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2.4.3 Jehoshaphat established a system of judges throughout the
land, perhaps to break the close connection between administrative
and judicial authority and to undercut the power of the local ≤arim.
He entrusted them with jurisdiction over all disputes, whether involv-
ing blood or various regulations. At the head, he appointed Amariah
the priest as chief judge for religious affairs and Zebadiah for royal
matters (2 Chron. 19:5–11).2.5 “o†erim (“officers”)
The “o†erim first appear as leaders of the people during slavery in
Egypt (Exod. 5). After the Exodus, Moses appointed the “o†erim(Deut.
1:15). Officers also appear in close connection with judges, perhaps
in hendiadys. Deuteronomy calls for the establishing of officers and
judges in every town (Deut. 16:18), and Chronicles recalls that at
the time of Solomon’s accession there were six thousand “officers
and judges” (1 Chron. 23:4).2.5.1 The “o†erimaddressed the troops at the beginning of a military
campaign, to release those who had not yet completed acquisitions
they had made (house, vineyard, wife) and those who were afraid
to go (Deut. 20:5–8). They also went with the elders to measure the
distance between a corpse and the nearest town (Deut. 21:2).2.5.2 “o†erimand elders were the seventy assembled to receive the
gift of prophecy (Num. 11:16–19). They were also the people that
Moses gathered to hear the book of the law (Deut. 31:28). The lead-
ership of the people at the time of the covenant and the conquest
is described as “heads, elders and officers” (Deut. 29:9; Josh. 8:33)
and as “elders, judges and officers” (Deut. 31:28; Josh. 23:2; 24:1).2.6 Elders
The elders, always a component of the leadership of the people came
to particular legal prominence in Deuteronomy. Elders of nearby cities
and “o†erimmeasured which town was nearest a corpse. The elders
of the nearest town then performed the ritual of the 'eglah 'arupah,
the decapitated heifer, breaking a heifer’s neck over a permanently
flowing creek, declaring (with priests and Levites in attendance) that
they neither killed the man nor saw the deed, and praying to God
not to let the land become polluted with bloodguilt (Deut. 21:1–9).westbrook_f27-975-1046 8/27/03 1:36 PM Page 988