What does ordinances in the Bible mean?

Answer 1

When God called the Israelites out of Egypt and led them to the land of Canaan, God gave Moses His Laws (Torah) to guide them so as not to fall into the sinful ways of the peoples whom lived there before them. The Law was further defined by statutes and ordinances - decrees, laws, and acts of a permanent nature in line with God's Law - the Ten Commands. As the people began to organize into groups/clans/families, Judgements or judicial decisions occurred involving situations that might not have been 'addressed' in the statutes. It was through the ordinances and judgments of God that Israel would know how to live as God's Law is a means of life on all levels - physical, moral, spiritual and relational. Listing all laws/statutes/ordinances would take too long but reading Exodus 12 and 13, along with Leviticus 18 and 22 will give the reader a good feel for them.

Bare in mind, however, as the Apostle Paul noted/observed in Romans 7:10-12, when the law was violated, it could become a cause of death. This is why God's Plan for the salvation of mankind - all - called for a greater remedy than that of the Law which cannot save anyone. That remedy is Christ.

Psalm 119 uses eight different words to designate God's revealed instruction to humankind:

torah - "law" and could more broadly mean instruction

'edot - "testimonies" a reiterations of God's standards also rendered "statutes" in the NIV

piqqudim -"precepts" are injunctions or imposed rules

huqqim - "statutes" are inscribed or enacted laws -"decrees" in the NIV

mitzvoth - "commandments" or "commands" are like constitutional orders

mishpatim - "judgments" (judicial rulings for living)-"laws" and "ordinances" in the NIV

dabar - "word" (sometimes in the sense of law, sometimes of promise)

'imrah "word" (saying, sometimes here in the sense of law, but more often of promise)

Answer 2

Ordinances in The Bible means judgements, laws, orderd, precepts or statutes.