Moreover in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set of the Levites, and of the priests, and of the chief of the fathers of Israel, for the judgment of the LORD, and for controversies, when they returned to Jerusalem.
Set of the Levites ... priests, and ... chief of the fathers of Israel. A certain number of these three classes constituted a supreme court, which sat in Jerusalem to review appellate cases from the inferior courts. It consisted of two divisions: the first of which had jurisdiction in ecclesiastical matters; the second, in civil, fiscal, and criminal cases. According to others, the two divisions of the supreme court adjudicated: the one according to the law contained in the sacred books; the other, to the law of custom and equity-as in Eastern countries at the present day the written and unwritten law are objects of separate jurisdiction. It would thus appear that in Jehoshaphat's time the old constitutional government by elders still continued in force, because they formed the basis of this council, which was only enlarged by the addition of priests and Levites, as a wholesome element for preserving the courts of justice pure and uncorrupt (cf. Ezekiel 8:1; Ezra 4:23; Ezra 8:1-15).