the Third Week of Advent
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!
Bible Dictionaries
Magistrate
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or MAGISTRATE. This word is used in the AV [Note: Authorized Version.] to represent either ‘judge’ or ‘ruler’ ‘authority’ in the most general sense. The latter is its meaning in Judges 18:7 (RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘none in the land, possessing authority’ implying independence of Zidon and PhÅ“nicia). The former is its meaning in Ezra 7:25 , where it stands for shôphetim (the same word as sufçtes , by which the Romans designated the Carthaginian magistrates). In Luke 12:11; Luke 12:58 , Titus 3:1 it stands for derivatives of the general word archo , ‘to rule,’ but in the passages from Lk. with a special reference to judges. In Acts 16:20-38 the word is used to translate the Gr. stratçgoi . This is often used as the equivalent of the Lat. prÅ“tores , and in the older Roman colonies the two supreme magistrates were often known by this name. But we have no evidence that the magistrates at Philippi were called prætors , and it probably represents the more usual duumviri .
A. E. Hillard.
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Hastings, James. Entry for 'Magistrate'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/m/magistrate.html. 1909.
