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JUDGES, THE BOOK OF
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See also:JUDGES, THE See also:BOOK OF , in the See also:Bible. This book of the Old Testament, which, as we now read it, constitutes a sequel to the book of See also:Joshua, covering the See also:period.of See also:history between the See also:death of this conqueror and the See also:birth of See also:Samuel, is so called because it contains the history of the Israelites before the See also:establishment of the See also:monarchy, when the See also:government was in the hands of certain leaders who appear to have formed a continuous See also:succession, although the See also:office was not hereditary. The only other biblical source ascribed to this period is See also:Ruth, whose See also:present position as an appendix to Judges is not See also:original (see BIBLE and RUTH). Structure.—It is now generally agreed that the present See also:adjustment of the older See also:historical books of the Old Testament to See also:form a continuous See also:record of events from the creation to the Babylonian See also:exile is due to an editor, or rather to successive redactors, who pieced together and reduced to a certain unity older See also:memoirs of very different See also:dates; and closer examination shows that the continuity of many parts of the narrative is more apparent than real. This is very clearly the See also:case in the book of Judges. It consists of three See also:main portions: (I) an introduction, presenting one view of the occupation of See also:Palestine by the Israelites (i. I—ii. 5); (2) the history of the several judges (ii. 6-xvi.); and (3) an appendix containing two narratives of the period. 1. The first See also:section relates events which are said to have taken See also:place after the death of Joshua, but in reality it covers the same ground with the book of Joshua, giving a brief See also:account of the occupation of See also:Canaan, which in some particulars repeats the statements of the previous book, while in others it is quite See also:independent (see JosHUA). It is impossible to regard the See also:war-like expeditions described in this section as supplementary See also:campaigns undertaken after Joshua's death; they are plainly represented as the first efforts of the Israelites to gain a See also:firm footing in the See also:land (at See also:Hebron, Debir, See also:Bethel), in the very cities which Joshua is related to have subdued (Josh. x. 39).1 Here then we have an account of the See also:settlement of See also:Israel See also:west of the See also:Jordan which is parallel to the book of Joshua, but makes no mention of Joshua himself, and places the tribe of See also:Judah in the front. The author of the See also:chapter cannot have had Joshua or his history in his See also:eye at all, and the words " and it came to pass after the death of Joshua " in Judg. i. i are from the See also:hand of the last editor, who desired to make the whole book of Judges, including ch. i., read continuously with that which now pre-cedes it in the See also:canon of the earlier prophets? 2. The second and main section (ii. 6-xvi.) stands on quite another footing. According to Josh. See also:xxiv. 31 the See also:people "served Yahweh " during the lifetime of the See also:great conqueror and his contemporaries. In Judg. ii. 7 this statement is repeated, and the writer proceeds to explain that subsequent generations See also:fell away from the faith, and served the gods of the nations among which they dwelt (ii. 6). The See also:worship of other gods is represented, not as something which went on See also:side by side with Yahweh-worship (cf. x. 6), but as a revolt against Yahweh, periodically repeated and regularly chastised by See also:foreign invasion. The history, therefore, falls into recurring cycles, each of which begins with religious corruption, followed by chastisement, which continues until Yahweh, in See also:answer to the groans of his oppressed people, raises up a " See also:judge " to deliver Israel, and recall them to the true faith. On the death of the " judge," if not sooner, the corruption spreads anew and the same vicissitudes follow. This religious explanation of the course of the history, formally expounded at the outset and repeated in more or less detail from chapter to chapter (especially vi. i-io, x. 6-18), determines the form of the whole narrative. It is in See also:general agreement with the spirit as also with the See also:language of See also:Deuteronomy, and on this account this section may be conveniently called " the Deuteronomic Book of Judges." But the main religious ideas are not so See also:late and are rather akin to those of Josh. xxiv; in particular the worship of the high places is not condemned, nor is it excused as in I See also:Kings iii. 2. The See also:sources of the narrative are obviously older than the theological exposition of its lessons, and herein lies the value and See also:interest of Judges. The importance of such documents for the scientific historian lies not so much in the events they record as in the unconscious See also:witness they See also:bear to the See also:state of society in which the narrator or poet lived. From this point of view the parts of the book are by no means all of equal value; See also:critical See also:analysis shows that often parallel or distinct narratives have been fused together, and that, whilst the older stories gave more prominence to See also:ordinary human motives and combinations, i This is confirmed by the circumstance that in Judg. the " See also:angel of Yahweh," who, according to Exod. xiv. 24, See also:xxiii. 2o, xxxii. 34, xxxiii. 2, 7 seq., must be viewed as having his See also:local manifestation at the headquarters of the See also:host of Israel, is still found at See also:Gilgal and not at See also:Shiloh. The chapter was written after Israel had become strong enough to make the Canaanite cities tributary (v. 28), that is, after the establishment of the monarchy (see I Kings ix. 20-21).the later are coloured by religious reflection and show the characteristic tendency of the Old Testament to re-tell the fortunes of Israel in a form that See also:lays ever-increasing See also:weight on the See also:work of Yahweh for his people. That the pre-Deuteronomic sources are to be identified with the Judaean (J, or Yahwist) and Ephraimite (E, or Elohist) strands of the Hexa, teuch is, however, not certain. To the unity of religious See also:pragmatism in the main stock of the book of Judges corresponds a unity of See also:chronological See also:scheme. The " judges," in spite of the fact that most of them had clearly no more than a local See also:influence, are all represented as successive rulers in Israel, and the history is dated by the years of each judgeship and those of the intervening periods of oppression. But it is impossible to reconcile the See also:numbers with the statement elsewhere that the See also:fourth See also:year of See also:Solomon was the 48oth from the See also:exodus (1 Kings vi. i). See BIBLE: See also:Chronology. The general introduction (ii. 6-iii. 6) is a blend of Deuteronomic and other sources. The intimate relation between it and the See also:separate narratives (Josh. xxiv. 1-27, a late [Ephraimite] record inserted by a second Deuteronomic hand, and xxiii., D) appears both from their contents and from the fact that Judg. ii. 6-Io is almost identical with the narrative appended to Joshua's address (Joshua xxiv. 28-31). Judg. i.-ii. 5, however, is not touched by D, and hence was probably inserted in its present position at a later date. According to the highly intricate introduction the See also:Hebrews were oppressed : (a) to familiarize them with warfare—it is assumed that they had inter-married with the Canaanites and worshipped their gods (iii. 2, 6) ; (b) to test their See also:loyalty to Yahweh (ii. 22 ; iii. 1) ; or (c) to punish them for their See also:marriage with the See also:heathen and their See also:apostasy (D in ii. 12; cf. Josh. xxiii., and ibid. v. 12). To this succeeds a noteworthy example of the Deuteronomic treatment of tradition in the achievement of See also:Othniel (q.v.) the only Judaean " judge," The bareness of detail, not to speak of the improbability of the situation, renders its genuineness doubtful, and the passage is one of the indications of a secondary Deuteronomic redaction. The case, however, is exceptional ; the stories of the other great " judges " were not rewritten or to any great extent revised by the Deuteronomic redactor, and his hand appears chiefly in the framework.' Thus, in the See also:story of See also:Ehud and the defeat of See also:Moab only iii. 12-15, 29-30 are Deuteronomic. But the See also:rest is not homogeneous, vv. 19 and 20 appear to be variants, and the mention of Israel (v. 27b) is characteristic of the tendency to treat local troubles as See also:national oppressions, whereas other records represent little national unity at this period (i., v.). See further EHUD. According to the See also:Septuagint addition to Josh. xxiv. 33, Moab was the first of Israel's oppressors. The brief See also:notice of Shamgar, who delivered Israel from the See also:Philistines (iii. 31), is one of the later insertions, and in some See also:MSS. of the LXX. it stands after xvi. 31. The story of the defeat of Sisera appears in two distinct forms, an earlier, in poetical form (v.), and a later, in See also:prose (iv.). D's framework is to be recognized in iv. 1-4, 23 seq., v. I (probably), 31 (last clause) ; see further See also:DEBORAH. The Midianite oppression (vi.—viii,) is contained in the usual See also:frame (vi. I-6 ; viii. 27 seq.), but is not homogeneous, since viii. 4, the pursuit of the kings, cannot be the sequel of viii. 3 (where they have been slain), and viii. 33-35 ignores ix. The structure of vi. 3 is particularly intricate: vi. 25-32 does not continue vi. 11-24 (there are two accounts of See also:Gideon's introduction and See also:diver-gent representations of Yahweh-worship) ; vi. 34 forms the sequel of the latter, and vi. 36-40 (with " See also:God ") is See also:strange after the description of the See also:miracle in vv. 21 seq. (with " Yahweh "). Further, there are difficulties in vi. 34, vii. 23 seq., viii. 1, when compared with vii. 2-8, and in vii. 16-22 two stratagems are combined. There are two sequels: vii. 23 seq. and viii. 4; with the former contrast vi. 35; with viii. 1-3 cf. xii. 1-6, and see below. Chapter viii. 22 seq. comes unexpectedly, and the refusal of the offer of the kingship reflects later ideas (cf. I Sam. viii. 7; X. 19; xii. 12, 17). The conclusion, however, shows that Jerubbaal had only a local reputation. Finally, the condemnation of the See also:ephod as See also:part of the worship of Yahweh (viii. 27) agrees with the thought in vi. 25-32 as against that in vi. 11-24. (See EPHOD; GIDEON.) Chapter ix. (see See also:ABIMELECH) appears to have been wanting in the Deuteronomic book of Judges, but inserted later perhaps by means of the introduction, viii. 30-32 (See also:post-exilic). It has two accounts of the attack upon See also:Shechem (lx. 26-41 and 42-49). After a brief notice of two " See also:minor judges " (see below), follows the story of See also:Jephthah. It concludes with the usual Deuteronomic 3 Hence, it is to be inferred that the reviser had older written records before him. Had these been in the oral See also:stage he would scarcely incorporate traditions which did not agree with his views.; at all events they would hardly have been written down by him in the form in which they have survived. The narratives of the monarchy which are preserved only in See also:Chronicles, on the other hand, illustrate the manner in which tradition was reshaped and rewritten under the influence of a later religious standpoint. See also:formula (xii. 7), but is prefaced by a detailed introduction to the oppression of Israel (x._6 sqq.). By the inclusion of the Philistines among the oppressors, and of Judah, See also:Benjamin and See also:Ephraim among the oppressed (x. 7, 9), it appears to have in view not merely the story of See also:Samson, a See also:hero of local interest, but the See also:early chapters in I Samuel. This introduction is of composite origin (as also ii.6–2I ; Josh. xxiii.–xxiv. 25), but a satisfactory analysis seems impossible. As it stands, it has See also:literary connexions with the late narrative in i Sam. (vii. seq., xii.), and appears to form the See also:preface to that period of history which ended with Samuel's great victory and the institution of the monarchy. But this belongs to a later scheme (see SAMUEL), and the introduction in its earlier form must have been the prelude to earlier narratives.' The story of Jephthah's fight with See also:Ammon is linked to the preceding introduction by x. 17 seq. ; for the framework see x. 6 (above), xii. 7. Chapter xi. 12–28 (cf. Num. xx. seq.) is applicable only to Moab, vv. 29 and 32 are variants, and Jephthah's See also:home is placed variously in Tob. (xi. 3) and Mizpeh (v. 34). In xi. I–to the outlaw stipulates that he shall be See also:chief of See also:Gilead if successful, but in in. 12–28 a ruler speaks on behalf of Israel. Both Moab and Ammon had See also:good See also:reason to be hostile to Gilead (Num. xxi.), but the See also:scene of the victory points rather to the former (v. 33, possibly conflate). There is a general resemblance between the victories of Gideon and Jephthah, which is emphasized by the See also:close relation between viii. 1–3 and xii. 1–6, the explanation of which in its present context is difficult. See further JEPHTHAH. The old stories of Samson the Danite have been scarcely touched by the redaction (xiii. 1; xv. 20; xvi. 31b, where he is a " judge ") ; only xiii. appears to be rather later (v. 5 represents him as a fore-runner of Samuel and See also:Saul), and gives a rather different impression of the hero of the folk-tales. The See also:cycle illustrates some interesting customs and is in every way valuable as a specimen of popular narrative. See SAMSON. Grouped among these narratives are the five so-called "minor judges (x. 1–5; xii. 8–15). By the addition of Shamgar (iii. 31) the number is made to agree with the six more important names. They are not represented as having any immediate religious importance; they really See also:lie outside of the chronological scheme, and their history is plainly not related from such lively and detailed See also:reminiscence as gives See also:charm to the longer episodes of the book. The notices are See also:drawn up in set phraseology, and some of the names, in See also:harmony with a characteristic feature of early See also:Hebrew history, are those of personified families of communities rather than of families.' 3. The third and last section of the book embraces chapters xvii.-xxi., and consists of two narratives independent of one another and of the main stock of the book, with which they are not brought into any chronological connexion. They appear to owe their position to the latest redactor (akin to the latest stratum in the See also:Hexateuch) who has heavily worked over xix.-xxi., and put the book into its present form by the addition of i.-ii. 5, ix. and possibly of v.3 The first narrative, that of See also:Micah and the Danites, is of the highest interest both as a record of the state of See also:religion and for the picture it gives of the way in which one See also:clan passed from the See also:condition of an invading See also:band into settled See also:possession of land and See also:city. Its interest (xvii. seq.) lies in the See also:foundation of the Ephraimite See also:sanctuary by Micah as also in that of See also:Dan. There are some repetitions in the account, but there is not enough See also:evidence to restore two See also:complete stories. The history of the Levite and the Benjamites is of quite another See also:character, and presupposes a degree of unity of feeling and See also:action among the tribes of Israel which it is not easy to reconcile with the rest of the book. In its present form this See also:episode appears to be not very See also:ancient; it resembles Ruth in giving a good See also:deal of curious archaeological detail (the feast at Shiloh) in a form which suggests that the usages referred to were already obsolete when the narrative was composed. It appears to consist of an old story which has been heavily revised to form an edifying piece of exposition. The older parts are preserved in xix.: the account of the Levite of Mt Ephraim whose concubine from See also:Bethlehem in Judah was outraged, not by the non-Israelite Jebusites of See also:Jerusalem, but by the Benjamites of Gibeah; there are traces of another source in vv. 6–8, Lo, 13, 15. The older portions of xx. seq. include: the vengeance taken by Israel (e.g. xx. 3–8, 14, 19, 29, 36–41, 47), and the reconstruction of the tribe by intermarriage with the See also:women of Shiloh (xxi. 1, 15, 17–19, 21–23). The post-exilic expansions (found chiefly in xx., xxi. 2–14, ' It may be conjectured that the introduction originally formed the prelude to the rise of Saul: the intervening narratives, though not necessarily of late origin themselves, having been subsequently inserted. See S. A. See also:Cook, Crit. Notes O. T. Hist., p. 127 seq. 2 Tola and Puah (x. 1) are clans of See also:Issachar (Gen. xlvi. 13), for Jair (v. 3), see Num. xxxii. 41, and for Elon (xii. I I), see Gen. xlvi. 14. See See also:GENEALOGY: Biblical. To the same post-exilic hand may also he ascribed the introduction of the " minor judges " (so several critics), and smaller additions here and there (ch. i. I opening words, vv. 4, 8 seq. [contrast 211 18; viii. 30–32: xi. 2, &c.).16, 24 seq.) describe the See also:punishment of Benjamin by the religious See also:assembly and the See also:massacre of Jabesh-Gilead for its refusal to join Israel, four See also:hundred virgins of the Gileadites being saved for Benjamin. How much old tradition underlies these stories is question-able. It is very doubtful whether See also:Hosea's allusion to the depravity of Gibeah (ix. 9; X. 9) is to be referred hither, but it is noteworthy that whilst Gibeah and Jabesh-Gilead, which appear here in a See also:bad See also:light, are known to be associated with Saul, the sufferer is a Levite of Bethlehem, the traditional home of See also:David. The account of the great fight in xx. is reminiscent of Joshua's See also:battle at Ai (Josh. vii.-viii.). Historical Value.—The book of Judges consists of a number of narratives collected by Deuteronomic editors; to the same circles are due accounts of the invasions of Palestine and settlement in Joshua, and of the foundation of the monarchy in 1 Samuel. The connexion has been broken by the later insertion of See also:matter (not necessarily of late date itself), and the whole was finally formed into a distinct book by a post-exilic hand. The dates of the older stories preserved in ii. 6-xvi. 6 are quite unknown. If they are trustworthy for the period to which they are relegated (approximately 14th-12th cent. B.C.) they are presumably of very great antiquity, but if they belong to the sources J and E of the Hexateuch (at least some four or five centuries later) their value is seriously weakened. On the other hand, the belief that the monarchy had been preceded by national " judges " may have led to the formation of the collection. It is evident that there was more than one period in Israelite history in which one or other of these stories of local heroes would be equally suitable. They reflect tribal rivalry and See also:jealousy (cf. Isa. ix. 21, and the successors of See also:Jeroboam 2), attacks by nomads and See also:wars with Ammon and Moab; conflicts between newly settled Israelites and indigenous Canaanites have been suspected in the story of Abimelech, and it is not impossible that the post-Deuteronomic writer who inserted ch. ix. so understood the record. A striking exception to the lack of unity among the tribes is afforded by the account of the defeat of Sisera, and here the old poem represents a combined effort to throw off the yoke of a foreign oppressor, while the later prose version approximates the standpoint of Josh. xi. i-15, with its defeat of the Canaanites. The general stand-point of the stories (esp. Judg. v.) is that of central See also:Pales-tine; the exceptions are Othniel and Samson—the latter interrupting the introduction in x., and its sequel, the former now entirely due to the Deuteronomic editor. Of the narratives which precede and follow, ch. i. represents central Palestine separated by Canaanite cities from tribes to the See also:south and See also:north; it is the situation recognized in Judg. xix. 10-12, as well as in passages imbedded in the latest portions of the book of Joshua, though it is in See also:contradiction to the older traditions of Joshua himself. Chapters xvii. seq. (like the preceding story of Samson) deal with Danites, but the See also:migration can hardly be earlier than David's See also:time; and xix.-xxi., by describing the extermination of Benjamin, form a See also:link between the presence of the tribe in the late narratives of the exodus and its new prominence in the traditions of Saul (q.v.). As an historical source, therefore, the value of Judges will depend largely upon the question whether the Deuteronomic editor (about 60o B.C. at the earliest) would have See also:access to trustworthy documents See also:relating to a period some six or seven centuries previously. See further See also:JEWS, §§ 6, 8; and SAMUEL, BooKs or. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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