Properly, a verdict (favorable or unfavorable) pronounced judicially, especially a sentence or formal decree (human or (participant's) divine law , individual or collective), including the act, the place, the suit, the crime, and the penalty; abstractly, justice , including a participant's right or privilege (statutory or customary), or even a style
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מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) has a broad legal and relational range that includes judgment, justice, a judicial decision, an ordinance, a prescribed procedure, or a person's right. Exodus 21:1 introduces ordinances set before Israel, Leviticus 19:15 prohibits injustice in judgment, and other passages use the noun for cases, verdicts, customs, or due claims.
Reader summary
Full entry for מִשְׁפָּט (H4941) · Open the biblical lexicon
מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) has a broad legal and relational range that includes judgment, justice, a judicial decision, an ordinance, a prescribed procedure, or a person's right. Exodus 21:1 introduces ordinances set before Israel, Leviticus 19:15 prohibits injustice in judgment, and other passages use the noun for cases, verdicts, customs, or due claims.
The BSB source-word alignment has 410 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include justice (61), and ordinances (28), My ordinances (18), and justice (12), ordinances (11).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 18:19. Its strongest book concentrations include Psalms (64), Ezekiel (42), Isaiah (40), Deuteronomy (36).
מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) has a broad legal and relational range that includes judgment, justice, a judicial decision, an ordinance, a prescribed procedure, or a person's right. Exodus 21:1 introduces ordinances set before Israel, Leviticus 19:15 prohibits injustice in judgment, and other passages use the noun for cases, verdicts, customs, or due claims. Translation must follow the local construction rather than force every occurrence into the English word justice.
Mishpat is central to the biblical portrayal of God's rule. Genesis 18:25 asks whether the Judge of all the earth will do justice, Deuteronomy 10:18 says God executes justice for the orphan and widow, and Psalm 89:14 places righteousness and justice at the foundation of God's throne. These texts ground Israel's public obligations in God's character while retaining differences between divine judgment, courtroom responsibility, and social protection.
The prophets condemn worship and prosperity that coexist with corrupt judgment. Isaiah 1:17 calls the people to seek justice and defend vulnerable persons, Amos 5:24 demands that justice roll down like waters, and Micah 6:8 includes doing justice among covenant requirements. These are concrete prophetic accusations and summonses, not a blank endorsement of any program that adopts the word justice.
Mishpat connects legal decisions, covenant ordinances, due rights, just process, and the ordering of communal life. Its breadth is coherent but not interchangeable: the specific case, actor, and grammar determine which dimension is foregrounded.
Abraham appeals to the Judge of all the earth to do justice in the dispute over Sodom.
Israel must not distort judgment through favoritism toward either poor or great persons.
God executes justice for the orphan and widow and loves the sojourner by providing food and clothing.
The prophet demands flowing justice in contrast with worship rejected because of Israel's covenant corruption.
Doing justice appears with loving covenant faithfulness and walking humbly with God.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Judicial decision encompassing verdict, law, and justice; God's decisive rulings establish cosmic and moral order.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 8 selected witnesses from 424 lexical occurrence verses.
Leaders were expected to embody mishpat; their failure represents direct covenant violation. Hosea 12:1-6
Its distortion by leaders represents direct violation of covenant standards. Isaiah 1:10-20
It defines social righteousness as a core expectation of covenant obedience. Isaiah 10:1-4
By commanding Judah to seek mishpāṭ, God shows that authentic repentance will reshape how his people treat others, especially those who can easily be neglected or exploited. Isaiah 16:1-5
The corruption of mishpāṭ reveals systemic covenant violation. Isaiah 28:1-6
Justice defines the nature of the promised Davidic reign. Isaiah 28:14-22
God empowers righteous governance among his faithful. Isaiah 30:18-26
God measures human claims against his righteous standard. Isaiah 32:1-8
Divine mercy operates within righteous justice.
Marks the governing principle of righteous leadership.
Defines the mission of the Servant toward the nations.
Justice is the fruit God desired; its absence signals deep covenant violation.
Perverting mishpāṭ reveals direct opposition to God’s righteous character.
The Lord is exalted through justice, demonstrating that his holiness governs history.
Concrete expression of covenant obedience.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Mishpat helps a congregation connect courtroom integrity, covenant order, due rights, protection of vulnerable people, and God's righteous rule without collapsing them into a slogan. The word can refer to an ordinance, a verdict, a legal process, a customary right, or justice in a broader social sense. A sermon should identify which use is active and who has responsibility in the passage.
Leviticus 19 warns against favoritism toward either poor or powerful persons, while Deuteronomy 10 highlights God's defense of those who lack ordinary protection. Amos and Micah expose worship severed from just conduct. Together these texts challenge private moralism and vague activism alike. Biblical justice answers to God's revealed character and commands, attends to evidence and impartiality, and seeks the concrete good owed to neighbors rather than borrowing moral certainty from a preferred political label.
Mic.6.8
Mishpat may denote the act of judging, a verdict, a case, a rule, a procedure, a right, or justice. English context and syntax are needed to choose among these senses.
New Testament texts on impartiality, judgment, mercy, and righteous governance can be placed in canonical dialogue. Their Greek vocabulary must be studied directly rather than assumed from English justice wording.
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