Judges
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Judges
The Book of Judges is entitled after the military and civic leaders who were raised up by God to deliver Israel from its oppressors (2:16-19; Ruth 1:1; Acts 13:20). The Hebrew title Judges is followed by the ancient versions and the English tradition.
The judges were not trained arbiters of legal cases as the word judge means today. They were Spirit-endowed leaders who were chosen by God for specific tasks (see 3:9-10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:25). As judges they worked to bring about justice for the oppressed people of Israel. To avoid confusion with the modern con-notation of judged, the NIV has translated "led" in many passages where it is more appropriate in context (4:4; 10:2-3; 12:8-11,13-14; 15:20; 16:31). The verb led is used most often by the author to describe the judges' function. The judges also "saved" and "delivered" Israel from their enemies (for example, 3:9,31; 4:14; 10:1; 13:5).
Two of the leaders, Othniel and Ehud, are described as "deliverers" (3:9,15). Only Gideon is not called judge or deliverer, but he is said to have saved Israel (6:14). On one occasion the Lord is described as "Judge" (11:27).
Although the judges were remembered primarily for their military prowess (2:16), they also functioned as civil authorities (see Deborah, 4:4-5). Some judges were not specifically said to have engaged in warfare (see Tola and Jair, 10:1-5).
The Book of Judges is an anonymous writing. The Jewish tradition that Samuel wrote the book cannot be substantiated. Some scholars believe, however, that Samuel best fits the evidence of the book.
Other interpreters believe the traditions of the judges came from times before Israel had a king but that the book was not completed until the seventh or sixth centuries b.c. (see 18:30). These interpreters view Judges as part of a large history influenced by the ideas of Deuteronomy. (See "The Historical Books.")
The book probably was compiled during the early monarchy. The recurring expression "in those days Israel had no king" (17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25) indicates that the book was written from a later period when there was a central authority in Israel.
The book's sources were gradually collected at several stages into a unified whole. The stories of the individual judges (3:7-16:31), with their introduction (2:6-3:6), formed the first part of the book. These episodes were placed by the author in an interpretative framework introducing and concluding each judgeship. (For example, compare the opening and closing of the story of Othniel, 3:7,11.)
The appendix of stories about the Danite migration (Judg. 17-18) and the rape of the Levite's concubine (Judg. 19-21) were added last to illustrate the spiritual depravity of the period. The migration of the Danites actually occurred in the early part of the Judges period. The author, therefore, arranged his book along thematic lines rather than a strictly chronological one (see 18:1-31 with Josh. 19:40-47; also Judg. 1:34; 13:25).
The final step was the addition of 1:1-2:5, which served as an appropriate introduction to the book. It described events during the transition from Joshua to the next generation, while containing some flashbacks to the days of conquest.
Some scholars have questioned the literary and theological integrity of the book. However, the book's composite sources are not conflicting accounts. They rather have a thematic unity and a complementary theological perspective.
The era of the judges included the judgeships of Eli and Samuel, which are recorded in 1 Samuel (see 1 Sam. 4:18; 7:15; 8:1-2). The period of the judges extended from Joshua's death to the reign of Saul (about 1050 b.c.). The beginning of this period is debated since it is dependent on the date of the Exodus. (See "Dates of the Exodus.") If the early date is followed, the period was from about 1400-1050 b.c. The late date places the period from about 1250-1050 b.c.
During this period, the tribes of Israel were loosely bound together around the central sanctuary. The tribes were bound by their common commitment to the covenant made with God at Sinai (Exod. 20; 24). Their unity, however, was weakened by the inroads of Canaanite religion. When the tribes defected from the covenant, God used foreign oppressors to bring Israel to repentance.
Theme. Although Israel inherited the land of promise, they repeatedly disregarded their covenant obligations by doing what they "saw fit" (Judg. 21:25). Israel's disobedience resulted in their oppression at the hands of neighboring peoples (3:7-8). Such oppression led Israel to cry to the Lord for help (3:9). God responded to Israel's repentance and cries for mercy by sending judges or deliverers (3:9-10). Israel, however, returned to disobedience following the death of the judge (3:11-12). (See the feature article "The Cycle of the Judges.")
- Spiritual Disobedience (1:1-3:6)
- Political Destruction (3:7-16:31)
- Moral Depravity (17:1-21:25)
Purpose and Theology.
1. The Book of Judges continues the unfolding story of Israel's life in the land promised to their fathers. Whereas the Book of Joshua describes Israel's faithfulness and success, Judges depicts Israel's covenant apostasy and the resulting oppression at the hands of their neighbors (2:6-7,10-16). The author tells events in the life of early Israel to warn his own generation about the results of disobedience.
2. The book explains why Israel suffered from their enemies (see 6:13). The fault lay in Israel's sin and not in God's failure to keep His covenant promises. God was longsuffering and merciful as He continued to raise up saviors to deliver His people even though they repeatedly forgot Him and worshiped the gods of Canaan (2:2-3,10-14,20-21). The book further explains that God left the nations among Israel so that He might test Israel's faithfulness (2:22-23; 3:4). Israel was also to learn discipline through warfare (3:1-3).
3. The book also demonstrates that God held Israel to account for its moral and religious behavior. Although they were the elect people of God and the recipients of God's promises, they would not enjoy the blessing of that privileged position if they continued in sin (2:1-15; 9:56-57; 10:11-16).
4. The book shows that the Lord, not the Canaanite deities, is the God of history and salvation. He is the true "Judge" who gave Israel into the hands of their enemies and then by His Spirit empowered deliverers to give them victory over their oppressors. Through miraculous intervention in history and nature, God accomplished His purposes for Israel (2:16-18; 3:9-10,15; 4:15; 6:34; 7:22; 11:29; 14:6,19; 15:14).
5. An important issue facing the author was the leadership of the nation. The Book of Judges illustrates the kind of moral decay that occurred when there was an absence of godly leadership. There was a decline in the spiritual condition of the judges themselves as each cycle describes the judge and his era. Samson, the last judge of the book, was the embodiment of the immorality of the period.
The book shows what happened to Israel when there was no godly king to lead them. In this way the book advocates the institution of kingship. It must, however, be a kingship characterized by piety. Without godly leadership, the people drifted from the objective standard of God's word, and each "did as he saw fit" (17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25).
6. The Book of Judges also shows the power of faith and prayer. The writer to the Hebrews recognized that the judges accomplished their exploits through faith in God (Heb. 11:32-33).
Spiritual Disobedience (1:1-3:6)
The introductory section explains that Israel failed in the land because of its disobedience, immorality, and intermarriage with the Canaanites.
Incomplete Obedience (1:1-2:5). The Book of Judges begins by showing the proper way Israel should have dispossessed the Canaanites. Judah and Simeon joined forces to defeat the Canaanite despot Adoni-Bezek. A second example of success was Caleb's family, whose courage paved the way for the Judahites to control the hill country. Othniel, Caleb's nephew, captured Debir; and Caleb and drove out the Anakites from Hebron (see Othniel, 3:7-11).
However, the Israelites did not follow Caleb's example. All of the tribes, including Judah and Benjamin, failed to drive out the Canaanites completely. Even the nations they did subdue were placed under forced labor rather then destroyed. Israel chose material wealth over obedience to God.
The Lord came to Israel, appearing as an angel, and condemned them for their disobedience. Because Israel had disobeyed, God left their enemies in the land to be as "thorns" and a "snare" to Israel. Israel "wept" before the Lord for its sins, and the place was called Bokim, meaning weepers.
Idolatry (2:6-3:4). The second reason for Israel's failure was its idolatrous worship. This section previews the seven cycles of the judges who are described in the major section of the book that follows (3:7-16:31). The recurring cycle is Israel's sin, its servitude to foreign enemies, its cries of supplication, and the salvation God provided through a divinely appointed deliverer.
The death of Joshua and his generation explained why Israel began the cycles of sin and apostasy. The new generation did not know the Lord as their covenant God.
The sin of Israel was its worship of the Baals and Ashtoreths of the Canaanites. These were the male and female gods of the Canaanite religion. The religion of Canaan was a fertility cult known for its ritual prostitution. Therefore the author spoke of how Israel "prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them."
The chastening of the Lord was Israel's servitude to foreign nations. God responded to their repentance and supplication for deliverance by granting salvation through appointed judges. However, when the judge died, Israel repeated its idolatry; and the cycle of sin began again.
The Lord left the nations among Israel to punish them and to test Israel's faith. This testing also meant Israel would learn the discipline of warfare. Because of Israel's sin, the promise of rest and peace in the land was not realized (Josh. 23:1). Ongoing warfare became the pattern for Israel's existence.
Intermarriage (3:5-6). A third reason for Israel's failure was its intermarriage with the Canaanites. The prohibition of marrying the Canaanites was because Israel "served their gods" and not because of racial differences (see Deut. 7:3-4).
Political Destruction (3:7-16:31)
This section describes the seven cycles of Israel's sin and salvation by telling the stories of Israel's judges.
Othniel (3:7-11). Because Israel sought the Baals and Asherahs of Canaan, God used the Mesopotamian King Cushan-Rishathaim to bring Judah to repentance. The name of the king, Cushan of double-wickedness, may have been a deliberate epithet given him by his enemies. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Othniel, Caleb's nephew (1:13; Josh. 15:18), and he expelled Cushan from the land. The eight-year reign of Cushan was followed by forty years of peace.
Ehud and Shamgar (3:12-31). Eglon of Moab established a provincial capital at the "City of the Palms" (Jericho) and held Israel under tribute for eighteen years. The Benjamite Ehud brought Israel's annual tribute to the king. Because Ehud was left-handed, his weapon was undetected by the king's bodyguards.
Ehud told the king that he had a secret message from God. The message was the sword of Ehud! He slayed the king and escaped, rallying the people to defeat the Moabites. Israel subjugated Moab and rested from war for eighty years.
While Eglon oppressed Israel in the east, the Philistines troubled Israel in the west. Shamgar kept the Philistines at bay by using an oxgoad (see 5:6). The oxgoad was a farm tool of about eight feet in length that had a metal, chisel-shaped blade at its tip. Shamgar killed six hundred Philistines during his judgeship.
Deborah and Barak (4:1-5:31). Both prose and poetic descriptions are given of Deborah and Barak's victory over the Canaanites. The two accounts, though having differences, are best interpreted as supplementary and not necessarily contradictory. An important theme of this cycle is the role women played in the defeat of the Canaanites.
Israel was oppressed by Jabin, the king of Hazor who ruled over a coalition of cities, one of which was ruled by Sisera. The name Jabin was probably a dynastic title (see Josh. 11:1). Although Joshua destroyed Hazor, the city had been rebuilt because of its strategic location.
Because of Sisera's superior chariots, Israel had been oppressed for twenty years. Deborah, a woman recognized for her civil authority, was a prophetess of God. She called on Barak to lead Israel against Sisera. Barak was reluctant to go without Deborah, and for this reason a woman received the honor of the victory rather than Barak.
With ten thousand soldiers gathered from Naphtali and Zebulun, the Lord routed Sisera's nine hundred chariots at the River Kishon. Sisera fled by foot toward Kadesh. Jael, the wife of Heber who had friendly relations with Jabin, gave him refuge. Sisera fell asleep in the tent of Heber, where Jael killed him by driving a tent peg through his temple. For Sisera to die at the hand of a woman rather than in battle was a grave disgrace for a professional soldier.
The Song of Deborah is the poetic version of the battle. Deborah praised God for His deliverance of Israel. She described how commerce and village life were disturbed under Canaanite harassment. Israel was disarmed and depended on foreign alliances. The poem honored the tribes who responded to Barak's call and rebuked those who refused.
While the battle began near Haro-sheth Haggoyim, the decisive moment was at Megiddo near Taanach. Traversing the valley of Jezreel, where these cities are located, is the Kishon River. Evidently the Kishon flooded and swept away the chariots of Sisera. From archaeological findings at Megiddo, scholars have concluded that the battle took place about 1125 b.c.
The final stanzas of her poem repeated the theme of Sisera's shameful death at the feet of Jael. The song concludes with a taunt by depicting Sisera's mother awaiting his return. In fact, Sisera lay dead at the feet of a woman.
Gideon (6:1-8:32). The story of Gideon focuses on his struggle to overcome fear. The Midianites, along with other eastern peoples, had oppressed Israel for seven years. The Lord came to Gideon and challenged him to lead Israel like a "mighty warrior."
Gideon passed his first test of faith by tearing down the altar of Baal that belonged to his father. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he prepared for battle against the Midianites. By setting out a fleece of wool, he devised a test to learn that God was with him.
Gideon gathered 32,000 soldiers, but the Lord tested Gideon's courage once again. So that the Lord might receive the credit for the victory, He reduced Gideon's army to ten thousand. He then chose only the three hundred who lapped "the water with their tongue like a dog." These three hundred were selected because they showed that they were more watchful for the enemy.
The Lord reassured fearful Gideon through the dream of a man in the Midianite camp that Gideon would win the battle. The barley loaf in the dream was Israel, and the tent it struck was representative of the nomadic Midianites.
With three companies of one hundred men, Gideon launched a surprise attack; and the Midianite camp fell into panic. In spite of a weak leader, small army, and the foolish weapons of trumpets and torches, Israel won the day because of the power of the Lord.
The Ephraimites complained to Gideon that they were not called to the battle. He satisfied them by praising their part in the war. No longer afraid of battle, Gideon humbled the cities of Succoth and Peniel, which had refused to gave aid to his fatigued army. By executing the Midianite kings, Zebab and Zalmunna, Gideon avenged his brothers.
The grateful Israelites invited Gideon to rule over them. But Gideon refused and declared, "The Lord will rule over you." However, Gideon failed the Lord because he made an ephod that became an object of worship in his hometown, Ophrah. The ephod was the garment of the high priest, which contained the lots used to discern the will of God (Exod. 28:30; 39:1-26). Here the means of discerning God's will became a substitute for God. Gideon succeeded in bringing peace to the land for forty years, but his obsession with knowing the certainty of God's favor became his downfall.
Gideon's career also was marred by his polygamous life. Abimelech, who was born to Gideon by one of his concubines, became a wicked leader in Israel.
Abimelech, Tola, Jair (8:33-10:5). The fifth cycle of stories focuses on the treacherous life of Abimelech. It also includes brief comments on the judges Tola and Jair. The people's desire for a king of their own choosing led them to the despot Abimelech, whose career brought continual warfare and insurrection.
Abimelech, born of a Shechemite woman, convinced the citizens of Shechem to make him king and to kill his half-brothers, the seventy sons of Gideon. Only Jotham escaped the slaughter. From Mount Gerizim, which overlooks Shechem, he taunted them by telling the fable of the "Bramble King." He cursed them and predicted that they too would be killed by the treachery of Abimelech.
After three years the Lord caused dissent between the Shechemites and Abimelech. The ensuing bloodshed and cruel deaths of Gaal and the Shechemites was God's vengeance for murdering Gideon's sons.
The rebellion against Abimelech spread to the city of Thebez. Abimelech stormed the city's tower. From the tower a woman dropped a millstone, crushing his skull. To escape the shame of being killed by a woman, he called for his armor bearer to kill him. The careers of Tola and Jair followed Abimelech's debacle. Tola led Israel for twenty-three years.
Jair was probably a contemporary of Tola. He was from Gilead and led Israel for twenty-two years. Since Jair had thirty sons, he probably was a polygamist like Gideon. The prestige of Jair's family is reflected by the donkeys (1 Sam. 25:20) and cities his sons possessed.
Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon (10:6-12:15). The sixth cycle concerns the judgeship of Jephthah and includes the minor judges Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon. An important feature of Jephthah's story is Israel's fickleness toward Jephthah. They turned to him for deliverance after they had earlier disowned him.
This parallels how Israel had treated the Lord. A second theme is Jephthah's hasty judgments.
Because Israel fell into grave idolatry, God raised up the Philistines to trouble Israel in the west and the Ammonites to subdue Israel in the east. The Ammonites had oppressed Israel eighteen years when the Lord heard the cries of the Gileadites.
Jephthah had been exiled by the Gileadites because he was born of a harlot. When the Gileadites were humiliated by the Ammonites, they asked for Jephthah's help and vowed to make him their leader.
Jephthah sent a diplomatic delegation to the Ammonites to argue for Israel's right to their land, but the Ammonites rejected their claims. Then the Spirit of the Lord empowered Jephthah, and he advanced against the Ammonites. To secure the favor of God, he vowed to sacrifice as a burnt offering the first one who came out of his house to greet him upon his return from battle. The Lord gave the victory to Jephthah, but his hasty vow sacrificed his family lineage. His only child, a virgin daughter, was the first to greet him.
Some commentators believe that Jephthah offered her as a human sacrifice. Others believe the sacrifice of Jephthah was her service to the Lord as a perpetual virgin. The text does emphasize her virgin state. The vow, however, refers to "a burnt offering" (see 2 Kgs. 3:27). Both Jephthah and his daughter believed that the Lord expected him to keep the vow. God, however, did not request this "burnt offering." Indeed, the pagan practice of human sacrifice is contrary to God's expressed will (Deut. 12:31; 18:10).
As in the days of Gideon, the Ephraimites were angry that they did not participate in the battle and receive its spoil.
Jephthah did not exhibit the patience of Gideon and fought against them. Ephraim fled back across the Jordan, but Jephthah controlled the fords. His armies identified the Ephraimites by a difference in their pronunciation of the word Sibboleth instead of Shibboleth ( ear of corn). This intertribal war led to the death of 42,000 Ephraimites. Although the career of Jephthah spanned only six years, his judgeship epitomized the problems of Israel's declining leadership.
Three minor judges—Ibzan of Bethlehem (located in Zebulun, Josh. 19:15), Elon of Zebulun, and Abdon of Ephraim—are mentioned. Ibzan led for seven years and was remembered for his influential family. Elon judged for ten years, but little else is known of him. Abdon was also polygamous and had a prestigious family. He ruled for eight years. These judges may not have engaged in any military missions.
Samson (13:1-16:31). The Philistines oppressed Israel for forty years (13:1), which included the twenty-year career of Samson and the judgeship of Samuel (1 Sam. 1-7). The Philistines were a people from the Aegean region who migrated to Canaan in the mid-thir-teenth century and settled in the coastal plain. The Philistines pressured Dan and Judah in the west by infiltrating the tribes through trade and intermarriage.
The story of the Danite hero Samson epitomizes the spiritual and political disarray of the nation. There are many contrasts in the story which the author used to highlight the moral impotence of the people. Samson was strong physically but weak morally. Though he made poor decisions and could not control his emotions, God used his mistakes as occasions to demonstrate His sovereign power. Another startling contrast is the sanctity of his Nazirite vow versus the disregard he showed for his Hebrew heritage. The victories of Samson were incomplete, and it was not until David that the Philistines were finally subjugated (2 Sam. 5:17-25).
The Lord, who appeared as the angel of the Lord (Exod. 3:1-8; Josh. 5:13-15), announced to Samson's mother that she would bear a son and rear the child as a Nazirite (Judg. 13:2-7). The Nazirite vow included abstinence from any drink derived from the grapevine, abstaining from cutting one's hair, and avoiding contact with a dead body (Num. 6:1-21).
The angel of the Lord confirmed the calling of Samson by revealing Himself to his mother and father, Manoah. As with previous judges, the empowerment of the Spirit began to move Samson. The devotion of his mother, who also took the Nazirite vow, stood in stark contrast to the licentious career that Samson would choose to live.
Against the advice of his parents, Samson wanted to arrange a marriage with a Philistine woman from Timnath. As they journeyed to her home, a lion attacked; the Spirit enabled Samson to kill it. Later, when he returned to marry the woman, he saw that the carcass of the lion had become the home of wild bees. He took honey from the carcass and shared it with his parents. In doing so, he violated his vow by touching the dead lion (see Num. 6:6-12).
Out of this experience Samson made up a riddle at his wedding. He challenged his Philistine guests to solve it for thirty changes of clothing. The riddle was too clever for them, and they forced Samson's new bride to discover the answer for them. The Lord used their treachery, however, to incite Samson against the Philistines. At Ashkelon he killed thirty men to pay his thirty changes of clothing.
When Samson returned to Timnath and learned that his bride had been given to another man, he swore to harm the Philistines more. He burned the wheat harvest of the Philistines by releasing into the fields foxes with lighted torches tied to their tails. The Philistines responded by burning his wife and her father to death, but this only made Samson slay many more.
The Philistines gathered in Judah near Lehi ( jawbone) to fight Samson, and the Israelites bound Samson to give him over to the Philistines. When he was delivered over, the Spirit came upon Samson again, and with the fresh jawbone of a donkey, he killed one thousand Philistines. God miraculously provided water for Samson, who was dying of thirst from the battle.
Samson's lust for a prostitute at Gaza led him again into trouble. He was surrounded by the people of the city, but he escaped to Hebron by removing the city gates.
The final betrayal of Samson came from yet another woman, named Delilah. The woman enticed Samson to tell her the secret of his strength. After several tests she learned that the cutting of his hair would break his Nazirite vow. During his sleep, a man cut off Samson's braided hair. Samson fell into the hands of the Philistines, who bound and blinded him. Samson was taken to Gaza, where he was forced to grind grain in the prison like a common animal. But his hair began to grow again. The Lord used this last humiliation of Samson to kill the enemies of Israel.
At a Philistine festival to honor their god Dagon, the rulers boasted that Dagon had rendered Samson helpless. The crowd in the temple called for blinded Samson to entertain them. Samson prayed for strength to avenge himself. He pulled down the central pillars of the temple and killed all the Philistines and their rulers. Samson killed more in this act of death than all those killed during his life. Ironically, his inability to control his lusts meant that the Nazirite's death was more valuable to Israel than his life.
Moral Depravity (17:1-21:25)
The final section of the book gives two parade examples of Israel's moral defection. The first case concerns idolatry by the tribe of Dan. The second case is about intertribal warfare that resulted from the rape and murder of a Levite's concubine by the men of Benjamin.
The author used these two events to show his own generation the need for a righteous king like David. In the tenth century b.c., Dan became a center for the worship of Baal established by the apostate King Jeroboam (1 Kgs. 12:25-33). Also the story of Benjamin cast a poor light on the tribe of Ish-bosheth, Saul's surviving son, who rivaled David for the throne (see 2 Sam. 2:10-11). The opponents of David's dynasty had their roots in the period of the Judges.
Both stories tell of priests who acted corruptly and of tribes who killed for gain. What was needed for an antidote was a righteous ruler like David so that Israel might do what was right in God's eyes (see 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25).
Micah's Gods (17:1-18:31). The story of Micah shows how Israel adopted the idolatrous religious practices of its neighbors. Micah constructed a private shrine from stolen silver, including an ephod and several idols. He conscripted his son to serve as its priest until he hired a wandering Levite from Bethlehem. Micah foolishly believed he had the favor of God because of his personal shrine and priest.
The Danites, meanwhile, dispatched five spies to search for a new tract of land because they were pressed for space by the Amorites (see 1:34; Josh. 19:47).
On their way to Laish, they discovered Micah's priest and shrine.
Later the Danites returned with six hundred men and stole Micah's valuable idols. His Levite saw the chance to improve his status by serving a whole tribe. The Danites took the Levite with them to Laish, where they dispossessed the people and renamed the city Dan.
Micah's Levite was a direct descendant of Moses. This showed how low the spiritual leadership of the nation had fallen. Whereas Moses had established proper worship at the tabernacle, his descendants were functioning at rival sanctuaries in the land.
The Levite's Concubine (19:1-30). The second story tells of a Levite whose concubine left him for her father's house at Bethlehem. The Levite convinced her to return, and together they journeyed toward Ephraim. Along the way they looked for lodging and chose Gibeah (the home of the future king, Saul) rather than the Jebusite city of Jerusalem (the residence of the future king, David) because Gibeah was inhabited by Israelites. There they expected treatment as brothers. Ironically, pagan Jerusalem would have proven a safer refuge.
At Gibeah, however, no one offered them hospitality, except an old man from Ephraim who had migrated to Gibeah. That evening the men of Gibeah came to the old man's house to have sexual relations with the Levite.
The old man was so embarrassed by this breach of hospitality that he offered his virgin daughter and the Levite's concubine. The men refused and pressed against the door, so the Levite pushed his concubine outside. The men ravaged her for their sport and left her for dead. Out of revenge the Levite carved up her body into twelve pieces and sent them to the tribes of Israel. So great an atrocity became a long-remembered symbol of Israel's sin (see Hos. 9:9; 10:9).
War with Benjamin (20:1-21:25). Covenant law required the tribes to punish anyone guilty among them or they would become the object of God's wrath too. Israel learned this in the days of Joshua at Ai (Josh. 7-8). Because Benjamin refused to give up the offenders, all Israel agreed to march against their kindred tribe Benjamin.
The Lord instructed them to attack, but each time the Israelites suffered numerous casualties. This was God's way of punishing Israel for its immorality to bring out repentance and true worship. In the third battle God gave them victory. The whole tribe of Benjamin was destroyed except for six hundred survivors.
The Israelites mourned for their lost tribe Benjamin, and to revitalize the tribe they had to find wives for the six hundred survivors. Jabesh-Gilead had not fought in the war; therefore Israel led a punitive expedition against them and took four hundred virgins for Benjamin. The Benjamites stole two hundred more virgins at the festival of Shiloh.
The final verse captured the spirit of the times: "In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit."
Theological and Ethical Value. The Book of Judges presents Yahweh as the Lord of history. As such, God used foreign peoples to test the Israelites' loyalty to God and to punish their idolatry. Testing and punishment were not, however, God's ultimate goal for Israel. When God's people repented and appealed to God for aid, God did His heart's desire—He raised up deliverers to save His people. Salvation is the goal toward which God was and is directing history.
As Lord of history, God was free to choose whomever He pleased to act as deliverer. From the human point of view God's choices are surprising: an assassin (Ehud), a woman (Deborah), a coward from an insignificant family (Gideon), the rash son of a prostitute (Jephthah), and a womanizer (Samson). Many of these chosen deliverers had obvious moral shortcomings. Still, God used them to save His people. True, Christians are called on to make every effort to be holy (Heb. 12:14). But God is sovereign and free to use whomever He chooses to further His saving purposes.
Human sinfulness necessitates governments to enforce morality. In the days of the judges when there was no king, "everyone did as he saw fit" (21:25). Governments have a God-given responsibility to punish wrongdoing (see Rom. 13:3-5). The later history of Israel, however, reveals that just having a king was not the answer to Israel's moral failure. Indeed, Israel's and Judah's kings often led God's people into even greater disobedience. What was most needed was not for God's covenant to be enforced from without but written on the hearts of His people (see Jer. 31:31-34).
Questions for Reflection
- What are the effects of immorality on society?
- In what different ways does God respond to sin among His people?
- How does God's Spirit work in the world and with God's people?
- What can be learned from Judges about God's forgiveness and longsuffering?
- What are some examples of godly leadership in the book?
Sources for Additional Study
Cundall, Arthur E., and Leon Morris. Judges and Ruth. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1968.
Goslinga, C. J. Joshua, Judges, Ruth. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986.
Lewis, Arthur H. Judges/Ruth. Chicago: Moody, 1979.