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
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And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phichol, the prince of his host, spoke unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest.
and Mizpah; for he said, The LORD watch between me and thee when we are absent one from another.
The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their fathers, judge between us. And Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac.
Cursed be their anger, which is strong, and their wrath, which is hard; I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.
And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? Doest thou intend to kill me as thou killed the Egyptian? And Moses feared and said, Surely this thing is known.
And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the sons of Israel: The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me unto you. This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all ages.
Then Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice, for they will say, The LORD has not appeared unto thee.
And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men and go out, fight with Amalek; tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.
Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people before God that thou may submit the causes unto God.
Moreover thou shalt consider out of all the people men of virtue, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, and place princes over them, of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.
And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the lower part of the mount.
Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him forever.
If the thief is not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges to see whether he has put his hand unto his neighbour's goods.
And Israel took all these cities; and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites in Heshbon and in all the villages thereof.
And Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof and drove out the Amorite that was there.
And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the incantations in their hand; and they came unto Balaam and spoke unto him the words of Balak.
Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all the gates of thy cities, which the LORD thy God shall give thee throughout thy tribes, and they shall judge the people with just (and righteous) judgment.
If a matter arises that is too difficult for thee in judgment between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates, then thou shalt arise and go up into the place which the LORD thy God shall choose, and thou shalt come unto the priests, the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days and enquire, and they shall show thee the word of judgment. read more. And thou shalt do according to the word which those of that place which the LORD shall choose shall show thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they shall show thee. According to the word of the law which they shall show thee and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do; thou shalt not decline from the word which they shall show thee, to the right hand nor to the left. And the man that will act presumptuously and will not hearken unto the priest that stands to minister there before the LORD thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die; and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel. And all the people shall hear and fear and no longer act presumptuously. When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God gives thee and shalt inherit it and shalt dwell therein and shalt say, I will set a king over me like all the Gentiles that are round about me;
then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, and he shall die.
And thine eye shall not pity, but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
and she shall put off the clothing of her captivity and shall remain in thine house and bewail her father and her mother a full month, and after that thou shalt go in unto her and be 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 damsel's virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate.
And Manasseh also 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 Endor and her towns and the inhabitants of Taanach and her towns and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns, three provinces.
And the principals of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand that we should give bread unto thy army?
and caught a young man of the men of Succoth and enquired of him; and he described unto him the principals of Succoth and the elders thereof, seventy-seven men.
Then he said unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were those whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the sons of a king.
And when the sons of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob;
And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances; and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.
that we also may be like all the Gentiles and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles.
But the sons of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him and brought him no presents. But he pretended not to notice.
Then the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn and slay the priests of the LORD because their hand also is with David and because they knew when he fled and did not show it to me. But the slaves of the king would not put forth their hands to fall upon the priests of the LORD.
And Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was over the host, and Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, was the writer of chronicles;
And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah.
And Absalom rose up early and stood beside the way of the gate; and when anyone that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto them and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy slave is of one of the tribes of Israel.
And King David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar, the priests, saying, Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying, Why shall ye be the last to bring the king back to his house? Seeing that the word of all Israel has come to the king, to return him to his house.
And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel, and the levy was thirty thousand men,
besides what he had from the merchantmen and from the trade of the spice merchants and from all the kings of Arabia and from the princes of the land.
And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt and linen yarn, for the king's merchants bought the horses and yarn. And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for one hundred and fifty, and so by their hand they supplied all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.
Then King Rehoboam consulted with the old men that had stood before Solomon, his father, while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people?
So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city dwelling with Naboth.
And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them.
And the king said unto Hazael, Take a present in thy hand, and go, meet the man of God and enquire of the LORD by him, saying, Shall I recover of this disease?
But the seventh year Jehoiada sent and took rulers over hundreds, captains and people of the guard, and brought them to him into the house of the LORD and made a covenant with them, causing them to swear an oath in the house of the LORD, and he showed them the king's son.
Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people, that they should be the LORD's people; and likewise between the king and the people.
Then all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah.
And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasury of the king's house.
Then the people of the land slew all those that had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah, his son, king in his stead.
Of which, twenty-four thousand were to set forward the work of the house of the LORD, and six thousand were officers and judges;
Of the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons were governors and judges over Israel.
And he set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah, city by city, and said to the judges, Take heed what ye do, for ye do not judge for man, but for the LORD, who is with you in the word of judgment. read more. Therefore, now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed and do it, for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of bribes. Moreover, in Jerusalem Jehoshaphat placed some of the Levites and of the priests and of the heads of the fathers of Israel for the judgment of the LORD and for controversies. And they returned to Jerusalem. And he charged them, saying, Ye shall proceed thus in the fear of the LORD, in truth and with a perfect heart. In whatever case that shall come to you of your brethren that dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes or rights, ye shall warn them lest they become guilty against the LORD so that wrath will not come upon you and upon your brethren. Doing thus, ye shall not be guilty. Behold, Amariah, the high priest, who shall be over you in all matters of the LORD; and Zebadiah, the son of Ishmael, prince of the house of Judah, for all the king's matters; and the Levites who shall be teachers before you. Take courage and do, for the LORD shall be with the good.
At the same time Tatnai, captain of this side the river, and Shetharboznai, and their companions came to them and said thus unto them, Who has commanded you to build this house and to make up this wall?
Then we asked the elders and said unto them thus, Who commanded you to build this house and to found these walls?
Leave the work of this house of God unto the captain of the Jews and to their elders that they may build this house of God in his place.
and that whoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and of the elders, all his substance should be forfeited and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away.
Let our rulers of all the congregation now stand, and let all those who have taken strange women in our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders of each city and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter is turned from us.
And the rulers did not know where I had gone or what I had done; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews nor to the priests nor to the nobles nor to the rulers nor to the rest that did the work.
Moreover, from the day that I was appointed by the king to be their captain in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the captain.
And Pethahiah, the son of Meshezabeel, of the sons of Zerah, the son of Judah, was at the king's hand in all matters concerning the people.
But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink; they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
Nevertheless when Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah made intercession to the king that he not burn the roll; he would not hear them.
And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me.
Then certain of the elders of Israel came unto me and sat before me.
And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the LORD and sat before me.
And in controversy they shall stand to judge; and they shall judge it according to my rights; and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my solemn assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.
The lion has roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD has spoken, who can but prophesy?
Hear this word, ye cows of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.
I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities and want of bread in all your places: yet ye have not returned unto me, said the LORD.
Thus hath the Lord GOD showed unto me, and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter hay; and, behold that the latter hay grew after the king's reapings.
but I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother out of control shall be in danger of the judgment, and whosoever shall insult his brother shall be in danger of the council, but whosoever shall say, Thou art impious, shall be in danger of hell.
And God did set certain ones in the congregation : first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that faculties, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.