What do the judges established by the Torah have in common with the judges of our day? Does the same command to respect and obey apply to both? Let us examine what justice truly means from Yehovah’s perspective.
Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.
Exodus 22:28
According to a rabbinic enumeration by Maimonides, there are 613 commandments in the Torah. Beginning with the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, we see that after a brief interruption—when the people ask Moses to speak with the Almighty on their behalf, since up to that point they had all been hearing the words from heaven—the narrative continues with the giving and enumeration of additional commandments.
The word Mishpatim, which gives its name to the Torah portion covering Exodus 21:1–24:18, comes from the Hebrew root shafat (שפט), meaning “to judge.” Shofet means “judge.”
What follows, then, is a series of “judgments”—or, more precisely, laws and statutes concerning how we are to conduct ourselves, primarily in our relationships with our fellow human beings, although there are also laws governing the relationship between man and God. Together, they provide a universal standard that can be applied throughout history to understand the concept of justice from a Divine perspective.
It is within this context that we find, among these decrees, the command not to revile the judges nor curse the ruler of our people.
To begin with, it is interesting to note that the word translated as “judges” in some versions is the Hebrew Elohim, a term generally translated as “God” or “gods,” but which in certain contexts has also been understood as referring to judges or authorities exercising a judicial function. For this reason, some translations of Exodus 22:28 render the term as “judges,” while others translate it as “God” or “gods.” For the purposes of this article, we will follow the interpretation of “judges,” while recognizing that this difference in translation exists.
The Role of the Judges
When we read the Torah in its context, we first understand that judges were part of a system established by Moses for resolving disputes.
It is worth remembering that for a period after leaving Egypt, Moses himself dealt with all kinds of disputes that arose among the great multitude of Israelites traveling through the wilderness. This situation was not sustainable in the long term. When Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, encountered this reality, he did not hesitate to suggest that Moses appoint a number of judges who could resolve lesser disputes among members of a particular family or tribe. Only the more serious and difficult cases would then proceed to higher levels of the judicial process.
In a similar way, today we have local and state or provincial courts, followed by higher courts, including a Supreme Court, which may consider particular cases that could not be resolved in lower courts or that have been appealed.
These judges were responsible for disputes involving private property, damages to others, personal injuries, and many other matters.
The system instituted by Moses and implemented during Israel’s journey through the wilderness established the principle of an organized judicial structure, with judges responsible for resolving disputes at different levels. Centuries later, during the Second Temple period, we find this principle developed in local courts and in the Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. Although we should not directly identify the system established by Moses with the later institution of the Sanhedrin, there is a clear continuity in the principle of establishing judicial authorities to interpret and apply the law.
The role of judges and their importance in ancient Hebrew society cannot be overstated. Moses himself summarizes this principle in the book of Deuteronomy:
If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the place which Yehovah thy God shall choose;
And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and enquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment:
And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which Yehovah shall choose shall shew thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee:
According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall shew thee, to the right hand, nor to the left.
And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before Yehovah thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel.
And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.
Deuteronomy 17:8–13
Who Are the Judges Today?
As the verse quoted at the beginning of this article says, we are to respect our judges and leaders. The question I would like to raise is whether this requirement applies to every judge, in every place and at every time.
What follows is simply my opinion. If you have a different view or would like to share your thoughts on this presentation, I invite you to do so in the comments section below.
In the previous section of this article, I presented the biblical case concerning the function of judges in relation to the laws established by the Creator in His Torah. The Torah makes no provision for new legislation; on the contrary, adding to or taking away from the Word is forbidden (Deuteronomy 4:2). The role of the judges was simply to resolve civil disputes by interpreting the law of the Torah in light of the different circumstances brought before them.
In contrast, judges today in our various nations do not interpret the laws of the Torah, but rather the local laws of the countries in which they reside. These nations have their own constitutions and legislatures that add and remove laws according to the political agendas of the day. Such laws may or may not coincide with what the God of Israel calls justice.
It should therefore be clear that the judges to whom the Almighty is referring, whose rulings Israel was commanded to obey, were those who rendered their judgments on the basis of the laws of the Torah.
Should We Respect Our Leaders? Conclusion
When the Torah speaks of “the ruler of thy people,” what is our people? Where is our identity ultimately rooted? Is it in a nation-state founded a few centuries ago, or in the enduring nation of Israel, concerning which the Father declares that the established order of creation would have to disappear before Israel ceased to be a nation before Him?
Despite my radical view of the political reality in which we live, I would like to close with a balanced perspective that we can see in the life of the prophet Daniel and in his relationship with several kings of Babylon and Persia.
Living in exile and under the hegemony of a great and oppressive power, Daniel accepted service within the governmental structure of Babylon and, later, Persia. Although the text does not explicitly tell us his motivations for doing so, his life demonstrates that it was possible to serve within a pagan political system without surrendering his higher allegiance to the God of Israel and His commandments.
Daniel served pagan kings, just as centuries later Yeshua would teach His disciples to render unto Caesar the things that belonged to Caesar.
On the other hand, Daniel never compromised his integrity when it came to the eternal laws of the Torah, even when his faithfulness brought opposition, hostility, and persecution at the hands of those who possessed the power to punish him and could not tolerate even the slightest indication of disobedience.