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truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers
of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens …” (Exod. 18:21). The “commander” of
Israel’s army was called a
(1 Sam. 17:55).
In Judg. 9:30,
represents a “ruler” of a city. Any government official might be
called a
(Neh. 3:14). “Religious officiants” who served in the temple of God were
also called
(Jer. 35:4).
The “leaders” or “chiefs” of the Levites (1 Chron. 15:16) or priests (Ezra 8:24) are
!
In 1 Chron. 24:5, the word appears to be a title: “Thus were they divided by lot,
one sort with another; for the governors of the sanctuary [
%
] and governors of
the house of God [
], were of the sons of Eleazar and of the sons of
Ithamar” (
NASB
, “officers of the sanctuary” and “officers of God”).
In the Book of Daniel,
is used of “superhuman beings” or “patron angels.” Thus,
Michael is the “prince” of Judah (Dan. 10:21; cf. Josh. 5:14). Daniel 8:25 speaks of a
king who will arise and “stand up against the Prince of princes” (i.e., the Messiah).
COMMANDMENT
(
(
/
, 4687), “commandment.” This noun occurs 181 times in the Old
Testament. Its first occurrence is in Gen. 26:5, where
(
is synonymous with
%
(“statute”) and
(“law”): “Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my
charge, my
my statutes, and my laws.” In the Pentateuch, God is always
the Giver of the
(
“All the commandments which I command thee this day shall
ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the
Lord sware unto your fathers. And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy
God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to
know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no”
(Deut. 8:1-2). The “commandment” may be a prescription (“thou shalt do …”) or a
proscription (“thou shalt not do …”). The commandments were given in thhearing of the
Israelites (Exod. 15:26; Deut. 11:13), who were to “do” (Lev. 4:2ff.) and “keep” (Deut.
4:2; Ps. 78:7) them. Any failure to do so signified a covenantal breach (Num. 15:31),
transgression (2 Chron. 24:20), and apostasy (1 Kings 18:18).
The plural of
(
often denotes a “body of laws” given by divine revelation.
They are God’s “word”: “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking
heed thereto according to thy word” (Ps. 119:9). They are also known as “the
commandments of God.”
Outside the Pentateuch, “commandments” are given by kings (1 Kings 2:43), fathers
(Jer. 35:14), people (Isa. 29:13), and teachers of wisdom (Prov. 6:20; cf. 5:13). Only
about ten percent of all occurrences in the Old Testament fit this category.
The Septuagint translations are:
(“commandment; order”) and
(“order; commandment; injunction”).
COMPANION
A. Nouns.