Hypertext Webster Gateway: "magistrate"
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary (easton)
Magistrate
a public civil officer invested with authority. The Hebrew
shophetim, or judges, were magistrates having authority in the
land (Deut. 1:16, 17). In Judg. 18:7 the word "magistrate"
(A.V.) is rendered in the Revised Version "possessing
authority", i.e., having power to do them harm by invasion. In
the time of Ezra (9:2) and Nehemiah (2:16; 4:14; 13:11) the
Jewish magistrates were called _seganim_, properly meaning
"nobles." In the New Testament the Greek word _archon_, rendered
"magistrate" (Luke 12:58; Titus 3:1), means one first in power,
and hence a prince, as in Matt. 20:25, 1 Cor. 2:6, 8. This term
is used of the Messiah, "Prince of the kings of the earth" (Rev.
1:5). In Acts 16:20, 22, 35, 36, 38, the Greek term _strategos_,
rendered "magistrate," properly signifies the leader of an army,
a general, one having military authority. The _strategoi_ were
the duumviri, the two praetors appointed to preside over the
administration of justice in the colonies of the Romans. They
were attended by the sergeants (properly lictors or "rod
bearers").
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Magistrate \Mag"is*trate\, n. [L. magistratus, fr. magister
master: cf. F. magistrat. See {Master}.]
A person clothed with power as a public civil officer; a
public civil officer invested with the executive government,
or some branch of it. ``All Christian rulers and
magistrates.'' --Book of Com. Prayer.
Of magistrates some also are supreme, in whom the
sovereign power of the state resides; others are
subordinate. --Blackstone.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
magistrate
n : a public official authorized to decide questions bought
before a court of justice [syn: {judge}, {justice}, {jurist}]
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