H4941 — מִשְׁפָּט (mishpâṭ)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H4941
Original: מִשְׁפָּט
Transliteration: mishpâṭ
Pronunciation: mish-pawt'
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Root: שָׁפַט (shaphat, H8199) — to judge, govern, decide
Occurrences: 406 unique verses (448 tokens) across 31 books
First Occurrence: Gen 18:19 — "he will command his children... and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

Properly, a verdict (favorable or unfavorable) pronounced judicially — especially a sentence or formal decree (human or divine), including the act, the place, the suit, the crime, and the penalty. Abstractly: justice, including a participant's right or privilege (statutory or customary), or even a style/custom.

KJV renders as: judgment, judgments, manner, right, ordinance, cause, lawful, sentence, custom, worthy, fashion, order, and others.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

The KJV renders mishpat with fine-grained context-sensitivity; nearly every phrase is unique. The dominant groupings:

Cluster	Key KJV Forms	Approx Verses	%
judgment / judgments	"judgment," "my judgments," "thy judgments," "in judgment," etc.	~291	72%
manner / custom / fashion	"after the manner," "the manner," "fashion thereof," "custom"	~34	8%
right / lawful	"right," "that which is lawful," "by right," "my right"	~23	6%
ordinance / order / law	"ordinance," "order," "a law," "one manner of law"	~10	2%
cause / sentence	"their cause," "my cause," "sentence," "gave judgment"	~9	2%
worthy / other	"worthy," "discretion," "crimes," various	~39	10%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Zephaniah	4	7.5
Malachi	3	5.5
Habakkuk	3	5.4
Micah	5	4.8
Deuteronomy	36	3.8
Isaiah	40	3.1
Hosea	6	3.0
Ezekiel	37	2.9
Ecclesiastes	6	2.7
Amos	4	2.7
Psalms	64	2.6
Jeremiah	32	2.3
Proverbs	20	2.2
Job	23	2.1
1 Kings	16	2.0
2 Chronicles	13	1.6
Leviticus	14	1.6
Numbers	19	1.5
2 Kings	9	1.3
Nehemiah	5	1.2
1 Chronicles	9	1.0
Exodus	10	0.8
1 Samuel	7	0.9
2 Samuel	5	0.7
Joshua	3	0.5
Judges	3	0.5
Daniel	1	0.3
Genesis	3	0.2
Zechariah	2	0.9
Lamentations	2	1.3
Ezra	2	0.7

Concentrated in the prophets and Deuteronomy/Psalms. Highest density in Zephaniah, Malachi, and Habakkuk (the late prophets of social and legal corruption). Psalms leads in raw count (64x). Nearly absent from narrative books (Genesis, Joshua, Judges).

Semantic Categories¶

1. Covenant Legislation / Divine Statutes¶

Mishpat as God's ordinances given to Israel — the specific laws of the covenant. Commonly paired with חֻקִּים (chuqqim, statutes) as a formula for the whole body of Mosaic law.

Lev 18:4 — "Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God."
Deut 4:5 — "Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me."
Ezek 20:11 — "And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them."
Ps 119:137 — "Righteous art thou, O LORD, and upright are thy judgments."

2. Judicial Process / Legal Hearing¶

The formal act of appearing before a judge; a legal case being heard. Mishpat here = the proceedings themselves, not just the verdict.

Deut 1:17 — "Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great."
Deut 17:8 — "If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea..."
Josh 20:6 — "He shall dwell in that city, until he stand before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the high priest."
Job 9:32 — "For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment."

3. Legal Verdict / Sentence¶

The decision or sentence rendered by a judge — the outcome of a judicial process.

1 Ki 3:28 — "And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king."
2 Ki 25:6 — "So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him."
Deut 17:11 — "According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do."
Jer 4:12 — "Now also will I give sentence against them." (mishpat = sentence)

The just treatment owed to the poor, widow, fatherless, and stranger. Mishpat here = the legal right that protects the weak, and the obligation to uphold it.

Deut 10:18 — "He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment."
Isa 1:17 — "Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow."
Jer 22:3 — "Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor."
Mic 6:8 — "What doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly (mishpat), and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"

5. Divine Justice as Attribute of God's Rule¶

Mishpat as the foundation of God's reign — what makes his governance righteous and trustworthy.

Deut 32:4 — "He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he."
Ps 89:14 — "Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face."
Ps 97:2 — "Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne."
Isa 5:16 — "But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness."

6. Custom / Established Procedure¶

Mishpat as the customary or prescribed way of doing something — a practice, rite, or institutional norm.

1 Sam 2:13 — "The priests' custom with the people was, that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came..."
Exod 26:30 — "And thou shalt rear up the tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which was shewed thee in the mount."
1 Ki 18:28 — "They cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out."
2 Chr 30:16 — "They stood in their place after their manner, according to the law of Moses the man of God."

7. Legal Entitlement / One's Due Right¶

Mishpat as what one is rightfully owed — an individual's claim, inheritance right, or legal standing before God or humans.

Deut 21:17 — "He shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his."
Job 27:2 — "As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment (mishpat); and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul."
Isa 40:27 — "Why sayest thou, O Jacob... My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?"
Lam 3:35 — "To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High."

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
צְדָקָה tsedaqah	H6666	46x	"righteousness and judgment" — paired attribute of God's rule or Israel's obligation
שָׁמַר shamar	H8104	46x	"keep/observe the judgments" — covenantal obedience
עָשָׂה asah	H6213	127x	"do/execute judgment" — the primary verbal collocate; mishpat demands action
חֹק choq / חֻקָּה chuqqah	H2706/H2708	36x each	Formulaic triad: "statutes, judgments, and commandments"
צֶדֶק tsedeq	H6664	30x	"justice and judgment" — hendiadys for equitable governance
נָתַן natan	H5414	34x	"give/render judgment" — God or king pronouncing a verdict

Word Family / Cognates¶

H8199 שָׁפַט (shaphat) — root verb: to judge, govern, decide; 203x in OT — H8199-shaphat
H8201 שֶׁפֶט (shephet) — cognate noun: inflicted judgment, punishment; 16x
H8196 שְׁפוֹט (shephowt) — alternate noun form: judicial sentence; rare

Synonyms¶

H1779 דִּין (din) — legal contention or adjudication; the nearest overlap in courtroom-process language.
H8199 שָׁפַט (shaphat) — the root verb "to judge," supplying the verbal counterpart behind mishpat.
H2706 חֹק (choq) / H2708 חֻקָּה (chuqqah) — statute and ordinance terms that overlap with mishpat in covenant-law contexts.
H4687 מִצְוָה (mitsvah) / H8451 תּוֹרָה (torah) — broader command/law terms that overlap when mishpat denotes covenant legislation.
H6664 צֶדֶק (tsedeq) / H6666 צְדָקָה (tsedaqah) — justice/righteousness partners in the social-ethical sense.

Antonyms¶

H5766 עָוֶל (avel) — injustice or wrong; the direct opposite of just judgment.
H7562 רֶשַׁע (resha) — wickedness; opposed to righteous legal order.
H4820 מִרְמָה (mirmah) — deceit; corrupts judgment by fraud.
H3939 לַעֲנָה (la'anah) — wormwood; prophetic image for judgment turned bitter (cf. Amos 5:7).
H7218 רֹאשׁ (rosh) — poison/gall imagery for justice perverted into bitterness.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared KJV Translation	Key Difference
דִּין (din)	H1779	"judgment," "cause"	din = the act of contending or adjudicating; mishpat = the verdict/ordinance/process
שֶׁפֶט (shephet)	H8201	"judgments" (14v)	shephet = the penalty/infliction; mishpat = the broader concept of judgment including the standard
κρίσις (krisis)	G2920	"judgment"	krisis = the act/process of judging; mishpat spans both process and ordinance; krisis is the primary LXX rendering for the judicial-process sense
κρίμα (krima)	G2917	"judgment," "damnation"	krima = the decision/verdict rendered; mishpat's judicial core translates most directly to krima

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Count	PMI Score	Notes
κρίμα (krima) G2917	175x	5.69	Primary — verdict, decision
κρίσις (krisis) G2920	132x	5.38	Secondary — the process of judging
δικαίωμα (dikaioma) G1345	63x	4.89	Ordinance/statute sense
δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosyne) G1343	66x	3.93	When mishpat overlaps with righteousness
δίκαιος (dikaios) G1342	41x	3.07	"just/lawful" sense
φυλάσσω (phylasso) G5442	47x	2.78	"keep the judgments" — the observance sense
νόμος (nomos) G3551	23x	2.53	"law" sense in covenant legislation contexts

The LXX split between krima and krisis reflects mishpat's own dual emphasis: the verdict (krima) and the process (krisis). The δικ- word group captures the justice/righteousness overlap.

Semantic Domains¶

UBS / Relationship Domains¶

[002004002006] Judge — core adjudication domain; the main relationship field returned for mishpat.
[002003003016] Laws — statutory and ordinance uses; the covenant-legislation axis.
[002001003014] Right — justice, rightness, and lawful claim.
[002003002006] Conflict — lawsuit or case-setting background for mishpat proceedings.
[002003002005] Chastise — punitive and sentencing uses.
[002004002004] Design — prescribed pattern, procedure, or formal arrangement.
[002001003006] Extraordinary — secondary relationship field returned by the tool, reflecting special decision or portent contexts.
[001] Objects — broad low-signal relationship bucket returned by the tool.
[002002003003] Happen — event-realization or verdict-coming-to-pass uses.
[002002001017] Space — secondary procedural or place-setting index returned by the tool.