Law in Hebrew - Cover

The Hebrew Spectrum of Law and Justice and the Language Aspect at its Core

Last week I had the pleasure of attending a Douglas Murray event in Tel Aviv. It was a talk dedicated to the newly published Hebrew edition of his new book ‘The War on the West’ and how it all relates to Israel and everything that has been unfolding in the world since October 7th. As someone who has been following him very closely for several years now, there wasn’t much I hadn’t heard him say before, but still it was an amazing evening.

Douglas Murray in Israel
Douglas Murray in Tel Aviv

First, I treated myself to a tier one ticket and got one of the best seats in the house. Second, by sheer coincidence (which involves my origami hobby) I got to go backstage and meet him, and he signed my copy of The War on the West which I bought right before the event started. And finally, he was joined on stage by the brilliant Natasha Hausdorff and that was a very pleasant surprise.

At one point during the evening, Natasha said that she and Douglas come from two different worlds because he is a writer, and she is a lawyer. This got me thinking because in Hebrew a lawyer is called עוֹרֵך דִּין (orekh din) which literally means editor (עורך) of law (דין), and therefore according to Hebrew etymology their professions are not that far apart. So today, let’s dive into the Hebrew terms related to law and justice and see what their origin might tell us about their deeper primal meaning. Who knows, maybe we’ll even find out why many Jews climb the judiciary branch or gravitate towards writing and editing.

Law and Justice in Hebrew

Law and justice have a fascinating codependent relationship. Laws are meant to facilitate justice, but they also cannot exist without justice. Misuse or abuse the law for long enough, and it will inevitably lead to the undoing of even the best laws out there. We learn this truth at a very young age every time we play a game together – if it’s not fair, we will not keep playing it.

But Hebrew tells us something else about the nature of laws. Let’s take a closer look.

Law in Hebrew

The word for ‘law’ in Hebrew is חֹק (chok) but without niqud it written חוק with the letter Vav in the middle. For instance, a law-abiding citizen in Hebrew is אֶזְרָח שׁוֹמֵר-חוֹק (ezrach shomer choq) and the laws of physics are חוּקֵי הַפִיזִיקָה (chuqei ha’fiziqa). The word comes from the shorsh ח-ק-ק (chet-qof-qof) which also gave us words like the noun חֲקִיקָה (chaqiqa) which means legislation, the noun חֻקָּה (chuqa – written חוקה without niqud), the adjective חֻקִּי (chuqi – written חוקי without niqud) meaning legal, and the verb חוֹקֵק (choqeq) which means to legislate or set up laws.

However, the original meaning of the shoresh ח-ק-ק is ‘to engrave’ or ‘to etch’, and we can still see it in the expression חָקוּק בָּאֶבֶן (chaquq ba’even) which means ‘set in stone’. This tells us that Hebrew perceive the law as something relatively fixed and permanent, and certainly not something that you change easily or tamper with on a whim. It ties in beautifully not only to the bible and the story of the stone tablets and the Ten Commandments in particular, but also to the history of writing in general, and the main role it played the early stages of many civilizations.

Code of Hammurabi
Code of Hammurabi

Law in other languages

Before we move on to how we say ‘justice’ in Hebrew, it is worth taking a look at the word ‘law’ in a couple of other languages.

Law in Chinese

The Chinese character for law is 法 (pronounced fǎ in Mandarin Chinese). The main element in this character is the radical 氵 which represents water and liquids. To its left we have 去 which presumably indicates the sound, though it’s worth noting that by itself it means to go. The most ancient versions of the character were written 灋 and in them we can also see 廌 (zhì) – a mythical unicorn-like creature which according to legend was able to tell whether the person in front of it was telling the truth or not.

Chinese Character for Law - 法

Some scholars say that the idea behind the character 法 is to follow a model the same way water follows a riverbed or a canal, but I think there could be a couple of more reasons why the element of water was chosen to represent the concept of law. The main reason is that water naturally maintains balance, because no matter how much you tilt whatever’s holding it, the surface of the water itself will always level off, even at the cost of spilling over and losing part of itself.

Second, water can be both very strong and very gentle. There’s a great line from Zena Warrior Princess I used to watch as a teenager that stuck with me for many years. It’s from an episode that took place in the Far East and a wise Chinese woman told Zena she had to learn to be like water because “Nothing is soft as water. Yet, who can withstand the raging flood”. Obviously, the creators of the show didn’t come up with this idea themselves. The duality of water has long served in many Eastern Philosophies and even martial arts, most notably as an analogy for the ability to learn and to adapt.

However, to me it is also the perfect analogy for how the law should behave or the manner in which we need to apply it. Like Hebrew suggests, laws need to be firm and well-defined, but they also need a degree of flexibility – strong and strict when the occasion calls for it, and soft and gentle when the circumstances allow it.

And finally, water is also an extremely persistent and thorough substance. Even when dripping gently, given enough time water will penetrate stone. And if you want to find a crack or a hole, you can pretty much always trust water to reveal it. Those two qualities are also very important and useful when practicing law.

Law in Arabic

While Arabic does have a root corresponding to the Hebrew shoresh ח-ק-ק (chet-qof-qof), it does not mean law and is more associated with the idea of truth and rights. For example, the word ‘truth’ in Arabic is حقيقة (chaqiqa) and human rights in Arabic are known as حقوق الإنسان (chuquq al’insaan).

The word for law in Arabic in قانون (qanun) and it also has a very interesting background story which is somewhat related to water. It is believed to have derived from the semitic root for reed, which in Hebrew forms the word קָנֶה (qane). Other than reed and other tubular plants, this word may also refer to a barrel of a gun and to the trachea. In biblical Hebrew it also referred to the main beam of a balance scale (another nod to justice), and it also serve as a measuring unit for length equal to six cubits.

The Arabic word for law قانون (qanun) was imported to English through Greek and that is how we got canon and canonical. Other English words that are believed to have derived from the same semitic root for reed are cane, cannon, canal, channel, and more. By the way, the word قانون (qanun) was mentioned briefly in an article about the link between the Hebrew word for religion דָּת (dat) and the English word ‘data’, which also demonstrates how the cane plays even a bigger role in the Chinese terms for religion and data.

Justice in Hebrew

The Hebrew word for justice is צֶדֶק (tsedek) and sadly its origin is as obscure as the concept of justice itself. If we take the primal root route, we could argue that it might have derived from the ancient two-letter root צ-ד (Tsadi-dalet) which means side, but it also relates to hunting and in Modern Hebrew also to Equipment. We could also take the phonetic route and suggest that it might be a very distant relative of the word סֶדֶר (seder) which means ‘order’ (the opposite of chaos), but there are many other roots who are much closer phonetically and have no sematic relation.

So instead of talking about the origin of the word justice in Hebrew, let’s take a look at other words that are based on the shoresh צ-ד-ק (Tsadi-Dalet-Qof) and see what it might tell us.

MeaningPronunciationעברית
Justicetsedeqצֶדֶק
Be just, right or correcttsadaqצָדַק
Charitytsdaqaצְדָקָה
Righteous mantsadiqצַדִּיק
Justifyhitsdiqהִצְדִּיק
Justify oneselfhitstadeqהִצְטַדֵּק
Justificationhatsdaqaהַצְדָּקָה
Justificationtsiduqצִדּוּק
Self-righteousnesstsadqanutצַדְקָנוּת

It is worth noting that in Biblical Hebrew both צֶדֶק (tsedeq) and צְדָקָה (tsdaqa) mean justice, though צְדָקָה (tsdaqa) tilts toward acting or performing deeds in accordance with divine law and justice. The meaning of charity arose in Mishnaic Hebrew. Also, since the Roman god Jupiter was associated with law and justice, the word צֶדֶק (tsedeq) is also the name of the planet Jupiter in Hebrew.

Even though these words do shed a little light about the meaning of the root צ-ד-ק (tsadi-dalet-qof), they still don’t tell us where justice comes from or what it actually is. But that’s not their fault, because justice is inherently a very vague and elusive concept. In that sense it is the complete opposite of Law.

As the etymology of the word law in Hebrew suggests – laws are something relatively fixed and rigid. If law and justice were two sides of an Yin-Yang spectrum, the law would be the static, tangible and well-defined side of the spectrum, while justice would be on the dynamic, abstract and amorphic opposite end of it. But as we said, we convert law and turn it into justice. How do you do that? Through the alchemy of language.

Language – the Conduit of Law and Justice

Hebrew has two words which are situated somewhere in the middle of the spectrum of law and justice. There is the word דִּין (din) and the word מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) – both have a very strong connection to the use of language and interesting English counterparts. Let’s take a look.

Discussing Law in Hebrew

Before we discuss the different meanings bestowed on the word דִין (din), we need to understand its origin. The word דִין is based on the shoresh ד-י-ן (Dalet-Yod-Nun) which at its core represents the act of discussing. There are two ways to say ‘discuss’ in Hebrew. The general way is the verb דָּן (dan) in binyan paal followed by the preposition בְּ (be), and there is also the verb הידַיֵין (hidayen) or התדיין (hitdayen) in binyan hitpael which refer to internal discussions or formal ones with concerned parties.

As for nouns, the Hebrew word for discussion is דִּיוּן (diyun) and subject of discussion is נָדוֹן (nadon) or נידון (nidon) – both based on the shoresh ד-י-ן (Dalet-Yod-Nun). By the way, from that shoresh we also get the Hebrew word for state מְדִינָה (medina), because a state is a defined area governed by the rule and law. In some cases, the discussion might go south and turned into an argument or even a fight, and that explains why we have the word מָדוֹן (madon) – an archaic way to say fight or conflict in Hebrew.

Now that we understand the origin of the word דִּין (din), let’s learn a couple of legal terms and one very cool expression in which it makes an appearance.

In the beginning of the article, we mentioned the term עוֹרֵךְ דִּין (orekh din) – a lawyer, which in Hebrew literally means editing, setting or arranging the law. You are likely to encounter lawyers at a court of law, and one of the ways to say that in Hebrew in בֵּית דִּין (beit din) or ‘house of law’ – though this tern usually refers to specific types of court such as a rabbinical court, a military court, or a night court.

Proceedings in courts have two resolutions – a verdict and a sentence. Before we get to the Hebrew, note how these two terms have a strong connection to language also in English – verdict comes from Latin verus (true) and dictum (something that has been said), and sentence also means a set of words arranged into a coherent statement. As for the term verdict, we also see remnants of its Latin components in words like verify and dictionary.

In Hebrew, a verdict is called פְּסַק דִּין (psaq din). The word פְּסַק (psaq) comes from the shoresh פ-ס-ק (Peh-Samekh-Qof) which means to stop. It originally referred to the fact the discussion has reached a resolution and can now be stopped, though now the verb פָּסַק (pasaq) itself can also mean to decide in the capacity of a judge or to arbitrate. By the way, you might recognize the shoresh פ-ס-ק (Peh-Samekh-Qof) from the words הַפְסָקָה (hafsaqa) – a break or an intermission, פְּסִיק (psiq) – a comma, פָּסוּק (pasuq) – a verse in the bible, and פִּסְקָה (pisqa) – a paragraph.

A sentence in Hebrew is גְּזַר דִּין (gzar din) and there’s a bit of a mystery about the shoresh of the first word. The basic meaning of the shoresh ג-ז-ר (Gimel-Zain-Resh) is ‘to cut’, probably is a precise and measured manner. In Modern Hebrew it usually means to cut using scissors, though it also refers to calculating the derivative of a function, and even to form a new word using parts of different (usually larger) elements of the language, like a shoresh, a mishqal or a binyan.

At some point in biblical times, the shoresh ג-ז-ר (Gimel-Zain-Resh) was also attached to the idea of an authority deciding on a punishment or a restriction, and from that we don’t only get גְּזַר דִּין (gzar din – sentence), but also the word גְּזֵרָה (gzera) which means decree, edict and even bad fate. This connection between verdict, sentence, breaking and cutting brings to mind one of the most famous trial cases in Jewish lore – King Solomon and the Two Mothers, though I prefer the more modern adaptation of Judgement by Newman from Seinfeld:

This connection between cutting and sentencing always seemed strange to me, so imagine my surprise when I discovered Chinese does the exact same thing. One of the ways to say judge in Chinese is the word 裁判 (cái pàn) which consists of two characters – both related to cutting. The first character 裁 actually means to cut, and the radical 衣(yī) which means clothes tells us it originally referred to the cutting of fabric. The second character 判 nowadays means to judge but it consists of 刂 (knife) on the right and 半 (half) on the left, which indicates it original meaning – to cut something in half.

And finally, before we move on to the second Hebrew word that lies somewhere between law and justice, let’s quickly mention one more expression with the word דִין (din) and that is the very morbid phrase יוֹם הַדִּין (yom hadin). The word יוֹם (yom) means day and the entire phrase means ‘judgement day’. And on the note of judgement and sharp things, let’s move on to the next root that lies between law and justice.

He who Passes the Sentence should Swing the Sword

If you want to become a lawyer (and later a judge) you need to study law, or jurisprudence if you want to get fancy. In Israel, the name of that degree doesn’t contain the basic and most common Hebrew word for law חוֹק (choq), nor the word דִּין (din) we just covered in the previous section – even though it’s part of the term for lawyer עוֹרֵך דִּין (orech din) which literally ‘editor of law’. Instead, we call it a degree in מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim) which literally means sentences, and some might say לִימוּדֵי מִשְׁפָּט (limudei mishpat) – the study of sentence, though it is clear that in both cases it doesn’t mean sentence or sentences but law.

This can actually get a little confusing for kids, as this short conversation from the wonderful project ‘Kids are the Best Screenwriters in the World’ demonstrates:

Studying Law in Hebrew

Kids are the Best Screenwriters is an Israeli Facebook page which documents funny and innocent interactions with kids. In the interaction above we have Yoni (יוני) who is six years old and probably in the first grade, see his older sister Hadas (הדס) studying. He asks her: “What are you studying?” and she answers “משפטים” meaning law. However, Yoni understood it as ‘sentences’ and so he replies: “Oh, we are still learning the letters (אותיות). I highly recommend this page for every Hebrew learner, because it is just full of great stuff like this.

The word מִשְׁפָּט is also part of the common way to say ‘court’ (of law) in Hebrew which is בֵּית מִשְׁפָּט (bet moshpat), though by itself משפט usually means trial. For instance, to be on trial or to stand trial in Hebrew is עָמַד לְמִשְׁפָּט (amad le’mishpat), and a show trial is מִשְׁפָּט רַאֲוָה (mishpat ra’ava). By adding the letter י (yod) to משפט we get the adjective מִשְׁפָּטִי (mishpati) which means juridical or legal in the sense of relating to law, like when saying ‘this is a legal matter’.

The shoresh of the word מִשְׁפָּט is ש-פ-ט (Shin-Peh-Tet) and it is actually more associated with judgment rather than law or trial. The verb ‘to judge’ in Hebrew is שָׁפַט (shafat) and from its middle-tense form we get the noun שׁוֹפֵט (shofet) which means a judge both in the legal sense, and in the context of sports like a referee or an umpire. You might know this word from The Book of Judges which is called סֶפֶר שׁוֹפְטִים (sefer shoftim) in Hebrew.

For the act of passing or exercising judgment (not necessarily in the legal sence), we have the noun שִׁפּוּט (shiput – written שיפוט without niqud), which is found in the compounds תְּחוּם שִׁפּוּט (tchum shiput) and אֵזוֹר שִׁפּוּט (ezor shiput) – the two common ways to say jurisdiction (area) in Hebrew. By adding י (yod) to the noun שיפוט (shiput) we get the adjective שִׁפּוּטִי (shiputi – written שיפוטי without niqud) which means judgmental or judicial.

One more term worth learning from the shoresh ש-פ-ט (Shin-Peh-Tet) is the word שָׁפוּט (shafut). Technically speaking, it is the passive middle tense of the verb שָׁפַט (shafat) and therefore literally means ‘to be judged’. However, in modern Hebrew slang it שפוט (shafut) means to be “whipped” or to be someone’s “bitch” (for lack of a better term) in the sense you obey everything they tell you as if they were a judge.

Language and Law with Capital L

It is no coincidence that law and justice are bound to each other and facilitate one another by the use of language. In a lecture he gave at Cornell University in 1978, world-renowned economist Milton Friedman provided his audience with three real-world examples of free-market systems outside the realm of economy. The first two were the evolution of the English language and of Common Law. The third example was the progression of science. Here is the clip:

The part about language begins at the 1:25 mark. Also, note how at the 2:40 mark he mentions how the government starts forming agencies to control the direction of science and prevent free cooperation.

To me this clip serves as dire warning, that unfortunately slipped right by us. It was recorded in 1978, and we are now in 2024. Does it still feel like language, academy and science are free-market enterprises?

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