Judges
Book Type
Book of history, the sixth book of the Old Testament and the BibleIntroduction to the Book of Judges
The book of Judges is a startling narrative about the pain of a life without God and about the wonder of God’s intervention. The stories in Judges begin shortly after the death of Joshua, who led the Israelites into the promised land (Josh 24:29–33; Judg 1:1). The people no longer have a leader like Moses or Joshua, and they neglect their relationship with Yahweh. The result is a recurring cycle of sin, punishment, repentance, and rescue by a “judge”—a leader sent by God.The book of Judges tells the stories of the judges, the inspired leaders who rescued Israel time after time. During this period, the people were unfaithful to God’s covenant, and God allowed their enemies to oppress them. Israel repeatedly turned to the Lord for help, and the Lord repeatedly sent charismatic judges to lead Israel. These powerful leaders did amazing things, but they were unable to transcend Israel’s anarchy and lawlessness. Israel needed a leader whose authority could give them national coherence and unity.The book of Judges is the second of the Historical Books in the Old Testament (Joshua-Esther). In the Hebrew Bible, these books are called the Former Prophets; the theological and spiritual concerns found in the Pentateuch and the Prophets take precedence over simply recording historical facts. The book derives its name from the Hebrew designation of the principal characters, shophetim (2:16), which could also be translated as “governors.” These judges were the Lord’s agents of deliverance. The Lord is both the central character and the hero of Judges.Theme & Overview
In danger of losing the promised land, the Israelites are delivered again and again by God through leaders known as "judges."Covering a period of about 350 years in the centuries before Christ, the book of Judges is filled with stories as sensational and dramatic as any of today’s headlines. The NIV Quest Study Bible says that, In terms of sheer spectacle—gruesome murders, sexual exploits, superhuman feats of strength, bizarre mutilation—no tabloid of today could offer you more. But no tabloid could offer the eternal truth you’ll find within these stories. The book of Judges says, “When they cried out to the Lord, he raised up for them a deliverer” (3:9). It shows what happened when Israel repeatedly slid into moral anarchy, and it highlights God’s merciful deliverance when his people cry out to him in repentance.The Israelites’ failures during the period of the judges undo many of Joshua’s accomplishments. By failing to finish the conquest Joshua started, they lose much of the land he led them in occupying (ch. 1); and they break the covenant (contract) they had renewed under his leadership (ch. 2). In addition, most of their heroes do not rise to Joshua’s standard of leadership (chs. 3–16). At the end of the book, these failures remain unresolved.But kingship is not necessarily the answer. Judges shows the problem of kingship: Gideon does not allow himself to be made king because that role belongs to God alone (8:23). Yet, his son Abimelech’s name means “my father is king,” and Abimelech kills his 70 brothers in an attempt to claim the kingship for himself (9:5). This foray into kingship ends in disaster and profoundly demonstrates the evils of monarchy.On the other hand, the final section of Judges (chs. 17–21) includes stories about Israel’s disarray, showing the need for centralized leadership. Without a godly governance, Israel’s tragic cycle—idolatry, punishment, pleas for mercy, God’s appointment of a judge, and the return to idolatry—would undoubtedly continue. There is a contrast here: Joshua’s leadership exemplified faithfulness, but the lack of leadership in Judges results in everyone doing what is right in their own eyes (e.g., 17:6; 21:25).Judges simultaneously endorses and critiques the need for a king in Israel (compare 18:1; 19:1)—declaring that Yahweh alone is king (8:22–23). In this way, Judges shows why Yahweh would allow Israel to have a king, while emphasizing that Yahweh is truly king over the nation (compare 1 Sam 8:5). Without Yahweh, the nation will fail (Judg 10:13–14; compare Deut 28:36–37). Ultimately, the appointment of a king in Israel is a rejection of their true king (1 Sam 8).Judges reveals the depravity that results from people living by their own truth—disorder, immorality, corruption, and destruction—and the incredible need for God’s reign. Even those raised up to help us can lead us astray, but Yahweh will not. He is the rightful king over our lives and over all the earth (compare Luke 19:38; Mark 15:2; Rev 17:14; 19:16).The theme of Judges is the downward spiral of Israel’s national and spiritual life into chaos and apostasy, showing the need for a godly king to lead it (17:6; 21:25).Author
Tradition considers the prophet Samuel as the author. The book itself does not name its author.Recipients
Following the deaths of Joshua and his generation, who served the Lord, the Jewish people followed a cycle of sin, oppression, repentance, and deliverance in the land of Israel. The book of Judges records Israel's history between the time of Joshua and the first kings of Israel. The book also provides important theological insights regarding the results of disobedience to the Lord, as well as repentance and God's deliverance of His people.Date
Likely written between 1045 and 1000 BC.Background
The events in Judges take place shortly after the conquest of the promised land but before the selection of Saul as Israel’s first king—roughly 1250–1050 BC. The book’s narrative centers on military leaders, whom the narrative calls judges; this relates them to the leaders Moses appointed to arbitrate disputes among the Israelites, but only the judge Deborah clearly serves that role (Exod 18:21, 26; compare Judg 4:4–5). Most of the judges are warriors leading the tribes of Israel against nearby enemies, including Moabites, Canaanites, Ammonites, and Philistines.The period of the judges is marked by violence and moral decline; the end of the book attributes this to an absence of centralized leadership resulting in a lack of accountability and unity (e.g., 17:6; 21:25). Judges opens by referring back to the book of Joshua (Judg 1:1). In this way, it functions to bring clarity to the end of Joshua: Although the Israelites had settled in Canaan (Josh 24:28), enemies still abounded (Judg 1:27–36). In line with the viewpoint of Deuteronomy, foreign oppression is directly related to the sinfulness of the people (Judg 2:19–23; 17:6; Deut 28:25). But whenever the people repent, a judge arises to save them.The Purpose & Audience (Reasons for the letter)
What kind of leadership does God’s work require, and where can God’s people find such leaders? Judges gives a partial answer to both questions but stops short of providing the final word.Old Israel’s narrative art survives in its purest form in the Book of Judges.
ROBERT BOLING
Judges, p. 29
Judges celebrates charismatic (gifted) leadership while recognizing its limitations. One enduring biblical principle of leadership is that God raises up heroes and fills them with his Spirit to rescue his people. Moses and Joshua had been such rescuer-leaders, and Saul and David would be. The heroes of Judges had flaws, but God used them. The true charismatic is a man or woman who is given a divine gift (Greek charisma) to lead. Following this kind of leader is part of the divine order.A second kind of leadership, often called “official,” has authority that does not come directly from God but flows from an office or appointment. Just as the Israelite judges were classic charismatic leaders, the kings represented official authority in the military and political sphere. Prophets and priests presented the same contrast in Israel’s spiritual life—the prophets were inspired leaders while the priests were official leaders.Which type of leader has God’s approval? How do those who want to follow the Lord faithfully know which structures of leadership are worthy of obedience? The book of Judges demonstrates God’s unmistakable commitment to raise up powerfully endowed, spirit-filled leaders appropriate for the occasion. The principle of charismatic leadership, despite its limitations, is never set aside in biblical narrative.Even in the transition to kingship in 1 and 2 Samuel, there is ambivalence toward the new form of official leadership. Kingship began with Saul, a charismatic judge-king in whom the weaknesses of both systems combined to bring about his downfall. The charismatic principle is then affirmed and renewed in the life of David, a great hero-king. David was so distinctly a charismatic king that it is initially difficult to distinguish him from a successful judge. What answers the plaintive cry of Judges is not the rejection of charismatic leaders but the addition of God’s covenant with his chosen king, David (2 Sam 7). God’s ideal is in the combination of inspired and official leadership. Israel’s judges and kings, with all their limitations, look forward to Jesus, the perfect charismatic king, who combines in his person all the perfections so lacking in each of his predecessors.The book of Judges chronicles the moral and spiritual descent of Israel from the relative high point at the beginning of the book through a series of downward spirals to the depths of degradation in chaps. 17–21. Though God raised up a sequence of deliverers—the judges—they were unable to reverse this trend and some even became part of the problem. By the end of the book, Israel had become as pagan and defiled as the Canaanites they had displaced. If this trend continued, it would be only a matter of time before the land would vomit them out, as it had the Canaanites before them (Lv 18:28).HUMAN DEPRAVITY: The book of Judges demonstrates what happens to the Lord’s people when everyone does whatever they want. It shows that Israel cannot presume upon God’s grace, and neither can Christians. If we abandon his commandments and pursue the idols of our own imaginations, the result will be moral and spiritual chaos. This is where we would all end up if the Lord left us to ourselves.THE GRACE OF GOD: The book of Judges offers a profound commentary on the grace of God. Left to their own devices, the Israelites would surely have destroyed themselves. Only by the repeated gracious intervention of God did they emerge from the dark premonarchic period as a people and nation distinguishable in lifestyle and beliefs from surrounding pagan groups.THE NEED FOR GOD’S LEADERSHIP: While it is possible that the repeated refrain “there was no king in Israel” (17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25) paints this book as an appeal for a monarchy, it is better to see it as a call to return to God as their King. Rather than lifting up the kings as an ideal above the confusion of this period, the addition of “everyone did whatever seemed right to him” (17:6; 21:25) reduced the population to the moral and spiritual level of Israel’s kings in later years. In other words, rebellion against God is democratized. Israel did not need a king to lead them into sin; they could fall into immorality all on their own. The Israelites had abandoned the God of the covenant to follow the fertility gods of the land. The writer, by exposing this problem, sought to wake up his own generation. This is an appeal to the covenant people to abandon all forms of paganism and return to Yahweh.CONTRIBUTION TO THE BIBLEThe book of Judges shows us that the nation of Israel survived the dark days of the judges entirely by the grace of God. In mercy he sent oppressors as reminders of their rebellion. In mercy he responded to their cries and raised up deliverers. Judges also illustrates the fundamental problem of the human heart. When God’s people forget his saving acts, they go after other gods. Judges also illustrates the link between spiritual commitments and ethical conduct. In the end the book of Judges illustrates the eternal truth: the Lord will build his kingdom, in spite of our sin and rebellion.Key Verses (ESV)
Judges 2:16–19: "Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so. Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways." Judges 10:15: "And the people of Israel said to the Lord, 'We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day.'"Judges 21:25: "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes."Key Passages (NLT)
Jdg 3:7–11 The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They forgot about the Lord their God, and they served the images of Baal and the Asherah poles. Then the Lord burned with anger against Israel, and he turned them over to King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-naharaim. And…Jdg 17:6In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.Jdg 21:25In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.Structure & Outline 1
Judges opens with a description of political and religious turmoil in Israel (Judg 1–2). After this comes a sequence of hero stories about the judges, Israel’s leaders. Major judges include Ehud (3:12–30), Deborah (chs. 4–5), Gideon (chs. 6–8), Abimelech (ch. 9), Jephthah (chs. 10–11), and Samson (chs. 13–16). The same pattern occurs in each story: Israel falls into sin; God allows a foreign nation to oppress Israel as punishment; Israel repents; God sends a judge to deliver Israel from foreign oppression. The last five chapters of Judges emphasize the social and moral decline within Israel rather than conflict with outside enemies.Outline • Incomplete occupation of the land (1:1–3:6) • Judges deliver Israel (3:7–16:31) • Israel’s depravity under the judges (17:1–21:25)Outline 2
This book consists of 19 chapters comprising three major sections. First, Judges 1:1—3:6 introduces the book of Judges and describes a pattern of disobedience which existed among the Israelites. The first chapter explains that the enemies of Israel were never fully defeated in the land given to them by God. Failing to complete that conquest was, already, a form of disobedience. As Israel continued to disobey the Lord, God allowed various judgments to take place among His people. The second major section provides the history of Israel's judges (Judges 3:7—16:31). Several distinct periods are described: the leadership of Othniel (Judges 3:7–11), the victories of Ehud and those of Shamgar over the Moabites (Judges 3:12–31), the important role of Deborah in Israel's victory over the Canaanites (Judges 4—5), Gideon's victory against the Midianites (Judges 6:1¬—8:35, Abimelech contrasted with Tola and Jair (Judges 910:5), various minor judges in victories over the Philistines and Moabites (Judges 10:6—12:15), and finally the account of Samson's battles with the Philistines (Judges 13—16).The third and final portion of the book of Judges provides insight into the sinful state of Israel during this time. Events recorded in these chapters are not directly related to the other occurrences of the book (Judges 17—21). Two specific incidents are recorded. The first is the account of the idol worship of Micah and the Danites (Judges 17:1—18:31). The second event begins with a gruesome crime which led the nation of Israel into a civil war. Retaliation against the Benjamites nearly destroyed the entire tribe (Judges 19—21).The book of Judges concludes with the fitting words, "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25).