Bible Lexicons

Girdlestone's Synonyms of the Old TestamentGirdlestone's OT Synonyms

Judgment, Condemnation

The words judgment and condemnation signify two very different things, yet they are sometimes conf used by the Bible reader. [The German language uses richten for the administration of justice, and urtheilen for the giving a judicial decision; but many languages are not able to mark this important distinction.] Shaphath (שׁפט , Ass. sapadhu) is the general word for the administration of justice. It is once rendered condemn in the A. V., namely, in Psalms 109:31, and here the margin points to the true rendering. The usual word for 'condemnation,' as has been shown elsewhere, is rasha, which in the Piel form signifies 'to account or deal wit has wicked.' It is used in this sense sixteen times, and is the exact opposite of the Hiphil form of tsadak, 'to account or deal wit has righteous.' in Psalms 109:7, 'let him be condemned' is literally 'let him go out as wicked.' in 2 Chronicles 36:3 and Amos 2:8 the word used (ענשׁ ) signifies to be fined or mulcted.

Coming now to the subject of judgment, we have to distinguish the various shades of meaning which the word possesses. When the Psalmist prays, 'Teach me good judgment' (Psalms 119:66), he uses a word which signifies taste or discrimination (טעם ), and asks for a keen moral and spiritual perception, suc has is referred to by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews when he speaks of those who ' by re as on of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil' (Hebrews 5:14).

In Genesis 31:37 Jacob says, 'Set thy goods before my brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge betwixt us both' (יכה ), that is, 'that they may decide which of us is right.' on the word Elohim , which is rendered judges in Exodus 21:6; Exodus 22:8, and 1 Samuel 2:25, see chap. ii in Jeremiah 51:47; Jeremiah 51:52, 'I will do judgment up on the graven images of Babylon,' the word for visitation (פקד ) is used. See chap. xvii. § 4.

Palal (פלל ), when used judicially, points to arbitration between two parties. It is rendered judge in 1 Samuel 2:25, 'If one man sin against another, the judge (Elohim) shall judge him (or arbitrate between the one and the other)'; Psalms 106:30, 'Then stood up Phine has and executed judgment, and so the plague was stayed.' The Prayer Book version reads, 'Then stood up Phine has and prayed' (i.e. sought the arbitration of God). See also Exodus 21:22; Deuteronomy 32:31; Job 31:11; Job 31:28; Isaiah 16:3; Isaiah 28:7; Ezekiel 16:52; Ezekiel 28:23.

D in (דין , Ass. danu), to judge, whence the name Dan, implies a settlement of what is right where there is a charge up on a person, and so it comes to signify the decision of a cause. It is rendered judge in more than thirty passages. It is a judicial word, while shaphaThis rather administrative. The one would mark the act whereby men's position and destiny are decided; the other would point to the mode in which men would be governed and their affairs administered.

D in is first found in the following passages: - Genesis 15:14, 'The nation whom they shall serve will I judge.' Genesis 49:16, 'Dan shall judge his people.' Deuteronomy 32:36, 'The Lord shall judge his people.' Ezra 7:25-26, 'Set magistrates (shaphath) and judges (din), which may judge (din) all the people that are beyond the river, all suc has know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know not. and whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment (din) be executed speedily up on him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.' Psalms 50:4, 'He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.' Psalms 54:1, 'Judge me by thy strength.' Daniel 7:10, 'The judgment was set end the books opened.' Verse 22, 'Judgment was given to the saints of the most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.' Verse 26, 'The judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion.' See also Genesis 30:6; 1 Samuel 2:10; Esther 1:13; Job 19:29; Job 35:14; Job 36:17; Job 36:31; Psalms 68:5; Psalms 76:8; Psalms 96:10; Psalms 110:6; Psalms 135:14; Proverbs 20:8; Isaiah 3:13; Isaiah 10:2; Jeremiah 22:16; Daniel 4:37; Zechariah 3:7.

ShaphaThis the root of the name for the 'judges' who were raised up from time to time to be rulers over the land, to defend the people from enemies, to save them from their oppressors, to teach them the truth, to uphold them in the right course. It is in this general meaning that the word is usually found in the O.T. It is therefore not out of place that it should be rendered defend in Psalms 82:3; deliver in 1 Samuel 23:14; and rule in Ruth 1:1. The two words shaphath and dinare found side by side in some places, e.g. 1 Samuel 24:15; Psalms 7:8; Psalms 9:8; Psalms 72:2; and Jeremiah 5:28. But this by no means proves that their meanings are identical. Shaphath and d in are rendered in the LXX κρίνω, διακρίνω, δικάζω, and ἐκδικέω. The word κατακρίνωbarely exists in the LXX, but is found several times in the N.T. See, for example, Romans 8:1; Romans 8:34; 1 Corinthians 11:32. The judge is κριτής or δικαστής; and the judgment is κρι̂μα, κρίσις, δικαιοσύνη, δικαίωμα,

Judgment in the NT

Turning to the N.T., we may distinguish three kinds of judgment, namely: first, self-judgment, or the discrimination of one's own character; secondly, the Great Assize, when the destiny of each shall be assigned; and, thirdly? the administration of the world in righteousness.

It must be noticed, however, that κρίνω is sometimes used of an adverse judgment, as in John 3:17-18, 'God sent not his son into the world to condemn (κρίνειν) the world . he that believeThis not condemned (κρίνεται) . he that believeth not is condemned already' (ἤδη κέκριται); John 16:11, 'Now is the ruler of this world condemned' (κέκριται); 2 Thessalonians 2:12, 'That all might be condemned.' in these passages the R. V. uses the word judge.

In other passages κρίνωmeans to decide or form an estimate, whether favourable or the contrary, as in Matthew 7:1, 'Judge not (i.e. form no hard estimate of others), that ye be not judged' (i.e. that a hard estimate be not formed of you). Compare Romans 2:1; Luke 7:43, 'Thou hast formed a right estimate;' Acts 16:15, 'If ye have judged me to be faithful;' Romans 14:5, 'One judgeth one day above another;' James 4:11, 'He that judgeth his brother sets himself up as a judicial interpreter of the law.'

Occasionally there is reference to judicial administration. Thus, in Acts 17:31 it is said that God is about to judge the world in righteousness in the person of the Man whom He hath ordained; Matthew 19:28, 'Ye . shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel;' 1 Corinthians 6:2, 'The saints shall judge the world;' 1 Corinthians 6:3, 'We shall judge angels.'

God is described, under the name κριτής as the Judge of all (Hebrews 12:23), as the righteous Judge (2 Timothy 4:8), and as the one lawgiver [ and judge], who is able to save and to destroy (James 4:12); whilst the Lord Jesus is called the Judge of quick and dead (Acts 10:42).

The word κρι̂μα occurs nearly thirty times in the N.T., usually in the sense of condemnation in the wider sense of administrative justice we may refer to the following passages: - John 9:39, ' for judgment am I come into this world, that they which see Dot may see, and that they which see may be made blind;' Romans 11:33, 'How unsearchable are his judgments;' Revelation 20:4,

'I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given unto them.'

The word κρίσις is found in about fifty places in the N.T. Sometimes it signifies the formation of a right estimate of another's character and doings, as in Matthew 23:23, where it is joined with mercy and faith; Luke 11:42, where it is coupled with love. Accordingly, our Lord says to the Jews, 'Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous (or just) judgment' (John 7:24). He says of his own judgment, or mode of estimating and dealing with others, it is righteous, and just, and true (John 8:16). An estimate of the character and work of all men is to be formed by Christ; and the period in which this work will be accomplished is described as the Day of Judgment.

The word κρίσις is sometimes used in the sense of condemnation, as in Matthew 23:33 and John 5:24; whilst in John 5:29 a contrast is drawn between those that rise to life and those that rise to condemnation. Judgment, however, is the better word.