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Bible Dictionaries
Magistrate
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or MAGISTRATE. This word is used in the AV [Note: Authorized Version.] to represent either ‘judge’ or ‘ruler’ ‘authority’ in the most general sense. The latter is its meaning in Judges 18:7 (RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘none in the land, possessing authority’ implying independence of Zidon and PhÅ“nicia). The former is its meaning in Ezra 7:25 , where it stands for shôphetim (the same word as sufçtes , by which the Romans designated the Carthaginian magistrates). In Luke 12:11; Luke 12:58 , Titus 3:1 it stands for derivatives of the general word archo , ‘to rule,’ but in the passages from Lk. with a special reference to judges. In Acts 16:20-38 the word is used to translate the Gr. stratçgoi . This is often used as the equivalent of the Lat. prÅ“tores , and in the older Roman colonies the two supreme magistrates were often known by this name. But we have no evidence that the magistrates at Philippi were called prætors , and it probably represents the more usual duumviri .
A. E. Hillard.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Magistrate'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/m/magistrate.html. 1909.
