'Rulers' in the Bible

Furthermore, you shall select from all the people competent men who [reverently] fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; you shall place these over the people as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens.

Moses chose able men from all Israel and made them heads over the people, leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens [from the highest to the lowest judicial levels].

from the Shihor [waterway] which is east of Egypt [at the southern end of Canaan], northward to the border of Ekron (all of it regarded as Canaanite); the five rulers of the Philistines: the Gazite, Ashdodite, the Ashkelonite, the Gittite, the Ekronite; and the Avvite

“The villagers ceased to be; they ceased in IsraelUntil I, Deborah, arose,Until I arose, a mother in Israel.

Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Have you not known that the Philistines are rulers over us? What is this that you have done to us?” He said to them, “As they did to me, so I have done to them.”

Ahab had seventy sons [and grandsons] in Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders, and to the guardians of the children of Ahab, saying,

Then he took the captains of hundreds, the Carites (royal bodyguards), the guard, and all the people of the land; and they brought the [young] king down from the house of the Lord, and came by way of the guards’ gate to the king’s house. And [little] Joash sat on the throne of the kings.

So David said to Joab and the leaders of the people, “Go, count Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me their total, so that I may know it.”

Also to his son Shemaiah sons were born who ruled over the house of their father, for they were courageous men of ability.

Then the rulers of the fathers’ households, and leaders of the tribes of Israel, and the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with the overseers of the king’s work, offered willingly

Then the king’s scribes (secretaries) were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it was written just as Haman commanded to the king’s satraps (chief rulers), and to the governors who were over each province and to the officials of each people, each province according to its script (writing), each people according to their own language; being written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet ring.

So the king’s scribes were called at that time in the third month (that is, the month of Sivan) on the twenty-third day; and it was written in accordance with everything that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews, to the chief rulers (satraps), and the governors and officials of the provinces which extended from India to Ethiopia (Cush), 127 provinces, to every province in its own script (writing), and to every people in their own language and to the Jews according to their script and their language.

Even all the officials of the provinces and the chief rulers (satraps) and the governors and those who attended to the king’s business supported the Jews [in defeating their enemies], because the fear of Mordecai [and his God’s power] had fallen on them.

The kings of the earth take their stand;And the rulers take counsel togetherAgainst the Lord and His Anointed (the Davidic King, the Messiah, the Christ), saying,

Now therefore, O kings, act wisely;Be instructed and take warning, O leaders (judges, rulers) of the earth.

Their [wicked, godless] judges are thrown down the sides of the rocky cliff,And they [who followed them] will hear my words, for they are pleasant (just).

As when the one plows and breaks open the ground [and the soil scatters behind him],Our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol [by the injustices of the wicked].

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

“By me kings reignAnd rulers decide and decree justice.

Wisdom is too exalted for a [hardened, arrogant] fool;He does not open his mouth in the gate [where the city’s rulers sit in judgment].

When a land does wrong, it has many princes,But when the ruler is a man of understanding and knowledge, its stability endures.

It is not for kings, O Lemuel,It is not for kings to drink wine,Or for rulers to desire strong drink,

Wisdom strengthens the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

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.

“The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,The scepter of the [tyrant] rulers

“Sheol below is excited about you to meet you when you come [you tyrant of Babylon];It stirs up the spirits of the dead [to greet you], all the leaders of the earth;It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones [in astonishment at your fall].

‘Your pomp and magnificence have been brought down to Sheol,Along with the music of your harps;The maggots [which prey on the dead] are spread out under you [as a bed]And worms are your covering [Babylonian rulers].’

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

“I have stirred up and put into action one from the north [the king of Persia, Cyrus the Great], and he has come;From the rising of the sun he will call on My Name [in prayer].And he will trample on [the Babylonian] officials as on mortar,Even as a potter treads clay.”

This is what the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, Israel’s Holy One says,To the thoroughly despised One,To the One hated by the nationTo the Servant of rulers,“Kings will see and arise,Princes shall also bow down,Because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”

Therefore, I will divide and give Him a portion with the great [kings and rulers],And He shall divide the spoils with the mighty,Because He [willingly] poured out His life to death,And was counted among the transgressors;Yet He Himself bore and took away the sin of many,And interceded [with the Father] for the transgressors.

“[Even] the priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’And those who deal with the law [given to Moses] did not know Me.The rulers and shepherds also transgressed against Me,And the prophets prophesied by [the authority and in the name of] BaalAnd walked after [idolatrous] things that did not benefit [them].

“As I live,” says the King,Whose name is the Lord of hosts,“Surely like Tabor among the mountainsOr like Carmel by the sea,So shall he [the great king of Babylon] come.

“A sword against the Chaldeans,” says the Lord,“And against the inhabitants of BabylonAnd against her princes (officials, civic rulers) and against her wise men (astrologers, religious rulers)!

The Lord has swallowed up; He has not sparedAll the country places of Jacob.In His wrath He has thrown downThe strongholds of the Daughter of Judah (Jerusalem).He has brought them down to the ground [in disgrace];He has debased the kingdom and its princes.

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.

When their liquor is gone [and their drinking parties are over],They habitually go to play the prostitute;Ephraim’s rulers continue to dearly love shame [more than her glory which is the Lord, Israel’s God].

And I said,“Hear now, heads of JacobAnd rulers of the house of Israel.Is it not for you to know and administer justice?

Now hear this, you heads of the house of JacobAnd rulers of the house of Israel,Who hate and reject justiceAnd twist everything that is straight,

“They make fun of kingsAnd rulers are a laughing matter to them.They ridicule every strongholdAnd heap up rubble [for earth mounds] and capture it.