Judges
Quick Overview of Judges. – –1-2 – –How the Israelites reacted
after the death of Joshua. – – 3-16 – – The sin of the
Israelites and the oppression by their enemies, thirteen
Hebrew judges and the deliverance they brought. – –17-21 – –a
description of how idolatry entered into Israel and how
corruption followed during the early history of this time
period.
Link: https://bible-history.com/old-testament/...
In the book of Judges we can see the first 300 years of the
history of Israel, from the time of the death of Joshua to
the time of Samuel the last of the Judges. All of the events
mentioned in the book of Judges are not meant to be given in
a strict chronological order and it is impossible to
determine exact dates. Everything that took place happened
really on a local level in the land of Israel and not
necessarily on a national level. The first two chapters deal
with the death of Joshua and after his death and the
generation surrounding him, "there arose another generation
after them, who did not know the Lord or the work which he
had done for Israel" (Judges 2:10). This generation of
Israelites, and every generation after that during this time
period fell into idolatry, they forgot the commands of God
and there is a severe decline morally and spiritually. As
each generation unfolded idolatry would prevail, a foreign
invasion would take place and oppress the people of Israel
in that local area, they would cry out to God for help, and
God would send a deliverer. This cycle happened seven times
in the book of Judges and speak clearly about the cycle of
sin and its consequences, as well as God's love and
willingness to send help when his people cry out to him.
Link: https://bible-history.com/old-testament/...
Quick Overview of Judges. – –1-2 – –How the Israelites reacted
after the death of Joshua. – – 3-16 – – The sin of the
Israelites and the oppression by their enemies, thirteen
Hebrew judges and the deliverance they brought. – –17-21 – –a
description of how idolatry entered into Israel and how
corruption followed during the early history of this time
period.
Link: https://bible-history.com/old-testament/...
The Book of Judges (Hebrew: Sefer Shoftim ספר שופטים) is a
book of the Bible originally written in Hebrew. It appears in
the Tanakh and in the Christian Old Testament. Its title
refers to its contents; it contains the history of Biblical
judges (not to be confused with modern judges), who helped
rule and guide the ancient Israelites, and of their times.
As Judges stands today, the last judge it mentions is Samson,
and although there are two further stories, the traditional
view is that Samson's exploits probably synchronise with the
period immediately preceding Eli, who was both high priest and
judge. Both academic views and traditional thought hence view
the narrative of the judges as ending at Samson, picking up
again at 1 Samuel 1:1 to consider Eli, and continuing through
to 1 Samuel 7:2. As for the stories at the end of the Book,
which are set in the same time period as the judges but
discuss people other than the judges, there is much affinity
between these and the Book of Ruth, and many people believe
Ruth originally belonged amongst them. There were thirteen
Biblical Judges...
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Ju...
3. Contents:
The Book of Jdg consists of 3 main parts or divisions, which
are readily distinguished.
(1) Introductory, Judges 1 through 2:5.
A brief summary and recapitulation of the events of the
conquest of Western Israel, for the most part parallel to
the narrative of Joshua, but with a few additional details
and some divergences from the earlier account, in particular
emphasizing (Jdg 1:27-36) the general failure of the
Israelites to expel completely the original inhabitants of
the land, which is described as a violation of their
covenant with Yahweh (Jdg 2:1-3), entailing upon them
suffering and permanent weakness. The introductory verse
(Jdg 1:1), which refers to the death of Joshua as having
already taken place, seems to be intended as a general
indication of the historical period of the book as a whole;
for some at least of the events narrated in Jdg 1 through
2:5 took place during Joshua's lifetime.
(2) The Central and Main Portion, Judges 2:6 through 16.
A series of narratives of 12 "judges," each of whom in turn,
by his devotion and prowess, was enabled to deliver Israel
from thralldom and oppression, and for a longer or shorter
term ruled over the people whom he had thus saved from their
enemies. Each successive repentance on the part of the
people, however, and their deliverance are followed, on the
death of the judge, by renewed apostasy, which entails upon
them renewed misery and servitude, from which they are again
rescued when in response to their prayer the Lord "raises
up" for them another judge and deliverer. Thus the entire
history is set as it were in a recurrent framework of moral
and religious teaching and warning; and the lesson is
enforced that it is the sin of the people, their abandonment
of Yahweh and persistent idolatry, which entails upon them
calamity, from which the Divine long-suffering and
forbearance alone makes for them a way of escape...
Link: https://bible-history.com/isbe/J/JUDGES,...
of which the book or Ruth formed originally a part, contains
a history from Joshua to Samson. The book may be divided
into two parts:--
1. Chs. 1-16. We may observe in general on this
portion of the book that it is almost entirely a history of
the wars of deliverance.
2. Chs. 17-21. This part has no formal connection
with the preceding, and is often called an appendix. The
period to which the narrative relates is simply marked by
the expression, "when there was no king in Israel." ch. Jud
19:1; 18:1 It records -- (a) The conquest of Laish by a
portion of the tribe of Dan, and the establishment there of
the idolatrous worship of Jehovah already instituted by
Micah in Mount Ephraim. (b) The almost total extinction of
the tribe of Benjamin. Chs. 17-21 are inserted both as an
illustration of the sin of Israel during the time of the
judges and as presenting a contrast with the better order
prevailing in the time of the kings. The time commonly
assigned to the period contained in this book is 299 years.
The dates given in the last article amount to 410 years,
without the 40 years of Eli; but in 1Ki 6:1 the whole period
from the exodus to the building of the temple is stated as
480 years. But probably some of the judges were
contemporary, so that their total period is 299 years
instead of 410. Mr. Smith in his Old Testament history gives
the following approximate dates: Periods...Years -- Ending
about B.C.:
1. From the exodus to the passage of Jordan...40 --
1451.
2. To the death of Joshua and the surviving
elders...[40] -- 1411.
3. Judgeship of Othniel...40 -- 1371.
4,5. Judgeship of Ehud (Shamgar included)...80 --
1291.
6. Judgeship of Deborah and Barak...40 -- 1251.
7. Judgeship of Gideon...40 -- 1211.
8,9. Abimelech to Abdon, total...[80] -- 1131.
10. Oppression of the Philistines, contemporary with
the judgeships of Eli, Samson (and Samuel?)...40 -- 1091.
11. Reign of Saul (including perhaps Samuel)...40 --
1051.
12. Reign of David...40 -- 1011. Total...480. On the
whole, it seems safer to give up the attempt to ascertain
the chronology exactly.
Link: https://bible-history.com/smiths/J/Judge...
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 (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
(3:7-16:31)
in the following order:
FIRST PERIOD (3:7-ch. 5)
Years
I. Servitude under Chushan-rishathaim of
Mesopotamia 8
1. OTHNIEL delivers Israel, rest 40
II. Servitude under Eglon of Moab:
Ammon, Amalek 18
2. EHUD'S deliverance, rest 80
3. SHAMGAR Unknown.
III. Servitude under Jabin of Hazor in
Canaan 20
4. DEBORAH and,
5. BARAK 40
(206)
SECOND PERIOD (6-10:5)
IV. Servitude under Midian, Amalek, and
children of the east 7
6. GIDEON 40
ABIMELECH, Gideon's son, reigns as
king over Israel 3
7. TOLA 23
8. JAIR 22
(95)
THIRD PERIOD (10:6-ch. 12)
V. Servitude under Ammonites with the
Philistines 18
9. JEPHTHAH 6
10. IBZAN 7
11. ELON 10
12. ABDON 8
(49)
FOURTH PERIOD (13-16)
VI. Seritude under Philistines 40
13. SAMSON 20
(60)
In all 410
Samson's exploits probably synchronize with the
period
immediately preceding the national repentance and
reformation
under Samuel (1 Sam. 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.
(3.) The historic section of the book is followed by
an
appendix (17-21), which has no formal connection
with that which
goes before. It records (a) the conquest (17, 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 (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
18:30,31, imply that it was written after the taking
of the ark
by the Philistines, and after it was set up at Nob
(1 Sam. 21).
In David's reign the ark was at Gibeon (1 Chr.
16:39)
Link: https://bible-history.com/eastons/J/Judg...
