What is the basic meaning of justice and what is the standard for this in the old testament?

Answer 1

ANSWER

The basic meaning of Justice is God's Holiness in contrast to Sin, and this is measured against the 10 Commandments. All other laws follow from these. The Standard used for Justice is always the Holiness of God; in the Old Testament it is defined by the 10 Commandments and then hundreds of other laws following on from that, while in the New Testament it is defined by the 2 Great Commandments and the Beatitudes.

Justice is a manifestation of God's Holiness, and and is always measured in relationto God.

When used of Mankind, Justice refers to:

• - Right Rule,
• -Right Conduct
• -People getting their Just Rewards (no matter whether good or bad)

When used of God, Justice refers to His:

• -Relative Justice
• -Absolute Justice
• -Rectoral Justice
• -Distributive Justice
• -Remunerative Justice
• -Retributive Justice

[For furthur details see "The Concise Evangelical Dictionary of Theology" by w. Elwell ISBN 055102726-6]

Answer 2

Justice is defined as: 1) That which is right and moral;

2) The process (such as in courts of law) of determining what is proper in a given case;

and 3) The administering of the court's decision, such as fines, punishment, or whatever else.

Other definitions fit under one or more of the above three.

The standard for this in the Hebrew Bible is that which is right in God's eyes. Many examples are listed in Exodus ch.21 to 23, and these include returning lost objects, making restitution for bodily harm or property damage, restitution for stealing, restitution for damages caused by one's animal, the prohibition against slander, the prohibition against taking bribes, and more.

The justice in each case is to be determined in courts of law (Deuteronomy 17:8-11); and there are to be officers (ibid 16:18) who impose the court's decision upon any recalcitrants.

Note that the verses themselves are brief and often generic, so an oral tradition must be maintained, which hands down the decisions that were made concerning each precedent-setting occurrence.