According to John Tvedtnes, the Hebrew word shophet, rendered "judge" does not necessarily denote one who "judges," though this may have been one of the minor duties, but more rightly denotes one who governs. The Book of Mormon reader will note that the judges replaced the Nephite king, so that when Mosiah2 declared to the people that, "I will be your king the remainder of my days; nevertheless, let us appoint judges, to judge this people according to our law" (Mosiah 29:11), he obviously meant more than to have these judges only sitting in a court of law. Indeed, Mosiah 29:41 states that "it came to pass that they did appoint judges to rule over them, or to judge them according to the law; and this they did throughout all the land." (cf. Alma 4:17) In Alma 2:16 we find that the chief judge was also called "the governor of the people of Nephi." Moreover, in the same verse (Alma 2:16) we find that Alma, as "chief judge and the governor of the people of Nephi" also "went up with his people, yea, with his captains, and chief captains, yea, at the head of his armies, against the Amlicites to battle." Thus the judges were leaders of the people in many ways. [John A. Tvedtnes, Book Review in Review of Books on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 4 1992, pp. 225-226]
Alma 2:16 Alma, being the chief judge and the governor of the people of Nephi (Major Nephite Leaders) [[Illustration]]: The Major Leaders During Nephite History. [Church Educational System, Book of Mormon Student Manual: Religion 121 and 122, 1989, p. 160]