{"id":56537,"date":"2019-06-02T00:00:21","date_gmt":"2019-06-01T21:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=56537"},"modified":"2022-12-25T09:02:22","modified_gmt":"2022-12-25T07:02:22","slug":"shofet-the-so-called-judge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/shofet-the-so-called-judge\/","title":{"rendered":"Shofet &#8211; The So-Called \u201cJudge\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[837,414,402],"acf":{"old_id":"56537","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":37333,"related_cahpter":"232","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Stating the law is one thing, living it is another","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each time we encounter a text, we read it from our own perspective. Some people may find a poem touching and poignant, others may think it trite and sugary. Some may laugh at a clever joke, others may find it gauche or perplexing. Sometimes we need tools, such as a lexicon or dictionary, to understand a text. Sometimes we come across texts that we struggle to understand at all.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Modern Hebrew, <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mishpat<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> means two things: a \u201csentence,\u201d a unit of written text ending with a period; and \u201claw.\u201d A <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">beit mishpat<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a court (\u201chouse\u201d) of law. A judge is a <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shofet<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, one who judges and gives sentences. Sometimes, the English translation can lead us astray. The Book of Judges, called <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shoftim<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in Hebrew, records the <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shoftim<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> who led the nation of Israel as they settled the promised land of Canaan. Yet, to understand <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shoftim<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as \u2018judges\u2019 from our modern perspective is misleading. The ancient <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shoftim<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> had a role more complex than a judge in a court of law. They led the Israelites in battle against other nations, governing and ruling over the people to carry out God\u2019s will.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the Book of Judges, there is tension between the people, the judges and God. There is a verse repeated twice verbatim, in two separate chapters: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did as he pleased\u2019 (Judges 17:6, 21:25). It is in fact the phrase that concludes the entire book. It exudes a sense of frustration from the narrator, who deplores the lack of divinely ordained sovereignty in the nation of Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Biblical scholars link this verse to a commandment uttered by Moses in his address to the people of Israel before his death, back in the Book of Deuteronomy \u2013 considered to be the basis for the theology found in the Book of Judges. It states: \u2018You shall not act at all as we now act here, every man as he pleases\u2019 (Deuteronomy 12:8). Once the people of Israel reach the promised land, their behavior must change. Creating a nation is not a straightforward path but a journey filled with twists, bumps, and wrong turns. Stating the law is one thing, living it is another. For the biblical judges, <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shoftim<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, governing the people was not just about law, but maintaining a people, enabling and facilitating a nation to reach its potential.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":56538,"id":56538,"title":"jud21-judge","filename":"jud21-judge.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jud21-judge.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/shofet-the-so-called-judge\/jud21-judge\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jud21-judge","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":56537,"date":"2019-06-01 21:00:07","modified":"2022-12-07 06:36:11","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":900,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jud21-judge-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jud21-judge-211x300.png","medium-width":211,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jud21-judge-720x1024.png","medium_large-width":720,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jud21-judge-720x1024.png","large-width":720,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jud21-judge.png","1536x1536-width":900,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jud21-judge.png","2048x2048-width":900,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jud21-judge-844x1200.png","post_full_size-width":844,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jud21-judge-295x420.png","home_baner-width":295,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Shofet - 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