Judge

2 Chronicles 20:12a (NIV) O our God, will you not judge them?

2 Chronicles 20:12a (ESV) O our God, will you not execute judgment on them?

I looked up the word "judge". In dictionary.com the definition includes the meaning from the Hebrew Old Testament, where judge means to govern or rule or law when used as a noun. So if we use this meaning when reading the NIV version, it reads, "will you not govern or rule them?" Jehoshaphat asks God to govern or rule their enemies. But I wonder if that is what he is asking. That certainly isn't what I think of when I read it. I have the impression that Jehoshaphat is asking God to eliminate his enemies or cause them to fail, not just govern them.

I then looked up "judge" to see the places it was used in the Bible and other translations of the same original word. I used the Strong's Lexicon as I did in other blog posts. There are 116 original words that were sometimes translated into the word Judge. The original words were also sometimes translated into words like: avenge, condemn, plead, defend, vindicate, discern convict. There are a host of other possible implications for this plea from Jehoshaphat. (Here is the specific information from the original word used in this passage: 8199 שָׁפַט [shaphat /shaw·fat/] v. A primitive root; TWOT 2443; GK 9149; 203 occurrences; AV translates as “judge (v)” 119 times, “judge (n)” 60 times, “plead” 11 times, “avenged” twice, “condemn” twice, “execute” twice, “judgment” twice, “defend” once, “deliver” once, and translated miscellaneously three times. 1 to judge, govern, vindicate, punish. 1a (Qal). 1a1 to act as law-giver or judge or governor (of God, man). 1a1a to rule, govern, judge. 1a2 to decide controversy (of God, man). 1a3 to execute judgment. 1a3a discriminating (of man). 1a3b vindicating. 1a3c condemning and punishing. 1a3d at theophanic advent for final judgment. 1b (Niphal). 1b1 to enter into controversy, plead, have controversy together. 1b2 to be judged. 1c (Poel) judge, opponent-at-law (participle).

v v: verb

TWOT Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament

GK Goodrick-Kohlenberger

AV Authorized Version

Strong, J. (1996). The exhaustive concordance of the Bible : Showing every word of the text of the common English version of the canonical books, and every occurrence of each word in regular order. (electronic ed.) (H8199). Ontario: Woodside Bible Fellowship.)

Matthew Henry commentary says that it should be described as "sentence and execute the sentence" their enemies.

I don't know if I know much more than I did before I started looking at this. I've learned a little more about how to use the resources I have on my computer and on the Internet. I've learned that I need to be open minded to other interpretations, at least until I do some research on my own. I also need to be careful when I judge others. Am I passing a sentence? Am I condemning, vindicating, defending?

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