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Judges

About the Book of Judges.





books The Book:

Is so called because it contains the history of the deliverance and government of Israel by the men who bore the title of the “judges.” The book of Ruth originally formed part of this book, but about A.D. 450 it was separated from it and placed in the Hebrew scriptures immediately after the Song of Solomon. The book contains,

  1. An introduction (Judg. 1 - 3:6), connecting it with the previous narrative in Joshua, as a "link in the chain of books."

  2. The history of the thirteen judges (Judg. 3:7 - 16:31) see table:

Thirteen JudgesYears
FIRST PERIOD (Judg. 3:7 - 5)
Servitude under Chushan-rishathaim of Mesopotamia8
OTHNIEL delivers Israel-rest40
Servitude under Eglon of Moab: Ammon, Amalek18
EHUD's deliverance-rest80
SHAMGARUnknown
Servitude under Jabin of Hazor in Canaan20
DEBORAH [BARAK]40
First Period total of years206
SECOND PERIOD (Judg. 6 - 10:5)
Servitude under Midian, Amalek, and children of the east7
GIDEON40
ABIMELECH, Gideon's son, reigns as king over Israel3
TOLA23
JAIR22
Second Period total of years95
THIRD PERIOD (Jdg_10:6-12)
Servitude under Ammonites with the Philistines18
JEPHTHAH6
IBZAN7
ELON10
ABDON8
Third Period total of years49
FOURTH PERIOD (Judg. 13 - 16)
Servitude under Philistines40
SAMSON20
Fourth Period total of years60
Total of four periods410

Samson's exploits probably synchronize with the period immediately preceding the national repentance and reformation under Samuel (1Sa_7:2-6). After Samson came Eli, who was both high priest and judge. He directed the civil and religious affairs of the people for forty years, at the close of which the Philistines again invaded the land and oppressed it for twenty years. Samuel was raised up to deliver the people from this oppression, and he judged Israel for some twelve years, when the direction of affairs fell into the hands of Saul, who was anointed king. If Eli and Samuel are included, there were then fifteen judges. But the chronology of this whole period is uncertain.

The historic section of the book is followed by an appendix (Judg. 17 - 21), which has no formal connection with that which goes before. It records (a) the conquest (Jdg_17:1-13, 18) of Laish by a portion of the tribe of Dan; and (b) the almost total extinction of the tribe of Benjamin by the other tribes, in consequence of their assisting the men of Gibeah (Judg. 19 - 21). This section properly belongs to the period only a few years after the death of Joshua. It shows the religious and moral degeneracy of the people.

The author of this book was most probably Samuel. The internal evidence both of the first sixteen chapters and of the appendix warrants this conclusion. It was probably composed during Saul's reign, or at the very beginning of David's. The words in Jdg_18:30, Jdg_18:31, imply that it was written after the taking of the ark by the Philistines, and after it was set up at Nob (1Sa_21:1-15). In David's reign the ark was at Gibeon (1Ch_16:39).


Source: Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Original article from Easton's Bible Dictionary.


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