[Greek] κριτής (kritēs), [Latin] iudex, [French] juge, [French] oumpere, [Latin] testis: judge, umpire, witness; Mt.5:25, Mt.12:27, Lk.11:19, Lk.12:58, Lk.18:2,6, Acts 10:42, Acts 13:20, Acts 24:10, 2Tim. 4:8, Heb.12:23, Jam.2:4, Jam.4:11, Jam.5:9
Parable of the Unjust Judge: painting by Pieter de Grebber (1628)
Background information:
Greek Hellenism: This term means judge, umpire, and interpreter. Aeschylus’ Suppliant Women 397 state “The judgment is not easy—do not make the judge. I have declared already that, though I am ruler, I will not do this thing without the consent of the people.” Aeschylus’ Persians 226 states “According to our interpretation of these portents, the issue with all respect prove prosperous to you.” Antiphon’s On the Murder of Herodes 5.94 states “It is not haste, but discretion which triumphs; so take cognizance of the case today; pass judgment over it later, form an opinion as to the truth today: decide upon it later.” Aristophanes’ Birds 445 states “I swear it and, if I keep my promise, let judges and spectators give me the victory unanimously.”
Old Testament: This term means judge, advocate, judging, being judged, giving legal aid, litigating, and executing justice. The Lord therefore be judge, and judge between me and you (1Sam.24:15). Arise, Lord, let no mortal prevail; let the nation be judged in your presence (Psa.9:20). Whenever they have a disagreement, they come to me to have me settle the matter between them (Exo.18:16). Give your servant an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong (1Kgs.3:9). Make justice your aim: redress the wronged (Isa.1:17). For the Lord shall judge all mankind by fire and sword (Isa.66:16).
Oath swearing (“putting a hand under someone’s thigh”): The thigh is considered a euphemism for the loins or testes. The ‘thigh’ was considered important for the purposes of taking an oath. Abraham had been promised a ‘seed’ by God. This covenantal blessing was passed on to his sons. Abraham made his trusted servant swear “on the seed of Abraham” that he would find a wife for Isaac. The Hebrew custom was to swear on circumcision, the mark of God’s covenant. Later Jewish tradition holds that allowing one’s hand to be sat on was a submission of authority.
“Abraham said to his servant of his household, who had charge of all his possessions: ‘Put your hand under my thigh, and I will make you swear by the Lord God, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites’.” Gen.24:2-3
Abraham, through a covenant action, was promised a ‘seed’ by God. The loins become associated with making oaths.
“So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore to him concerning this matter.” Gen.24:9
The servant acts on his oath to carry out Abraham’s request.
“When the time approached for Israel to die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, ‘If it pleases you, put your hand under my thigh as sign of your enduring fidelity to me; do not bury me in Egypt.’” Gen. 47:29
Joseph swears to carry out his father’s earnest final request.
New Testament: This term essentially means judge. Scriptural examples refer to official judges, God, and people judging (and being judged by others). In his incarceration, Paul has confidence in the governor as a fair judge. Reconciliation with an offended brother is urgently preferable than facing judgment from an unrepentant judge. The persistent widow before the unjust judge makes reference to the need for persistent prayer. God is viewed as the eternal and just judge.
Scripture:
“There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being.” Lk.18:2
The poor widow kept bothering the judge. The poor widow was persistent in her efforts and the judge relented and gave a just verdict. This refers to the usefulness and benefits of perseverance in prayer.
“And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges.” Mt.12:27
After pointing out the absurdity of this charge, Jesus asks by what authority do the Jewish exorcists have. Jesus asks how will these people make a judgment about this.
“Do not complain, brothers, about one another, that you may not be judged. Behold the Judge is standing before the gates.” Jam.5:9
We are called to not make judgments, lest we become judged.
Umpire: This word was originally derived from the French noumpere, which refers to a third person who arbitrates between two persons. The prefix non- means not and –per means equal. Later the letter n was removed. An umpire is essentially one without equal.
Conclusion:
Judge, judgment, testify, testimony, umpire, testes
Not surprisingly, this term is frequently found in a culture with rulers, kings, emperors, and generals. It was interesting to discover that this term also refers to an interpreter of the gods’ messages (portents). Perhaps, this is an apt definition of a judge. I was really taken aback in that the Latin word for judge is testis. (I am sure one can image what immediately comes to mind –a man’ sexual organs????). Testes and judges – I did not see that coming! Perhaps that is also why that the term loins is also used euphemistically used for this region.
In the Old Testament, I did some further research on this term. Then to my further surprise, I came across the early Old Testament practice of making an oath by putting one’s hand under someone’s “thigh”. A servant made an oath to Abraham by doing exactly this. This practice perhaps make sense in light of that God made a covenant blessing through Abraham’s seed (ability to have children). In a sense, one’s seed provides a witness (testimony) of one’s fatherhood.
In the New Testament, this term refers to actual judges, God, and people judging (and being judged by others). Parables and instructional advice pertains to prayer, perseverance, prejudices, and presumption.
I was quite surprised by the covenant practice of placing one’s under someone’s thigh. What do you think?
Update: election aftermath: Immediately, it is going to be very interesting to see what will unfold in this election. To be honest, the Trump campaign has had to deal with many under-handed practices (actions) from the other side. Examples include changing election rules without the legislatures’ authority, blocking election observers, claiming that illustrating and highlighting fraud is “undermining democracy”, many election whistleblowers (eye-witnesses), shady voting switches, “water leaks”, election software connected to the internet, political stonewalling, shredded ballots, foreign nation involvement, and potential political foreign influence of politicians.
How do you have more recorded votes than recorded voters (Pennsylvania)? How do accumulated recorded votes actually decrease during election night? It is also very unfortunate that we do not have impartial judges as (umpires) who can “call balls and strikes” for both sides. Instead, we have weak-kneed judicial decisions, and partisan judicial activism (by acting or not acting).
With all these events happening, it’s like we are in a Tom Clancy novel! (You can’t really make these things up). That is how it looks like it for me. But I will let you be the judge of that!