'Judges' in the Bible

then his master shall bring him to God [that is, to the judges who act in God’s name], then he shall bring him to the door or doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl (strong needle); and he shall serve him for life.

“If men fight with each other and injure a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely [and the baby lives], yet there is no further injury, the one who hurt her must be punished with a fine [paid] to the woman’s husband, as much as the judges decide.

If the thief is not caught, the owner of the house shall appear before the judges [who act in God’s name], to determine whether or not he had stolen his neighbor’s goods.

For every offense involving property, whether it concerns ox, donkey, sheep, clothing, or any piece of lost property, which another identifies as his, the case of both parties shall come before the judges [who act in God’s name]. Whomever the judges pronounce guilty shall pay double to his neighbor.

“You shall not curse God, nor curse the ruler of your people [since he administers God’s law].

So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each one of you must kill his men who have joined themselves to Baal of Peor [in worship].”

“Then I commanded your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the matters between your brothers [your fellow countrymen], and judge righteously and fairly between a man and his brother, or the stranger (resident alien, foreigner) who is with him.

“You shall appoint judges and officers in all your cities (gates) which the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.

then both parties to the controversy shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who will be in office at that time.

The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness, and he has accused his brother falsely,

then your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance to the cities which are around the dead person.

“If there is a controversy between men, and they go to court, and the judges decide [the issue] between them, and they judge in favor of the innocent and condemn the guilty,

All Israel, the stranger as well as the native born [among them], with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on either side of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord. Half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded at first to bless the people of Israel.

that Joshua called all Israel, their elders and their heads and their judges and their officers, and said to them, “I am old and advanced in years.

Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel and for their heads and for their judges and for their officers; they presented themselves before God.

Then the Lord raised up judges who rescued them from the hands of those who robbed them.

Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they played the prostitute after other gods and they bowed down to them. They quickly turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked in obeying the commandments of the Lord; they did not do as their fathers.

When the Lord raised up judges for them, He was with the judge and He rescued them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed and afflicted them.

In the days when the judges governed [Israel], there was a famine in the land [of Canaan]. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live temporarily in the country of Moab with his wife and his two sons.

And it came about when Samuel was old that he appointed his sons as judges over Israel.

Now the name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judging in Beersheba.

even from the day that I appointed judges over My people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. The Lord also declares to you that He will make a house (royal dynasty) for you.

Indeed, such a Passover as this had not been held since the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah.

Wherever I have walked with all Israel, did I say a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people, saying, ‘Why have you not built for Me a house of cedar?’”’

since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel. And I will humble and subdue all your enemies.“Furthermore, I tell you that the Lord will build you a house (a blessed posterity).

Of these 24,000 were to oversee and inspect the work of the house of the Lord and 6,000 were to be administrators and judges,

Of the Izharites: Chenaniah and his sons were appointed to outside duties for Israel, as administrators and judges.

Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and to the judges and to every leader in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ (ancestors’) households.

He appointed judges in the land in all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city,

and he said to the judges, “Be careful what you do, for you do not judge for man, but for the Lord who is with you in the matter of judgment.

“You, Ezra, are to appoint magistrates and judges in accordance with the wisdom and instruction of your God which is in your hand, so that they may judge all the people who are in the province west of the [Euphrates] River; appoint those who know the laws of your God; and you may teach anyone who does not know them.

Let our leaders stand for and represent the entire assembly; let all those in our cities who have married foreign wives come at appointed times, together with the elders and judges of each city, until the burning anger of our God over this matter is turned away from us.”

“The earth is given into the hands of the wicked;He covers the faces of its judges [so that they are blind to justice].If it is not He, then who is it [that is responsible for all this injustice]?

“He makes [great and scheming] counselors walk barefootAnd makes fools of judges.

“Can anyone teach God knowledge,Seeing that He judges those on high?

“For adultery is a heinous and lustful crime;Moreover, it would be a sin punishable by the judges.

If I have lifted my hand against the orphan,Because I saw [that the judges would be] my help at the [council] gate,

This also would have been [a heinous] sin calling for judgment,For I would have denied God above.

The Lord judges the peoples;Judge me, O Lord, and grant me justice according to my righteousness and according to the integrity within me.

Men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;Surely there is a God who judges on the earth.”

God stands in the divine assembly;He judges among the gods (divine beings).

How long will you judge unjustlyAnd show partiality to the wicked? Selah.

The rulers do not know nor do they understand;They walk on in the darkness [of complacent satisfaction];All the foundations of the earth [the fundamental principles of the administration of justice] are shaken.

Kings of the earth and all people;Princes and all judges of the earth;

“By me princes rule, and nobles,All who judge and govern rightly.

But to those [honorable judges] who rebuke the wicked, it will go well with them and they will find delight,And a good blessing will come upon them.

If a king faithfully and truthfully judges the poor,His throne shall be established forever.

Hear the word of the Lord [rulers of Jerusalem],You rulers of [another] Sodom,Listen to the law and instruction of our God,You people of [another] Gomorrah.

“Then I will restore your judges as at the first,And your counselors as at the beginning;Afterward you will be called the city of righteousness,The faithful city.”

Woe (judgment is coming) to those [judges] who issue evil statutes,And to those [magistrates] who constantly record unjust and oppressive decisions,

It is He who reduces dignitaries to nothing,Who makes the judges (rulers) of the earth meaningless (useless).

But, O Lord of hosts, who judges righteously,Who tests the feelings and the heart (mind),Let me see Your vengeance on them,For to You I have committed my cause.

In a controversy they shall take their stand to act as judges; they shall judge it in accordance with My ordinances. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed feasts and sanctify My Sabbaths.

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent word to assemble the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and lawyers and all the chief officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

Then the satraps, the prefects, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and lawyers, and all the chief officials of the provinces gathered together for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up; and they stood before it.

And He has carried out completely His [threatening] words which He had spoken against us and against our rulers [the kings, princes, and judges] who ruled us, to bring on us a great tragedy; for under the whole heaven there has not been done anything [so dreadful] like that which [He commanded and] was done to Jerusalem.

They are all hot like an ovenAnd they consume their judges (rulers);All their kings have fallen.There is no one among them who calls to Me.

Where now is your kingThat he may save you [when you are attacked] in all your cities?And your judges of whom you asked,“Give me a king and princes”?

Her officials within her are roaring lions;Her judges are [as hungry as] the wolves at evening,They leave nothing for the morning.

If I cast out the demons by [the help of] Beelzebul (Satan), by whom do your sons drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges.

Now if I drive out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons [the Jewish exorcists] drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges.

For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment [that is, the prerogative of judging] to the Son [placing it entirely into His hands],

If anyone hears My words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge and condemn the world [that is, to initiate the final judgment of the world], but to save the world.

After this, He gave them judges until the prophet Samuel.

Therefore you have no excuse or justification, everyone of you who [hypocritically] judges and condemns others; for in passing judgment on another person, you condemn yourself, because you who judge [from a position of arrogance or self-righteousness] are habitually practicing the very same things [which you denounce].

I am aware of nothing against myself and I feel blameless, but I am not by this acquitted [before God]. It is the Lord who judges me.

So if you have lawsuits dealing with matters of this life, are you appointing those as judges [to hear disputes] who are of no account in the church?

but instead, brother goes to law against brother, and that before [judges who are] unbelievers?

have you not discriminated among yourselves, and become judges with wrong motives?

Believers, do not speak against or slander one another. He who speaks [self-righteously] against a brother or judges his brother [hypocritically], speaks against the Law and judges the Law. If you judge the Law, you are not a doer of the Law but a judge of it.

If you address as Father, the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in [reverent] fear [of Him] and with profound respect for Him throughout the time of your stay on earth.

While being reviled and insulted, He did not revile or insult in return; while suffering, He made no threats [of vengeance], but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges fairly.

For this reason in a single day her plagues (afflictions, calamities) will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire and completely consumed; for strong and powerful is the Lord God who judges her.

And then I saw thrones, and sitting on them were those to whom judgment [that is, the authority to act as judges] was given. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had refused to worship the beast or his image, and had not accepted his mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.