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Home , Book of Judges

Analysis of Judges General “The English title Judges, like the LXX and translations, is based on the literal translation of the Hebrew name šōpetîm (Rooker, 288).” However, according to Dillard and Longman, the title, Judges, can be misleading for English readers (133). The “judges” were not just judicial officials; they were also military leaders and clan chieftains. As God continued His relationship with Israel, He used these judges to bring about deliverance from enemies of Israel.

Authorship Many would claim that the author is anonymous. It is widely agreed upon that the author “lived at some point after the monarchy had begun in Israel (17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25)” (Dillard and Longman, 135). “Jewish tradition identifies as the author, though no evidence is available to support such a claim (Hill and Walton, 236).” While there is no evidence for Samuel, he does fit living after the monarchy had begun as mentioned above. This analysis will hold to Samuel as the author, while recognizing that this cannot be dogmatic.

Date It is just as difficult to date the composition, as it is to name the author. In regards to events and not composition, Constable states that the judges span 265 years of Israelite history covering the time from the death of to the inauguration of the monarchy. Others say the time span is as short as 150 years. These years are then put together with and the conquest to determine when the judges time was. Hill and Walton state that the time span of the judges, if done consecutively according to years given in the book of Judges, would add to about 410 years. But like some scholars, they would say that the judges overlapped, ruling over regions and not just the nation. The shortest time for events would put the time of the judges between 1200 – 1050BC and the longest length would put the time of the judges between 1400 – 1050BC. This analysis would agree with the latter. While there is much debate on the length of the events, Constable suggests that if Samuel was the writer he may have written the book between 1050 and 1010 BC. Please visit - https://bible.org/article/introduction-book-judges - for a great chronology of these events.

Original Audience The book of Judges, like the previous historical book, Joshua, was written to the Jewish descendants of those who conquered the land. These Israelites are the generation of Saul who wanted or had a king (17:6, 18:1, 19:1, 21:25). This book gives the people an overview of their history in the time of the judges.

Key Interpretive Issues Key issues in Judges are: 1) to determine the nature of the judges, 2) to determine the chronology of the rule of the judges, 3) to determine the implication of the various roles of women in the book, 4) to understand the various individual stories of the judges and their overall contribution to the book, 5) to understand God’s hatred and discipline of sin, 6) to observe the outworking of the promised blessings and cursing of Deuteronomy in Judges, 7) to appreciate the grace and mercy of God to keep his covenantal promises in spite of His people’s continual failure to live according to His word.

Subject/Purpose Statement “The reason the book of Judges was written can be determined from the two major refrains of the book: ‘The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight’ (Judges 2:11; 3:7, 12; 4:1; 6:1; 10:6; 13:1) and ‘In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever he wanted’ (17:6; 21:25)” (Rooker, 292). The author recorded the consequences of the people’s failure to follow God. The book is concerned with describing Israel’s relationship to God. The often repeated cycle was: 1) the nation’s disobedience to the word of God; 2) divine discipline in the form of foreign oppression; 3) the people cry to the Lord; 4) divine deliverance by a judge; 5) rest in the land. These incidents were recorded in order that the readers would understand that their rest (and safety) was determined by their obedience to the law of God. If the nation followed the word of God, they would experience blessings. If they forsook their God, they would suffer at the hands of stronger nations that God would use to discipline His people.

Outline of Judges1 I. Israel’s Failure in the Holy War (1:1-3:6) a. Failure to Remove the Canaanites (1:1-2:5) b. Introduction to Cycles of (2:6-3:6) II. Cycles of Apostasy and Deliverance (3:7-16:31) a. (3:7-11) b. (3:12-31) c. (4-5) d. (6-8) e. (9) f. and (10:1-5) g. (10:6-12:7) h. (12:8-10) i. (12:11-12) j. (12:13-15) k. (13-16) III. Depths of the Failure of Israel (17-21) a. Breakdown of Religious Life (17-18) b. Breakdown of Social Order (19-21)

Theological Issues Important theological issues in Judges are: grace and law, conditionality and unconditionality, God’s absolute faithfulness, the administration of God’s rule over His people, God raising up others to lead His people back to Himself, God’s sovereignty (Israel and other nations), and God’s giving of consequences due to disobedience.

Theological Application The book of Judges paints in tragic colors the consequences of Israel’s disobedience to the word of God in the land. The book of Judges stands in stark contrast to the time of Joshua. Under Joshua’s leadership obedience was the rule not the exception. Judges highlights God’s hatred of sin and God’s love for His people as illustrated by His divine discipline. God never forsook His promise although His people had forsaken Him countless times to follow other gods. Although the book is full of human failures, a number of the characters that make up the narrative of Judges are listed as people of faith in Hebrews 11.

1 Outline is from The World and the Word by Merrill, Rooker, and Grisanti * Deep appreciation and thanks goes to Dr. Mark McGuiness, Associate Professor of at Baptist Seminary, for his sharing of the information that has been included in this document and throughout this study. Check out his blog at outsidemydoor.wordpress.com.