Judge (Noun and Verb)
Judge (Noun and Verb)
“a judge” (from krino, see B, No. 1), is used (a) of God, Heb 12:23, where the order in the original is “to a Judge who is God of all;” this is really the significance; it suggests that He who is the Judge of His people is at the same time their God; that is the order in Heb 10:30; the word is also used of God in Jam 4:12, RV; (b) of Christ, Act 10:42; 2Ti 4:8; Jam 5:9; (c) of a ruler in Israel in the times of the Judges, Act 13:20; (d) of a Roman procurator, Act 24:10; (e) of those whose conduct provides a standard of “judging,” Mat 12:27; Luk 11:19; (f) in the forensic sense, of one who tries and decides a case, Mat 5:25 (twice); Luk 12:14 (some mss. have No. 2 here); Luk 12:58 (twice); Luk 18:2; Luk 18:6 (lit., “the judge of unrighteousness,” expressing subjectively his character); Act 18:15; (g) of one who passes, or arrogates to himself, judgment on anything, Jam 2:4 (see the RV); Jam 4:11.
denotes “a judge” (from dike, “right, a judicial hearing, justice;” akin to dikazo, “to judge”), Act 7:27, Act 7:35; some mss. have it in Luk 12:14 (see No. 1); while dikastes is a forensic term, krites “gives prominence to the mental process” (Thayer). At Athens the dikastes acted as a juryman, the krites being the presiding “judge.”
primarily denotes “to separate, select, choose;” hence, “to determine,” and so “to judge, pronounce judgment.” “The uses of this verb in the NT may be analyzed as follows: (a) to assume the office of a judge, Mat 7:1; Joh 3:17; (b) to undergo process of trial, Joh 3:18; Joh 16:11; Joh 18:31; Jam 2:12; (c) to give sentence, Act 15:19; Act 16:4; Act 21:25; (d) to condemn, Joh 12:48; Act 13:27; Rom 2:27; (e) to execute judgment upon, 2Th 2:12; Act 7:7; (f) to be involved in a lawsuit, whether as plaintiff, Mat 5:40; 1Co 6:1; or as defendant, Act 23:6; (g) to administer affairs, to govern, Mat 19:28; cp. Jdg 3:10; (h) to form an opinion, Luk 7:43; Joh 7:24; Act 4:19; Rom 14:5; (i) to make a resolve, Act 3:13; Act 20:16; 1Co 2:2” * [* From Notes on Thessalonians by Hogg and Vine, p. 267.] See CALL, No. 13, CONCLUDE, CONDEMN, DECREE, DETERMINE, ESTEEM, LAW (go to), ORDAIN, SENTENCE, THINK.
Note: In Act 21:25, the RV has “giving judgment” (AV, “concluded”); see JUDGMENT, Note (5).
“to examine, investigate, question” (ana, “up,” and No. 1), is rendered “judged” in 1Co 2:14, RV (AV, “are … discerned;” RV marg., “examined”), said of the things of the Spirit of God; in 1Co 2:15, “judgeth” (RV marg., “examineth”), said of the exercise of a discerning “judgment” of all things as to their true value, by one who is spiritual; in the same verse, “is judged (of no man),” RV marg., “examined,” i.e., the merely natural mind cannot estimate the motives of the spiritual; in 1Co 4:3, “I should be judged,” i.e., as to examining and passing sentence on the fulfillment or nonfulfillment of the Apostle’s stewardship; so in the same verse, “I judge (not mine own self),” and in 1Co 4:4 “(he that) judgeth (me is the Lord);” in 1Co 14:24, “he is judged (of all),” i.e., the light of the heart-searching testimony of the assembly probes the conscience of the unregenerate, sifting him judicailly. See ASK, No. 7, DISCERN, A, No. 1.
denotes “to separate throughout” (dia, and No. 1), “discriminate, discern,” and hence, “to decide, to judge” (also “to contend, to hesitate, to doubt”); it is rendered “to judge” in 1Co 6:5, in the sense of arbitrating; in 1Co 11:31 (1st part), the RV has “(if we) discerned (ourselves),” AV “(if we would) judge” (krino, No. 1, is used in the 2nd part); so in 1Co 14:29, RV, “discern” (AV, “judge”). See DECIDE, A, DISCERN, A. No. 2.
Notes: (1) In 1Co 6:2 (last clause) “to judge” represents the noun kriterion, which denotes “a tribunal, a law court,” and the meaning thus is “are ye unworthy of sitting upon tribunals of least importance?” (see RV marg.), i.e., to “judge” matters of smallest importance. Some would render it “cases,” but there is no clear instance elsewhere of this meaning. See JUDGMENT SEAT. (2) In Heb 11:11, the verb hegeomai, “to consider, think, account,” is rendered “she judged (Him faithful),” AV (RV, “she counted”). See COUNT, No. 2.