Judges of Israel

The Judges in Scripture

The judges appear chiefly in the Book of Judges. Judges 2:16–19 summarizes the era as a recurring cycle. When Israel served idols, the people fell under the oppression of neighboring nations. When they cried out, God raised up a judge to deliver them. After the judge died, however, the people fell away again.

The judges whose stories the Book of Judges tells at length are:

• Othniel: defeated Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia (ch. 3).
• Ehud: killed Eglon, king of Moab (ch. 3).
• Deborah: together with Barak, defeated Sisera, the captain of the army of Jabin, king of Canaan (chs. 4–5).
• Gideon: defeated Midian (chs. 6–8).
• Jephthah: defeated Ammon (chs. 11–12).
• Samson: fought the Philistines (chs. 13–16).

Shamgar, Tola, Jair, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon are recorded only briefly. Scholars commonly refer to the judges with longer narratives as "major judges" and to those with shorter ones as "minor judges." This distinction does not appear in the biblical text itself. In 1 Samuel, Eli (1 Samuel 4:18) and Samuel (1 Samuel 7:15) are also presented as judges who governed Israel.

Background and Terminology

The Hebrew word shophet derives from a verb meaning "to judge" or "to govern." The Korean term sasa (士師) is a Sino-Korean rendering of the title of this office.

The judges' role went beyond that of a judge in a modern court of law. Some, like Deborah, settled the people's disputes (Judges 4:5), but most were deliverers who led armies in times of crisis. Judges 3:9 calls the judge "a deliverer." The office was not hereditary. The text records that "the Spirit of the LORD came upon" several of the judges to accomplish their work (Judges 3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 14:6). When the people sought to make Gideon king, he refused, saying, "the LORD shall rule over you" (Judges 8:23).

The era extends from the death of Joshua until Saul became king. Scholars differ over its exact chronology and over whether the tenures of individual judges overlapped.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

The Book of Judges closes with the words "In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (Judges 17:6; 21:25). The disorder of this era leads into the account in 1 Samuel 8 of the people's demand for a king. The Book of Ruth is likewise set "in the days when the judges ruled" (Ruth 1:1).

In the New Testament, Paul mentions the judges in his summary of Israel's history (Acts 13:20). Hebrews 11:32 names Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah among the people of faith. In Christian tradition, the judges, as deliverers raised up by God, are sometimes read as types or shadows foreshadowing the salvation brought by Jesus Christ.

Interpretation and Debates

Interpreters differ over how to regard the judges' flaws, with Jephthah's vow and Samson's conduct as the leading examples. One view, drawing on Hebrews, emphasizes their faith. Another reads the progressive decline in the judges' character over the course of the book as a warning about Israel's spiritual deterioration.

Another long-standing debate concerns whether Jephthah actually offered his daughter as a burnt offering or instead devoted her to God for a lifetime of unmarried service.

Deborah is frequently cited in discussions of the ordination of women. Supporters of women's ordination point to the fact that Deborah was both a prophetess and a judge (Judges 4:4). Opponents regard her case as an exception specific to an unusual period.

In the Korean Church

In Korean preaching, the phrase "every man did that which was right in his own eyes" is frequently quoted as a warning against faith and society that have departed from God's rule. The story of Gideon's victory over Midian with three hundred men (Judges 7) is also widely preached on the theme that those who rely on God will prevail even when they are few in number.