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not getting the household in order. Her appeal is: since Abram has not done his duty
(normally he would be the judge of tribal matters), “the Lord decide” between us, that is,
in a judicial sense, as to who is in the right. Abram granted the legitimacy of her case and
handed Hagar over to her to be brought into line (Gen. 16:6).
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also speaks of the accomplishing of a sentence. Both this concept and those of
hearing the case and rendering a decision are seen in Gen. 18:25, where Abraham speaks
of “the Judge [literally, “One who judges”] of all the earth.” In 1 Sam. 3:13 the emphasis
is solely on “delivering” the sentence: “For I have told him that I will judge his house for
ever for the iniquity which he knoweth.…”
In some cases “judging” really means delivering from injustice or oppression. David
says to Saul: “The Lord therefore be judge and judge between me and thee, and see, and
plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand” (1 Sam. 24:15). This sense (in addition
to the judicial sense), “to deliver,” is to be understood when one speaks of the judges of
Israel (Judg. 2:16): “Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of
the hand of those that [plundered] them.”
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can be used not only of an act of deliverance, but of a process whereby order
and law are maintained within a group. This idea also is included in the concept of the
judges of Israel: “And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at
that time” (Judg. 4:4). This activity was judicial and constituted a kind of ruling over
Israel. Certainly ruling is in mind in Num. 25:5: “And Moses said unto the judges of
Israel, ‘Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baal-Peor’” (1 Sam. 8:1).
The military deliverer was the head over a volunteer army summoned when danger
threatened (militia). In the time of Samuel this procedure proved inadequate for Israel.
They wanted a leader who would organize and lead a standing army. They asked Samuel,
therefore, for a king such as the other nations had, one who was apt and trained in
warfare, and whose successor (son) would be carefully trained, too. There would be more
continuity in leadership as a result. Included in this idea of a king who would “judge”
them like the other nations was the idea of a ruler; in order to sustain a permanent army
and its training, the people had to be organized for taxation and conscription. This is what
is in view in 1 Sam. 8:6-18 as Samuel explains.
B. Nouns.
(
+#
, 4941), “judgment; rights.” This noun, which appears around 420
times, also appears in Ugaritic.
This word has two main senses; the first deals with the act of sitting as a judge,
hearing a case, and rendering a proper verdict. Eccl. 12:14 is one such occurrence: “For
God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or
whether it be evil.”
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can also refer to the “rights” belonging to someone (Exod. 23:6). This
second sense carries several nuances: the sphere in which things are in proper
relationship to one’s claims (Gen. 18:19—the first occurrence); a judicial verdict (Deut.
17:9); the statement of the case for the accused (Num. 27:5); and an established
ordinance (Exod. 21:1).