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Bible Dictionaries
Police
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or POLICE.—The traditional and unsettled character of governmental relations in Palestine in the time of Christ, and the scarcity of definite information as to the organization of civil procedure in the provincial courts, make it difficult to ascertain exactly what were the ordinary provisions for the administration of justice. We cannot positively say, for instance, how far the earlier methods which obtained under Jewish custom were overshadowed, and at times overridden, by the interference of Roman and military law. One fact, however, seems to emerge, viz., that as a rule, and as a matter of policy on the part of the Romans, the Jewish courts were left free to administer justice in their own way, and were permitted to retain a sufficient force of subordinate officers to execute the ordinary penalties of the law. It would only be in times of considerable disturbance, or in cases of the extreme penalty, that the Imperial power would come into evidence, and that soldiers would supplant the usual civil officers. ‘The ordinary administration of the law, both in criminal and civil matters, was left in the hands of the native and local courts’ (Schürer, HJP [Note: JP History of the Jewish People.] i. ii. 57). Generally, it may be safely affirmed, the Mosaic law still formed for the Jew the basis on which all such administration was conducted; justice was a department of religion, and the officers employed in its execution were Temple officials or servants of the local Sanhedrin.
There were two considerable exceptions to this rule—one arising from the arbitrary way in which the Herods exercised their power, and the other due to the invasion of Hellenistic ideas. In a city like Tiberias, e.g., where the Greek element was very large, administration was on the Greek model. The city had a council (βουλή) of 600 members (Josephus BJ ii. xxi. 9), with such officers as archon, hyparchoi, agoranomos, etc. (see Schürer, HJP [Note: JP History of the Jewish People.] ii. i. 145). The Greek cities of the Decapolis, while their local authorities were always liable to be superseded by the Imperial power (G. A. Smith, HGHL [Note: GHL Historical Geog. of Holy Land.] , p. 605), had ‘communal freedom, their own councils, … the right of property and administration in the surrounding districts’ (ib. p. 594). Even in purely Jewish towns, Greek influence was modifying the old usage. The large number of Greek and Latin words found in the Mishna (Schürer, HJP [Note: JP History of the Jewish People.] ii. i. 31–32) shows that after the 1st cent. a.d. the example of Hellenic institutions was producing a change in the methods of conducting civil government; and already in the Gospels we find traces of this, e.g., in the passage in which Jesus makes His most explicit reference to the processes of law (Matthew 5:25-26 = Luke 12:58): whereas Mt. uses terms which indicate Jewish usage (κριτής, ὑπηρέτης), Lk. employs as equivalents words which suggest the Roman procedure (ἄρχων, πράκτωρ); see below, and cf. Holtzmann, Hand-Com. in loco. In Matthew 5:22 (‘Every one who is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council’) Jesus is referring to the ordinary Jewish courts, the ‘judgment’ (κρίσις) being the ‘provincial court of seven’ (see EGT [Note: GT Expositor’s Greek Testanent.] , in loc., and below), the ‘council’ the Sanhedrin.
In Jerusalem there appear to have been two stipendiary magistrates, who were precluded from engaging in other occupations, and whose special province it was to superintend the observance of the police regulations of the city (see Edersheim, LT [Note: T Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah [Edersheim].] ii. p. 287). The ‘Unjust Judge’ of Luke 18:1-8 is probably an instance of a provincial police magistrate; but, while his unprincipled character is only too typical of Oriental judges, past and present (cf. Bruce, Parabolic Teaching of Christ, p. 158), it is not to be inferred from this parable that Jesus intended to reflect on the administration of justice as a whole. The usual number of judges for each city was, in accordance with ancient custom, seven (Josephus Ant. iv. viii. 14). Josephus, when in Galilee, ‘appointed seven judges in every city to hear the lesser quarrels; for, as to the greater causes and those wherein life and death were concerned, he enjoined they should be brought to him and the seventy elders’ (BJ ii. xx. 5).
The Mishna assumes the existence throughout the country of local Sanhedrins which possess very considerable powers. It is to these local Sanhedrins that Jesus makes reference when He tells His disciples: ‘Beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils’ (Matthew 10:17 = Mark 13:9). The supreme court was the Great Sanhedrin of Jerusalem, before which Jesus was tried, and in this body the religious and hierarchical character of the Jewish courts of justice was naturally more clearly preserved than elsewhere. They had under their control a body of Temple police, who were Levites, and were under the command of στρατηγοί, at whose head was an officer called στρατηγὸς τοῦ ἱεροῦ (Josephus Ant. xx. vi. 2; BJ vi. v. 3; Acts 4:1; Acts 5:24; the plural is used in Luke 22:4; Luke 22:52). The latter office was one which would be no sinecure, the numbers of people who thronged the Temple courts, even at ordinary times, being so great as to necessitate special provisions for keeping order. These Temple police were not armed or regularly trained; ‘the greater part of them were unarmed and unskilled in the affairs of war’ (Josephus BJ iv. iv. 6; cf. Edersheim, LT [Note: T Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah [Edersheim].] ii. p. 540). During the great feasts the Temple was guarded by a Roman cohort, which was stationed in the Tower of Antonia (BJ v. v. 8). The force which arrested Jesus in Gethsemane clearly consisted of two parts: (1) a detachment of the Roman garrison; (2) a body of Temple police (John 18:3; Westcott, in loc.). As to the guard which watched the tomb (Matthew 27:65-66; Matthew 28:11-15), there is room for doubt whether this was a small body of soldiers detached by Pilate at the request of the Sanhedrin, or a band of the Temple gendarmerie. Pilate’s words, ἔχετε κουστωδίαν (Matthew 27:65), are capable equally of the interpretation, ‘Take a guard ‘or ‘Ye have a guard.’ The fact that they report to the chief priests (Matthew 28:11) suggests that they were the satellites of the Sanhedrin, and that Pilate scornfully permitted them to use their own measures; but Matthew 28:14 ‘If this come to the governor’s ears,’ is in favour of the other interpretation.
The usual name for the officers charged with the execution of the law and the maintenance of order is ὑπηρέτης (Matthew 5:25, John 7:32; John 7:45-46; John 18:3; John 18:12). It may be variously translated ‘apparitor,’ ‘serjeant,’ or ‘warder.’ They had the duty, among others, of inflicting the punishment of scourging (Matthew 10:17 = Mark 13:9, Matthew 23:34). Josephus says that each judge had two ὑπηρέται assigned to him (Ant. iv. viii. 14); but in this passage the word probably means ‘clerks’ rather than police constables. That the powers of the latter were extensive is evident from the drastic measures taken by Saul as the commissioner of the Sanhedrin in his persecution of the followers of Christ (Acts 8:3; Acts 26:10-11; cf. Acts 5:18-23). Another term, used apparently more particularly in reference to cases of fines and debts, but also having a general signification, is πράκτωρ (Luke 12:58) = ‘bailiff.’ The term σπεκουλάτωρ (Mark 6:27), used of the executioner of John the Baptist, denotes an officer belonging to the police attached to the military rulers. The weight of opinion inclines to the view that the speculatores were soldiers (Schürer, HJP [Note: JP History of the Jewish People.] i. ii. 62); but it is probable that Herod had armed satellites about his court who did not rank as regular soldiers, but would be called upon to play many parts, from apparitor to executioner. The plain-clothes detective was employed by the Herods (Josephus Ant. xv. x. 4), and the despotic use which they made of their power, backed up as it was by the command of soldiery, took little cognizance of the established civil authorities. The centurion in Matthew 8:5-13 = Luke 7:2-10 was probably the captain of the troop quartered at Capernaum and in the service of Herod Antipas (Holtzmann, Hand-Com. in loc.). These troops served the purpose of clearing the country of gangs of robbers (Josephus Ant. xv. x. 1).
J. Ross Murray.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Police'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/p/police.html. 1906-1918.
