What Were the Qualifications for Being a Leader in Ancient Israel? Revelation, Authority, and Philological Issues in Deut 1:13 and 1:15

The passive participles from ידע in Deut 1:13 and 1:15 are part of a list of characteristics for being a judge. The translational value of these participles, however, is unclear. This article reviews the main options proposed for understanding וידעים in Deut 1:13 and 1:15 and argues that a syntactic feature in the verses is grounds for understanding them as passive in both form and sense (“known”). Finally, and perhaps more significantly, locating this qualification for being a judge in the larger ideology of revelation and authority in D buttresses this thesis.