1. [n]  an authority who is able to estimate worth or quality
2. [n]  a public official authorized to decide questions bought before a court of justice
3. [v]  form an opinion of or pass judgment on
4. [v]  determine the result of, as of a competition
5. [v]  form an opinion about; judge tentatively; form an estimate of, as of quantities or time; "I estimate this chicken to weigh at three pounds"
6. [v]  pronounce judgment on; "They labeled him unfit to work here"
7. [v]  put on trial or hear a case and sit as the judge at the trial of; "The football star was tried for the murder of his wife"; "The judge tried both father and son in separate trials"

1. \Judge\, n. [OE. juge, OF. & F. juge, fr. OF. jugier, F.
   juger, to judge. See {Judge}, v. i.]
   1. (Law) A public officer who is invested with authority to
      hear and determine litigated causes, and to administer
      justice between parties in courts held for that purpose.
   
            The parts of a judge in hearing are four: to direct
            the evidence; to moderate length, repetition, or
            impertinency of speech; to recapitulate, select, and
            collate the material points of that which hath been
            said; and to give the rule or sentence. --Bacon.
   
   2. One who has skill, knowledge, or experience, sufficient to
      decide on the merits of a question, or on the quality or
      value of anything; one who discerns properties or
      relations with skill and readiness; a connoisseur; an
      expert; a critic.
   
            A man who is no judge of law may be a good judge of
            poetry, or eloquence, or of the merits of a
            painting.                             --Dryden.
   
   3. A person appointed to decide in a?trial of skill, speed,
      etc., between two or more parties; an umpire; as, a judge
      in a horse race.
   
   4. (Jewish Hist.) One of supreme magistrates, with both civil
      and military powers, who governed Israel for more than
      four hundred years.
   
   5. pl. The title of the seventh book of the Old Testament;
      the Book of Judges.
   
   {Judge Advocate} (Mil. & Nav.), a person appointed to act as
      prosecutor at a court-martial; he acts as the
      representative of the government, as the responsible
      adviser of the court, and also, to a certain extent, as
      counsel for the accused, when he has no other counsel.
   
   {Judge-Advocate General}, in the United States, the title of
      two officers, one attached to the War Department and
      having the rank of brigadier general, the other attached
      to the Navy Department and having the rank of colonel of
      marines or captain in the navy. The first is chief of the
      Bureau of Military Justice of the army, the other performs
      a similar duty for the navy. In England, the designation
      of a member of the ministry who is the legal adviser of
      the secretary of state for war, and supreme judge of the
      proceedings of courts-martial.
   
   Syn: {Judge}, {Umpire}, {Arbitrator}, {Referee}.
   
   Usage: A judge, in the legal sense, is a magistrate appointed
          to determine questions of law. An umpire is a person
          selected to decide between two or more who contend for
          a prize. An arbitrator is one chosen to allot to two
          contestants their portion of a claim, usually on
          grounds of equity and common sense. A referee is one
          to whom a case is referred for final adjustment.
          Arbitrations and references are sometimes voluntary,
          sometimes appointed by a court.
   
   

2. \Judge\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Judged}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Judging}.] [OE. jugen, OF. jugier, F. juger, L. judicare,
   fr. judex judge; jus law or right + dicare to proclaim,
   pronounce, akin to dicere to say. See {Just}, a., and
   {Diction}, and cf. {Judicial}.]
   1. To hear and determine, as in causes on trial; to decide as
      a judge; to give judgment; to pass sentence.
   
            The Lord judge between thee and me.   --Gen. xvi. 5.
   
            Father, who art judge Of all things made, and
            judgest only right!                   --Milton.
   
   2. To assume the right to pass judgment on another; to sit in
      judgment or commendation; to criticise or pass adverse
      judgment upon others. See {Judge}, v. t., 3.
   
            Forbear to judge, for we are sinners all. --Shak.
   
   3. To compare facts or ideas, and perceive their relations
      and attributes, and thus distinguish truth from falsehood;
      to determine; to discern; to distinguish; to form an
      opinion about.
   
            Judge not according to the appearance. --John vii.
                                                  24.
   
            She is wise if I can judge of her.    --Shak.
   
   

3. \Judge\, v. t.
   1. To hear and determine by authority, as a case before a
      court, or a controversy between two parties. ``Chaos
      [shall] judge the strife.'' --Milton.
   
   2. To examine and pass sentence on; to try; to doom.
   
            God shall judge the righteous and the wicked.
                                                  --Eccl. iii.
                                                  7.
   
            To bring my whole cause 'fore his holiness, And to
            be judged by him.                     --Shak.
   
   3. To arrogate judicial authority over; to sit in judgment
      upon; to be censorious toward.
   
            Judge not, that ye be not judged.     --Matt. vii.
                                                  1.
   
   4. To determine upon or deliberation; to esteem; to think; to
      reckon.
   
            If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord.
                                                  --Acts xvi.
                                                  15.
   
   5. To exercise the functions of a magistrate over; to govern.
      [Obs.]
   
            Make us a king to judge us.           --1 Sam. viii.
                                                  5.
   
   

(Heb. shophet, pl. shophetim), properly a magistrate or ruler, rather than one who judges in the sense of trying a cause. This is the name given to those rulers who presided over the affairs of the Israelites during the interval between the death of Joshua and the accession of Saul (Judg. 2:18), a period of general anarchy and confusion. "The office of judges or regents was held during life, but it was not hereditary, neither could they appoint their successors. Their authority was limited by the law alone, and in doubtful cases they were directed to consult the divine King through the priest by Urim and Thummim (Num. 27:21). Their authority extended only over those tribes by whom they had been elected or acknowledged. There was no income attached to their office, and they bore no external marks of dignity. The only cases of direct divine appointment are those of Gideon and Samson, and the latter stood in the peculiar position of having been from before his birth ordained 'to begin to deliver Israel.' Deborah was called to deliver Israel, but was already a judge. Samuel was called by the Lord to be a prophet but not a judge, which ensued from the high gifts the people recognized as dwelling in him; and as to Eli, the office of judge seems to have devolved naturally or rather ex officio upon him." Of five of the judges, Tola (Judg. 10:1), Jair (3), Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon (12:8-15), we have no record at all beyond the bare fact that they were judges. Sacred history is not the history of individuals but of the kingdom of God in its onward progress.

In Ex. 2:14 Moses is so styled. This fact may indicate that while for revenue purposes the "taskmasters" were over the people, they were yet, just as at a later time when under the Romans, governed by their own rulers.