Bible Dictionary
JUDGING JUDGMENT
Judging may mean administering justice, deciding a matter, examining carefully, or distinguishing rightly. Scripture presents God as the supreme Judge and calls people to exercise judgment fairly and discerningly rather than condemn unjustly.
Definition
Judging or judgment may mean administering justice, deciding a matter, examining carefully, distinguishing rightly, or declaring a verdict. In Scripture, God is the supreme Judge, while human authorities are responsible to judge fairly.
Biblical Usage
The Old Testament applies judging to magistrates, elders, kings, and priests, and repeatedly presents God as Judge. The New Testament uses related terms for deciding, scrutinizing, discriminating, judicial proceedings, and God’s final judgment, which may also be experienced as condemnation by the guilty.
Historical Background
Justice in Israel was commonly administered through elders, kings, or priests. Biblical judgment may be expressed through words, deeds, or decisions still awaiting public declaration.
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>juj'-ing, juj'-ment: Often in the Old Testament for "to act as a magistrate" (Ex 18:13; De 1:16; 16:18, etc.), justice being administered generally by "elders" (Ex 18:13-27), or "kings" (1Sa 8:20) or "priests" (De 18:15); applied to God as the Supreme Judge (Ps 9:7,8; 10:18; 96:13; Mic 4:3, etc.; Ps 7:8 "Yahweh ministereth judgment," vividly describes a court scene, with Yahweh as Judge).</p><p>Often in the New Testament, ethically, for</p><p>(1) "to decide," "give a verdict," "declare an opinion" (Greek krino);</p><p>(2) "to investigate," "scrutinize" (Greek anakrino);</p><p>(3) "to discriminate," "distinguish" (Greek diakrino).</p><p>For (1), see Lu 7:43; Ac 15:19;</p><p>for (2) see 1Co 2:15; 4:3;</p><p>for (3)see 1Co 11:31; 14:29 m.</p><p>Used also forensically in Lu 22:30; Ac 25:10; and applied to God in Joh 5:22; Heb 10:30. The judgments of God are the expression of His justice, the formal declarations of His judgments, whether embodied in words (De 5:1 the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) "statutes"), or deeds (Ex 6:6; Re 16:7), or in decisions that are yet to be published (Ps 36:6). Man's consciousness of guilt inevitably associates God's judgments as declarations of the Divine justice, with his own condemnation, i.e. he knows that a strict exercise of justice means his condemnation, and thus "judgment" and "condemnation" become in his mind synonymous (Ro 5:16); hence, the prayer of Ps 143:2, "Enter not into judgment"; also, Joh 6:29, "the resurrection of judgment" (the King James Version "damnation"); 1Co 11:29, "eateth and drinketh judgment" (the King James Version "damnation").</p><p>H. E. Jacobs</p>