shall say to his brother, Worthless one!, shall be, liable, to the high council; and, whosoever shall say, Rebel!, shall be, liable, unto the fiery gehenna.
And God hath, indeed, set, certain, in the assembly, - first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that mighty works, then gifts of healings, helps, guidings, kinds of tongues.