JUDGES INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES

NAME OF THE BOOK
1. The title comes from the Hebrew VERB shophetim (BDB 1047, KB 1622, Qal ACTIVE PARTICIPLE), which meant "to settle a dispute." This Hebrew term is similar to (R. K. Harrison, Introduction to the Old Testament, p. 680):
  1. the Canaanite term for "leader" or "prince" (cf. Amos 2:3)
  2. the Phoenician term for "regent"
  3. the Akkadian term for "ruler"
  4. the Carthaginean term, "chief magistrate"
2. It was translated in the LXX as krital or Judges.
3. Our English title came from the Vulgate's judicum.
4. The English title is misleading because these persons do not act in judicial ways but are dynamic local leaders raised up by God, empowered by His Spirit (cf. Jdgs. 3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 14:6, 19; 15:14), to meet the specific purpose of delivering His people from a foreign oppressor (cf. Jdgs. 2:16). A better title might be "Deliverers" (BDB 446, cf. Jdgs. 3:9,15).
CANONIZATION
1. This is the second book of the second division of the Hebrew canon. It is called the Prophets.
2. This second division has two sub-divisions:
  1. the former prophets which we call the historical books: Joshua ‒ Kings (except Ruth)
  2. the latter prophets which we call the prophets: Isaiah ‒ Malachi (except Daniel and Lamentations)
GENRE ‒ This is primarily historical narrative.
AUTHORSHIP
1. The Bible itself is silent.
2. Baba Bathra 14b (a book of the Talmud) says Samuel wrote the books which bears his name, Judges, and Ruth.
3. Judges covers a period of many years (i.e., death of Joshua to birth of Samuel), therefore, there cannot be one eyewitness author.
4. The book was possibly compiled from:
  1. several unnamed written sources such as:
    1. "The book of the Wars of the Lord," which is one historical source mentioned in Numbers 21:14
    2. "The book of Jashar," which is another historical source mentioned in Joshua 10:13 and 2 Samuel 1:18
  2. possibly several oral sources. Accurate oral histories were common in the Ancient Near East where writing materials were very expensive and difficult to carry. See John H. Walton and D. Brent Sandy, The Lost World of Scripture, which discusses how oral societies passed on their history and traditions. An example would be: "The Chronicles of Samuel the seer,. . .Nathan the prophet,. . .Gad the seer" in 1 Chr. 29:29.
5. It seems that the original compiler wrote during the early United Monarchy:
  1. Bethlehem is mentioned often, possibly reflecting David's day (cf. Jdgs. 17:7, 8, 9; 19:1, 2, 18 [twice]).
  2. Several texts reflect a monarchial period by the phrase "in those days there was no king in Israel" (cf. Jdgs. 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). There were kings in all the surrounding nations, though not in Israel.
6. There is evidence of a later editor:
  1. Judges 18:30 reflects:
    1. the Assyrian exile of the northern ten tribes in 722 B.C. (i.e., the fall of Samaria)
    2. possibly the capture of the Ark by the Philistines in Eli's day, 1 Samuel 1-7
  2. Jewish tradition asserts that Jeremiah and/or Ezra the scribe edited parts of the OT. The formation of the OT in its current form is lost to us. However, this does not affect the divine inspiration of these OT books.
1. SPECIAL TOPIC: THE BIBLE (it's uniqueness and inspiration)
2. SPECIAL TOPIC: INSPIRATION
DATE
1. Although written by a compiler, probably during David's reign, this does not imply that the historical material is not from eyewitness sources. There are two good examples of this:
  1. In Jdgs. 1:21 the Jebusites still hold the inner fortress of Jebus (later Jerusalem). David does not conquer this fort until 2 Sam. 5:6ff.
  2. In Jdgs. 3:3 Sidon, not Tyre, is listed as the major city of Phoenicia.
  1. SPECIAL TOPIC: JEBUS.
2. The book covers the period of time from immediately after the conquest of Joshua to the birth of Samuel. The beginning date depends on the date of the Exodus (1445 B.C. or 1290 B.C), 1350 B.C. or 1200 B.C. The terminus date would be about 1020 B.C., which is the beginning of Saul's reign (Bright).
  1. SPECIAL TOPIC: THE DATE OF THE EXODUS
3. If one adds up all of the dates given for the Judges, it comes to 390-410 years. This cannot be taken chronologically sequential because from 1 Kgs. 6:1 the Bible says there were 480 years between the Exodus and the building of Solomon's Temple, 965 B.C. This means the Judges must have been primarily local leaders and their dates must overlap.
4. The rebellious events recorded in Judges 17-21 occur at the beginning of the period, which shows the book is out of chronological order.
HISTORICAL SETTING
1. The beginning chapters of Judges show us how limited was the conquest of Joshua. Joshua basically defeated the major Canaanite walled cities and their military potential. God left the hard job of occupation to each of the tribes in their own area, Jdgs. 2:6. This strategy was to test the new generation of Israelites who had not seen God's miracles of the Exodus and Conquest, Jdgs. 2:1-10; 3:1.
2. The new generation failed the test, Jdgs. 2:11ff; 3:7,12; 4:1; 6:1; 10:6; 13:1. God responded to their sin by sending foreign oppressors to punish His people. The people repented and cried out to God for help. God sent a "deliverer." Then for a period of years the land was peaceful. This is basically the pattern that describes the book of Judges, Jdgs. 2:6-16:31 (sin, sorrow, supplication, salvation, and relapse).
  1. SPECIAL TOPIC: GOD TESTS HIS PEOPLE (OT)

LITERARY UNITS

It seems that the time of the Judges is theologically described in three different ways. These three perspectives form the outline of the book:
1. results of Joshua's conquest
2. the need for deliverers
3. examples of apostasy
Brief Outline of the Book:
1. a brief account of the conquest, Jdgs. 1:1-2:5
2. the sin, judgment and deliverance of God's people, Jdgs. 2:6-16:31
3. three examples of the sins of God's people that reveal the moral climate of the day:
  1. Micah's idolatry, Judges 17
  2. Dan's migration, Judges 18
  3. Gibeah's sexual sin, Judges 19-21

The Major Judges and their enemies:

NAME	TEXT	ENEMY	TIME of PEACE (1) or TIME of JUDGING (2)
1. Othniel	3:7-11	Mesopotamia (Cushan-Rishathaim)	40 yrs. (1)
2. Ehud	3:12-30	Moab (Eglon)	80 yrs. (1)
3. Deborah (Barak)	4:1-24 (prose) 5:1-31 (poetry)	Canaanite (Jabin and Sisera)	40 yrs. (1)
4. Gideon	6 - 8	Midianites & Amalekites	40 yrs. (1)
5. Jephthah	10:17-12:7	Ammonites (& Ephraim)	6 yrs. (2)
6. Samson	13 - 16	Philistines	20 yrs. (2)

The Minor Judges:

NAME	TEXT	ENEMY	TIME of JUDGING
1. Shamgar	3:31	Philistines	?
2. Tola	10:1-2	?	23 yrs.
3. Jain	10:3-5	?	22 yrs.
4. Ibzan	12:8-10	?	7 yrs.
5. Elon	12:11-12	?	10 yrs.
6. Abdon	12:13-15	?	8 yrs.

Abimelech, 9:1-57:
1. this was a son of Gideon by a concubine
2. he only affected one city, Shechem
3. he is different from the other Judges

MAIN TRUTHS
1. This book clearly shows the continuing results of the Fall:
  1. Each successive generation violated the Covenant and went after Canaanite fertility gods.
  2. Even in the Promised Land, with its tribal allocations given by God, the tribe of Dan chose to relocate to the extreme north instead of trusting God to defeat the Philistines.
  1. SPECIAL TOPIC: THE FALL
  2. SPECIAL TOPIC: FERTILITY WORSHIP OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST
2. God used pagan peoples to judge His people (later Syria, Assyria, and Babylon). This reflects the cursing sections of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 27-29; also note Deut. 7:1-5,17-26; 20:16-18
3. This book shows the need for a righteous King (one who reflects YHWH's character) to lead the united tribes (cf. Jdgs. 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25).
4. YHWH is faithful even when Israel is not! His people's continual covenant disobedience highlights His character (i.e., mercy, grace, longsuffering, love).
  1. SPECIAL TOPIC: CHARACTERISTICS OF ISRAEL'S GOD (OT)
5. This book continues the history of the Jewish people which began in Genesis, especially the covenant with Abraham.
  1. SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT PROMISES TO THE PATRIARCHS