Tuesday, July 9, 2024

Note on Judges in the Book of Deuteronomy

  

In Deuteronomy, the context makes it clear that most šōpeṭîm are, indeed, “judges.” According to such passages as Deut 1:16-17 and 16:18-20, these šōpeṭîm were situated in the city gates were supposed to hear cases with fairness and impartiality. As pointed out by Fox (2000, 165-166) they were supposed to deal with certain types of cases, while others, such as those of rebellious sons (Deut 21:19), brides accused of not being virgins (22:15-19) and so on are to be adjudicated b the town zeqnîm, the “elders” . . . (Yigal Levin, “Judges, Elders, and Officers in Chronicles,” in Transforming Authority: Concepts of Leadership in Prophetic and Chronistic Literature, ed. Katharina Pyschny and Sarah Schultz [Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 518; Tübingen: De Gruyter, 2023], 224)

 

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