Hebrew word · H8201

שֶׁ֫פֶט

shefatim

judgment

Acts of judgment: punishments carried out on those found guilty. Related to shaphat, 'to judge, govern, set things right', but this noun is rare and always means penalties God carries out (Exod 7:4; 12:12; Num 33:4; Ezek 5:10, 15; 14:21; 2 Chr 24:24).

Appears 16 times in 16 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

judgment, act of judgment

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 Exodus 6:6

Range of meaning

Acts of judgment: punishments carried out on those found guilty. Related to shaphat, 'to judge, govern, set things right', but this noun is rare and always means penalties God carries out (Exod 7:4; 12:12; Num 33:4; Ezek 5:10, 15; 14:21; 2 Chr 24:24).

Against the English

'Great judgments' (KJV, WEB, NASB) can sound like court rulings or opinions. 'Mighty acts of judgment' (BSB) and 'great acts of judgment' (ESV, NIV) make the active, punitive sense clearer.

How it drifted

Modern 'judgment' usually means a decision or an opinion ('in my judgment'). The Hebrew here means a sentence being carried out.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exodus 12:12 makes the target explicit: 'on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments (shephatim); I am YHWH.' Numbers 33:4 looks back: 'on their gods YHWH executed judgments'.

From the study of Exodus 12:12

Range of meaning

Found only in the plural: punishments or penalties, judicial acts carried out. It comes from the root shaphat ('to judge, govern, set right'), but its use is narrowly punitive: 'doing judgments' on someone means carrying out a sentence against them.

Against the English

BSB and NIV turn it into a singular ('judgment'). KJV has 'execute judgment'. WEB, ESV and NASB keep the plural 'judgments'. YLT's literal 'I do judgments' is the closest to the Hebrew wording. The plural points to concrete punitive acts, not an abstract verdict.

How it drifted

To modern ears 'judgment' sounds like a court ruling, an opinion, or the end-time Last Judgment. Here the sense is enforcement: the sentence is being carried out now, in history, that night.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exodus 6:6 and 7:4 promise redemption 'with great judgments' (bishfatim gedolim). Numbers 33:4 uses it of this very night. Ezekiel uses it repeatedly of punishments carried out on Jerusalem and the nations (Ezekiel 5:10, 15; 25:11; 30:14, 19). Proverbs 19:29 has 'penalties are prepared for scoffers.' The Greek Septuagint renders it ekdikēsis, 'punishment' or 'vengeance', which confirms the punitive sense.

From the study of Ezekiel 14:21

Range of meaning

A rare noun from the root š-p-ṭ ('to judge, govern, set right'). It almost never means a verdict or legal ruling. It means punitive acts: the penalty carried out, judgment done to someone. It occurs only in the plural and nearly always with the verb 'to do/execute' (ʿāśâ šəpāṭîm). The cognate mišpāṭ is the broad word for justice, custom and ruling.

Against the English

'Judgments' (KJV, WEB, BSB, NASB) is accurate if the reader hears 'acts of judgment', but a modern ear leans toward court decisions or opinions. ESV's 'acts of judgment' and NLT's 'punishments' bring out what the word actually means.

How it drifted

In modern English 'judgment' mostly means an opinion, a court ruling, or the faculty of discernment. Its older sense of 'a calamity sent as punishment' has faded except in religious language.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 6:6; 7:4; 12:12; Num 33:4: the 'great judgments' God executed on Egypt and its gods, that is, the plagues. Ezekiel uses the word more than any other book (5:10, 15; 11:9; 16:41; 25:11; 28:22, 26; 30:14, 19). It also appears in 2 Chr 24:24 and Prov 19:29 ('penalties are prepared for scoffers').

Similar words

Where it appears

Exodus · 3

  1. Exodus 6:6 וּבִשְׁפָטִ֖ים and with acts of judgment

    Therefore tell the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.

    Here: Sentences carried out on the guilty party. A rare word, always used for punishments God inflicts (Exod 7:4; 12:12; Num 33:4). Here it points to the plagues.

  2. Exodus 7:4 בִּשְׁפָטִ֖ים with acts of judgment

    Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay My hand on Egypt, and by mighty acts of judgment I will bring the divisions of My people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

    Here: 'By judgments,' meaning the means by which Israel comes out. These are not opinions or bare verdicts but penalties actually inflicted, as the plagues will show.

  3. Exodus 12:12 שְׁפָטִ֖ים acts of judgment

    On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn male, both man and beast, and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.

    Here: "Judgments," a plural, rare word meaning punishments actually carried out on the guilty. It is the deed that enforces a verdict, not a court verdict on its own. It echoes God's promise in 6:6 and 7:4 to bring Israel out 'with great judgments'.

Numbers · 1

  1. Numbers 33:4 שְׁפָטִֽים׃ acts of judgment

    who were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had struck down among them; for the LORD had executed judgment against their gods.

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 24:24 שְׁפָטִֽים׃ judgment<s>

    Although the Aramean army had come with only a few men, the LORD delivered into their hand a very great army. Because Judah had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, judgment was executed on Joash.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 19:29 שְׁפָטִ֑ים judgments

    Judgments are prepared for mockers, and beatings for the backs of fools.

    Here: Penal judgments, sentences that are carried out. Everywhere else in the Bible the word means God's punitive acts, such as the 'great judgments' on Egypt. Here it means the punishment that falls on the scoffer. Some read 'rods' instead (see variants).

Ezekiel · 10

  1. Ezekiel 5:10 שְׁפָטִ֔ים judgments

    As a result, fathers among you will eat their sons, and sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments against you and scatter all your remnant to every wind.’

    Here: Not verdicts or opinions but punitive acts carried out. The word otherwise mostly describes God's blows against Egypt and foreign nations; here they fall on Jerusalem.

  2. Ezekiel 5:15 שְׁפָטִ֜ים judgments

    So you will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror to the nations around you, when I execute judgments against you in anger, wrath, and raging fury. I, the LORD, have spoken.

    Here: Not verdicts but acts of punishment. The word is used of the plagues on Egypt (Exod 6:6; 12:12). Here it is turned against Yahweh's own city.

  3. Ezekiel 11:9 שְׁפָטִֽים׃ judgments

    I will bring you out of the city and deliver you into the hands of foreigners, and I will execute judgments against you.

  4. Ezekiel 14:21 שְׁפָטַ֣י׀ judgments my

    For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem My four dire judgments—sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague—in order to cut off from it both man and beast?

    Here: 'My judgments': penalties God carries out, not verdicts he announces. It is the word used for the plagues on Egypt, now turned on Jerusalem.

  5. Ezekiel 16:41 שְׁפָטִ֔ים judgments

    Then they will burn down your houses and execute judgment against you in the sight of many women. I will put an end to your prostitution, and you will never again pay your lovers.

    Here: Not a court verdict but the punishments that carry out a sentence already passed. The sentence was given in v. 38: the 'judgments of adulteresses and of women who shed blood'.

  6. Ezekiel 25:11 שְׁפָטִ֑ים judgments

    So I will execute judgments on Moab, and they will know that I am the LORD.’

  7. Ezekiel 28:22 שְׁפָטִ֖ים judgments

    And you are to declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I am against you, O Sidon, and I will be glorified within you. They will know that I am the LORD when I execute judgments against her and demonstrate My holiness through her.

    Here: 'Acts of judgment', meaning penalties carried out, not court verdicts. Verse 23 spells them out: plague, blood in the streets, the sword on every side. The word recalls the 'judgments' on Egypt in the Exodus.

  8. Ezekiel 28:26 שְׁפָטִ֗ים judgments

    And there they will dwell securely, build houses, and plant vineyards. They will dwell securely when I execute judgments against all those around them who treat them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God.’”

    Here: 'Judgments': penalties actually carried out. These are deeds of justice done to the guilty, not verdicts spoken in court.

  9. Ezekiel 30:14 שְׁפָטִ֖ים judgments

    I will lay waste Pathros, set fire to Zoan, and execute judgment on Thebes.

  10. Ezekiel 30:19 שְׁפָטִ֖ים judgments

    So I will execute judgment on Egypt, and they will know that I am the LORD.”

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