Magistrate

Title of a public official who acted as judge and administrator of a given municipality. King Artaxerxes ordered Ezra to select magistrates along with judges to govern the people when they returned to Palestine (Ezr 7:25). This official was one of the officers of Nebuchadnezzar’s court invited to the dedication feast (Dn 3:2-3). Luke 12:58 portrayed the magistrate as a ruling authority whose verdict was final.

During the Roman era, each Roman colony was assigned two magistrates (called duumviri) who were primarily responsible for judging criminal offenses against the state. Hence, Paul and Silas were brought before the magistrates at Philippi for allegedly advocating customs unacceptable to the Romans (Acts 16:20-38). Before this duumvir, they were ordered to be stripped, beaten, and thrown into prison. A chief magistrate was sometimes called a “praetor” (Greek strategos), a deferential title given to a leading duumvir.