a book of the Old Testament that tells the history of Israel under the leaders known as judges
"While studying her Bible, Sarah highlighted the section on Judges because it chronicles how God guided Israel through various crisis periods before establishing the monarchy."
plural of judge
"The judges announced their final scores after reviewing each contestant's performance."
In plain English: Judges are officials who listen to arguments and decide what is right or wrong in legal cases.
"The community judges are responsible for selecting the winner."
Usage: Use judges to refer to multiple people who preside over court cases or decide disputes according to the law. Do not confuse this with using it as a verb to evaluate something, which requires a different grammatical structure.
Third-person singular simple present indicative form of judge
"The judges hear testimony from both sides before delivering their verdicts."
In plain English: To judge means to form an opinion about someone or something based on what you see or know.
"The committee judges every contestant based on their performance."
Usage: Use judges to describe when a third person evaluates or forms an opinion about someone's character or actions. Do not use it to mean a court official; for that role, always use the noun "judge."
The seventh book of the Old Testament, and a book of the Hebrew Tanakh.
"During our Bible study group last Sunday, we spent an hour reading through Judges to understand how Israel was led between periods of peace and chaos."
The word judges comes from a biblical book that records the actions of the leaders who guided ancient Israel. It entered English directly from this religious text rather than evolving through other languages.