Judges, Book of I. Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
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1001 Judges, Book of 1002 queathed authority, the icons of emperors raised on against the angel while he pushes his finger on his stands behind him and embroidered on the table side of the scale, attempting to tip it in the favor cloth in front of him. His throne is cushioned and and direction of hell. draped in white cloth as he seems to consider his Bibliography: ■ Carboni, S., “The London Qazwini: An advisors around him. Early 14th-Century Copy of the Ajāib al-makhlūqāt,” Is- References to the Christ sitting as judge and the lamic Art 3 (1988/89) 15–31. ■ Dal Santo, M., Debating the Day of Judgment recur in NT several times and the Saints’ Cults in the Age of Gregory the Great (Oxford 2012). scene is vividly described in the Book of Revelation. ■ Hourihane, C., Pontius Pilate, Anti-Semitism, and the Passion In visual art, the most essential component is in Medieval Art (Princeton, N.J. 2009). ■ Kantorowicz, E. H., Christ, usually seated on the throne. In Roman and Laudes Regiae: A Study in Liturgical Acclamations and Medieval ■ Eastern Orthodox art he is flanked by the interces- Ruler Worship (Berkeley, Calif. 1946). Nordhagen, P. J., “S. Maria Antiqua: The Frescoes of the Seventh Century,” Acta sory figures of the Virgin on his right and John the Institutum Romanum Norvegiae 8 (1979) 89–142. ■ Verhey- Baptist on his left in an image called the Deesis (in den, J. (ed.), The Figure of Solomon in Jewish, Christian and Is- the Great Deesis, the apostles and sometimes cho- lamic Tradition: King, Sage and Architect (Leiden 2013). sen saints follow these in succession to either side). ■ Whittemore, T., The Mosaics of Haghia Sophia at Istanbul, Echoing liturgical Deesis, the iconography origi- Fourth Preliminary Report on the Work done in 1934–1938: The nally consisted of more figures, including angels Deesis Panel of the South Gallery (Oxford 1952). and often favored or local saints appropriate to the Katherine Marsengill context. Deesis imagery may date back as early as See also /Day of Judgment; /Justice; /Solomon the 4th or 5th century, though certainly was part of the visual repertoire by the 7th century, as it is mentioned by Patriarch Sophronios of Jerusalem in Judges, Book of the 7th century, and a 7th-century Deesis is pre- I. Hebrew Bible/Old Testament served in Santa Maria Antiqua, Rome (Whittimore: II. Judaism 23; Dal Santo: 178). There is nothing overtly judg- III. Christianity mental in Christ’s posture in the Deesis, for he tra- IV. Islam ditionally is displaying a gesture of blessing. In- V. Literature deed, the function of the image was to direct prayer VI. Visual Arts for intercession before Christ through his interme- VII. Music diaries. VIII. Film By contrast, Western images tend to show Christ in the act of pronouncing the Last Judgment. I. Hebrew Bible/Old Testament The image of Christ seated on the throne as judge The book of Judges reports the events between the overlaps with the iconography of Christ in Majesty, successful conquest of Israel under Joshua and the in that he is surrounded by the tetramorph and initiation of the history of the monarchy in Israel flanked by angels – indeed most images of Christ by Samuel. The book was never an independent lit- in Majesty can be argued to have eschatological im- erary work, but originated as a part of a larger liter- plications even without additional figures. How- ary context. According to the larger theory, it devel- ever, Last Judgment scenes include elaborating vi- oped either as a part of the Deuteronomistic sual content. Behind Christ are sometimes depicted History or as a part of the Enneateuch. It took many the arma Christi, the instruments of the passion, to centuries for the book to grow from smaller, per- make clear this is Christ the Son of Man who per- haps orally formed, individual sections, for exam- forms as Judge (Matt 25 : 31). The twenty-four ple the Song of Deborah, to the final comprehensive elders of the apocalypse may be in attendance, as layers of redaction. As a result, many voices which are perhaps the twelve apostles. The heavenly elect stand in tension with one another can be heard in appear to Christ’s right, usually with the Virgin the text. However, the details of the development Mary at the head followed by any number of apos- are still hotly debated today. The Hebrew text of tles, saints, ecclesiastic figures and even secular Judges has been transmitted well for the most part. kings. To Christ’s left and below him are the In the LXX, the book has degenerated into two text damned. Christ indicates his judgment by raising “families” throughout, which are so different from his right hand up and lowering his left. In detailed one another that they appear in parallel print, e.g., and dramatic depictions, such as on Romanesque in Rahlf’s edition. church portals, judgment may be made more ver- Recent commentaries generally interpret the fi- nacular with the inclusion of scales that suggest the nal form of the text and, following preceding femi- weighing of souls. Often, an angel holds the scale nist contributions (e.g., Trible, Exum, Seifert), often and the figures of the resurrected are brought be- devote particular attention to the roles of the strik- fore the angel. In amusing and terrifying version in ingly numerous self-confident, dominant, and also the relief tympanum of St. Foy, Conques (ca. 1115), often dangerous women. Because of the tensions in a demon, grinning maniacally, goes face to face content, the final form can hardly be appropriately Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 14 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2017 Download Date | 1/5/19 7:01 PM 1003 Judges, Book of 1004 expounded without taking into account the earlier of the conquest of the land. According to the older stages of redaction. Yet, this is contested primarily conception, Israel completely seized its area of set- within English-speaking scholarship. Besides nu- tlement under Joshua. According to the later con- merous monographs on smaller sections of Judges, ception, the periphery still had to be seized (Blum). many commentaries on the book of Judges have re- The continued existence of previous inhabitants is cently appeared. given different theological explanations. There are three main lines in terms of methodo- The claim has not gained acceptance that the logical treatments of the text. These range from es- deuteronomistic author, writing from a perspective tablishing the foundation of the book by detailed of unified all-Israel, was the first to summarize and redaction analyses (e.g., Groß) or by a rather large- edit the disparate, magnificently told (and partially scale analysis of the layers of redaction. These large- legendary) episodes of tribal heroes who fought for scale analyses reveal three clearly different “voices” tribes or tribal groups (Becker). This is because the in Judges (Niditch). Other methods interpret only formulas of the deuteronomistic framework, which the final form; although they do not reject theories ascribe the respective threats to Israel to its worship of the historical origins of the text, they consider of other deities, find no resonance in the actual nar- them irrelevant for interpretation (e.g., Webb [see ration of the individual episodes. The thesis of his extensive history of research]). Still other Wolfgang Richter, however, has been repeatedly methods embark from the extreme hypothesis that confirmed, though with varying chronological esti- almost the entire book is the work of one author, mates. According to Richter a compilation of hero namely the author of the Enneateuch. This method narratives limited to the later Northern kingdom virtually forces one to look for a unifying concept of Israel was available to the Deuteronomist. This in terms of content and has inevitably led to both compilation was already opposed to dynasty, criti- the more frequent acceptance of irony in the text cal of the monarchy (cf. Judg 8 : 22–23; the Jotham and to the misinterpretation of not just a few passa- parable and the narrative of King Abimelech) and ges (Frolov). was oriented from a perspective presuming a uni- The last few decades have yielded extensive new fied Israel (cf. Richter, Scherer, Guillaume). The archaeological materials and deeply expanded topo- Deuteronomist completed the episodes in a pro-Ju- graphical knowledge (cf. Gaß). However, since these dah perspective (Othniel), brought them into a discoveries do not often comply without strain to chronological sequence, and transformed them into the indications found in Judges, more recent histor- narratives of guilt and punishment according to his ical studies draw upon the narratives in Judges only cultic interpretation of history. very cautiously. The discussion concerning Judges is also influ- The narratives of the “major judges” (starting enced by newer controversies surrounding the Deu- from 3 : 7) are generally recognized as the core of teronomistic History and the Enneateuch. The the book. In each of these deuteronomistically opinion is widely held that the hero narratives shaped narratives, YHWH comes to the rescue of originating in what would later become the North- Israel in times of self-inflicted distress. Primarily ern kingdom, albeit already providing a perspective debated is whether the Samson narrative belongs to of Israel as a whole, were edited – by means of the this core or whether it was added later, and how abovementioned deuteronomistic patterns and for- the depiction of Eli, Samuel, and his sons in 1 Sam mulae – by the same author who created the entire 1–12 relate to it. The narratives of the Judges Deuteronomistic History (Deut–2 Kgs) from a var- (Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah) are bound by iety of sources.