Period of the Judges

Text and Narrative

The period of the Judges is the era from the death of Joshua until Saul became king, when Israel had no king. Its central text is the Book of Judges; the Book of Ruth (Ruth 1:1) and 1 Samuel 1–7 also cover this period.

Judges 2:11-19 summarizes the era as a recurring cycle. When the people serve foreign gods such as Baal, they are oppressed by neighboring peoples. When they cry out, God raises up a judge to deliver them, and when the judge dies, the people fall away again. The judges named in the Book of Judges are Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah (together with Barak and Jael), Gideon, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, and Samson. In 1 Samuel, Eli and Samuel also judged Israel (1 Samuel 4:18; 7:15). The closing section of Judges (chapters 17–21) recounts the idolatry of the tribe of Dan and a civil war with the tribe of Benjamin. The book ends with the words "In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25).

Background

The word "judge" translates the Hebrew shophet, from the verb shaphat, meaning "to judge, to govern." The Korean Common Translation Bible renders it pangwan ("magistrate"). In the Book of Judges, however, the judges are portrayed mainly as military deliverers who arose in times of crisis rather than as judicial officials.

Israel at this time was a loose confederation of the twelve tribes scattered throughout Canaan, and the house of God was at Shiloh (Judges 18:31). The peoples who oppressed Israel include Moab, Midian, Ammon, and the Philistines.

Scholars date the period differently depending on how they date the Exodus. Some hold that several judges were active in particular regions and that their periods of activity may have overlapped.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

The refrain "there was no king" (Judges 17:6; 21:25) leads into the establishment of the monarchy in 1 Samuel and the story of David. Ruth, a Moabite woman of this period, became David's great-grandmother, and Matthew 1:5 includes her in the genealogy of Jesus. In the New Testament, Acts 13:20 sums up the era by saying that God gave Israel judges until the time of Samuel, and Hebrews 11:32 names Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah as people of faith. The deliverance the judges brought was temporary and incomplete, and some interpreters read it in contrast to the complete salvation brought by Christ.

Interpretation and Debated Issues

• The flaws of the judges: The failings of the judges are recorded plainly, as with Gideon's ephod (Judges 8:27), Jephthah's vow, and Samson's conduct. Some readings emphasize the grace of God, who used weak people; others, following Hebrews 11, focus on their faith.
• Jephthah's daughter (Judges 11:30-40): Interpreters are divided between the view that Jephthah actually offered his daughter as a burnt offering and the view that he dedicated her to God to remain a virgin for life.
• Evaluation of the monarchy: The closing section of Judges treats the absence of a king as a problem, whereas 1 Samuel 8 rebukes the people for asking for a king. Interpretations vary on how to reconcile these two perspectives.
• Deborah: In discussions of women's ordination, proponents cite Deborah as a precedent for female leadership, while opponents regard her as an exceptional case.

In the Korean Church

The verse "every man did that which was right in his own eyes" is frequently cited in sermons that compare present-day spiritual confusion to the period of the Judges. The account of Gideon's three hundred men (Judges 7) is a common sermon illustration of faith that relies on God rather than on numbers.