Mishpat. Your Bible probably calls it judgment, and that translation isn't wrong; it's just incomplete. In Hebrew, mishpat comes from the root shafat, meaning "to judge, to govern, to set right." It appears over 400 times in the Old Testament, and throughout Torah and the Prophets, the verdict it describes lands in favor of the vulnerable, the widow, the orphan, the immigrant, the one with no leverage to make their case heard.

This week, we look at what gets lost when judgment drowns out justice: why even our language for vulnerable people comes loaded with suspicion, how "hate the sin, love the sinner" borrows the form of judgment while skipping everything mishpat actually demands, and what it looks like when the church hands down verdicts on LGBTQ people and women preachers while insisting it isn't judging anyone. That's mishpat running backward, and we can do better.

Key references: Exodus 21:1 - 24:18, Exodus 23:6, Deuteronomy 24:17, Isaiah 1:17, Psalm 82:3, Amos 5:24, Matthew 23:23, Micah 6:8,

Episodes related to this episode:

• S1 E3: Church, Race, and Justice: 3 Words Nobody Wants in the Same Sentence
• S2 E20: Weapons Down: What God Requires for a Faith at War with Itself
• S3 E8: Starting in the Rubble: Reconciliation That Holds
• S3 E10: Back Porch Mercy: What Faithful Looks Like on a Tuesday

Theology Unleashed is a summer series of short Greek and Hebrew word studies from Jesus, Justice + Mercy. Justice-rooted, seminary-informed, and considerably less scripted than usual. Dogs present.

See the full series at kristenabrock.com/theology-unleashed

For women who stayed small and called it faithfulness : a reading list to start finding your way back. Get it here!

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Here’s to a faith that tells the truth, refuses silence in the face of harm, and follows Jesus all the way into healing and justice.

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