Hebrew word · H6414

פָּלִיל

pelilim

judge

From the root p-l-l, 'to assess, estimate, arbitrate, intervene'. The same root gives the common verb for 'pray', in the sense of 'to plead or intercede'. The noun pālîl means one who arbitrates or assesses, a judge in a damages case. It means 'to mediate' in 1 Sam 2:25.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

judge, assessment, estimate

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Deuteronomy 32:31

Range of meaning

From the root p-l-l, 'to assess, estimate, arbitrate, intervene'. The same root gives the common verb for 'pray', in the sense of 'to plead or intercede'. The noun pālîl means one who arbitrates or assesses, a judge in a damages case. The verb in another form means 'to reckon, expect' (Gen 48:11, 'I did not expect to see your face'). It means 'to mediate' in 1 Sam 2:25.

Against the English

KJV's 'judges' can sound like court officials ruling over Israel, or even suggest the enemies were Israel's rulers. Modern versions turn the noun into a verb ('concede', 'realize', 'judge this'). That catches the sense of a verdict reached but loses the picture of the enemies standing as official assessors of the case.

How it drifted

In modern English 'judge' suggests a robed authority who passes sentence. The Hebrew word is closer to an assessor or arbiter who estimates and weighs, as in a damages claim.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 21:22: compensation for injury to a pregnant woman is paid 'bi-pelilim', 'as the assessors determine'. Job 31:11, 28: 'an iniquity for the judges', an offence that belongs before arbiters. Related nouns: pəlîlāh 'decision, judgment' (Isa 16:3) and pəlîliyyāh 'giving judgment' (Isa 28:7). The Septuagint here has anoētoi, 'senseless, without understanding'. The Vulgate keeps 'iudices', 'judges'.

From the study of Exodus 21:22

Range of meaning

Traditionally 'judges' or 'arbiters' (Deut 32:31, 'our enemies being pelilim'; Job 31:11, 28 'an iniquity for pelilim'). It comes from the root p-l-l, 'to arbitrate, assess' (1 Sam 2:25). E. A. Speiser argued for 'assessment, reckoning'.

Against the English

KJV 'as the judges determine'; BSB 'as the court allows'; WEB 'the judges allow'; some modern scholars render it 'by assessment'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Josephus (Ant. 4.278) has the judges setting a fine, in addition to a payment to the husband. The LXX has 'with a valuation' (meta axiōmatos), which supports the 'assessment' sense.

Similar words

Where it appears

Exodus · 1

  1. Exodus 21:22 בִּפְלִלִֽים׃ for [the] estimate

    If men who are fighting strike a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely, but there is no further injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband demands and as the court allows.

    Here: 'By/through pelilim.' Traditionally 'through judges', so the husband's demand is checked by arbiters. Some scholars read it as 'by assessment', meaning a fair valuation. Either way the claim is not left wholly to the husband.

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 32:31 פְּלִילִֽים׃ assessments

    For their rock is not like our Rock, even our enemies concede.

    Here: A rare legal word for people who weigh a case and give an estimate. Here the enemies are cast as the assessors whose own verdict confirms the claim. Its exact force is debated; the Greek translators read it as 'senseless'.

Job · 1

  1. Job 31:11 פְּלִילִֽים׃ judges

    For that would be a heinous crime, an iniquity to be judged.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.