Author and Date
No author is named in the book, but the Jewish Talmud identifies Samuel, a key prophet who lived at the time these events took place and could have personally summed up the era (cf. 1 Sam. 10:25). The time was earlier than David’s capture of Jerusalem ca. 1004 B.C. (2 Sam. 5:6, 7) since Jebusites still controlled the site (Judg. 1:21). Also, the writer deals with a time before a king ruled (17:6; 18:1; 21:25). Since Saul began his reign ca. 1043 B.C., a time shortly after his rule began is probably when Judges was written.
Background and Setting
Judges is a tragic sequel to Joshua. In Joshua, the people were obedient to God in conquering the Land. In Judges, they were disobedient, idolatrous, and often defeated. Judges 1:1—3:6 focuses on the closing days of the book of Joshua. Judges 2:6–9 gives a review of Joshua’s death (cf. Josh. 24:28–31). The account describes 7 distinct cycles of Israel’s drifting away from the LORD starting even before Joshua’s death, with a full departure into apostasy afterward. Five basic reasons are evident for these cycles of Israel’s moral and spiritual decline: 1) disobedience in failing to drive the Canaanites out of the Land (Judg. 1:19, 21, 35); 2) idolatry (2:12); 3) intermarriage with wicked Canaanites (3:5, 6); 4) not heeding judges (2:17); and 5) turning away from God after the death of the judges (2:19).
A four-part sequence repeatedly occurred in this phase of Israel’s history: 1) Israel’s departure from God; 2) God’s chastisement in permitting military defeat and subjugation; 3) Israel’s prayer pleading for deliverance; and 4) God raising up “judges,” either civil or sometimes local military champions who led in shaking off the oppressors. Fourteen judges arose, six of them military judges (Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson). Two men were of special significance for contrast in spiritual leadership: 1) Eli, judge and High-Priest (not a good example); and 2) Samuel, judge, priest, and prophet (a good example).
Historical and Theological Themes
Judges is thematic rather than chronological; foremost among its themes is God’s power and covenant mercy in graciously delivering the Israelites from the consequences of their failures, which were suffered for sinful compromise (cf. 2:18, 19; 21:25). In 7 periods of sin to salvation (cf. Introduction: Outline), God compassionately delivered His people throughout the different geographical areas of tribal inheritances which He had earlier given through Joshua (Josh. 13–22). The apostasy covered the whole land, as indicated by the fact that each area is specifically identified: southern (3:7–31); northern (4:1—5:31); central (6:1–10:5); eastern (10:6–12:15); and western (13:1–16:31). His power to faithfully rescue shines against the dark backdrop of pitiful human compromise and sometimes bizarre twists of sin, as in the final summary (Judg. 17–21). The last verse (21:25) sums up the account: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
Interpretive Challenges
The most stimulating challenges are: 1) how to view men’s violent acts against enemies or fellow countrymen, whether with God’s approval or without it; 2) God’s use of leaders who at times do His will and at times follow their own sinful impulses (Gideon, Eli, Jephthah, Samson); 3) how to view Jephthah’s vow and offering of his daughter (11:30–40); and 4) how to resolve God’s sovereign will with His providential working in spite of human sin (cf. 14:4).
The chronology of the various judges in different sectors of the Land raises questions about how much time passed and how the time totals can fit into the entire time span from the Exodus (ca. 1445 B.C.) to Solomon’s fourth year, ca. 967/966 B.C., which is said to be 480 years (1 Kin. 6:1; see note on Judg. 11:26). A reasonable explanation is that the deliverances and years of rest under the judges in distinct parts of the Land included overlaps, so that some of them did not run consecutively but rather concurrently during the 480 years. Paul’s estimate of “about 450” years in Acts 13:20 is an approximation.
Outline
I. Introduction and Summary—The Disobedience of Israel (1:1-3:6)
A. Incomplete Conquest over the Canaanites (1:1-36)
B. The Decline and Judgment of Israel (2:1-3:6)
II. A Selected History of the Judges—The Deliverance of Israel (3:7-16:31)
A. First Period: Othniel vs. Mesopotamians (3:7-11)
B. Second Period: Ehud and Shamgar vs. Moabites (3:12-31)
C. Third Period: Deborah vs. Canaanites (4:1-5:31)
D. Fourth Period: Gideon vs. Midianites (6:1-8:32)
E. Fifth Period : Tola and Jair vs. Abimelech’s Effects (8:33-10:5)
F. Sixth Period: Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon vs. Philistines and Ammonites (10:6-12:15)
G. Seventh Period: Samson vs. Philistines (13:1-16:31)
III. Epilogue—The Dereliction of Israel (17:1-21:25)
A. The Idolatry of Micah and the Danites (17:1-18:31)
B. The Crime at Gibeah and War Against Benjamin (19:1-21:25)
The Book of
JUDGES
Judges 1
The Continuing Conquest of Canaan
(Josh. 15:13–19)
1Now after the adeath of Joshua it came to pass that the children of Israel basked the LORD, saying, “Who shall be first to go up for us against the cCanaanites to fight against them?”
2And the LORD said, d“Judah shall go up. Indeed I have delivered the land into his hand.”
3So Judah said to eSimeon his brother, “Come up with me to my allotted territory, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and fI will likewise go with you to your allotted territory.” And Simeon went with him.
4Then Judah went up, and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand; and they killed ten thousand men at gBezek.
5And they found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fought against him; and they defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites.
6Then Adoni-Bezek fled, and they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes.
7And Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to gather scraps under my table; has I have done, so God has repaid me.” Then they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.
8Now ithe children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it; they struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire.
9jAnd afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who dwelt in the mountains, in the 1South, and in the lowland.
10Then Judah 2went against the Canaanites who dwelt in kHebron. (Now the name of Hebron was formerly lKirjath Arba.) And they killed Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.
11mFrom there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. (The name of Debir was formerly Kirjath Sepher.)
12nThen Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give my daughter Achsah as wife.”
13And Othniel the son of Kenaz, oCaleb’s younger brother, took it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah as wife.
14pNow it happened, when she came to him, that 3she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?”
15So she said to him, q“Give me a blessing; since you have given me land in the South, give me also springs of water.” And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
16rNow the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up sfrom the City of Palms with the children of Judah into the Wilderness of Judah, which lies in the South near tArad; uand they went and dwelt among the people.
17vAnd Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they attacked the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. So the name of the city was called wHormah.
18Also Judah took xGaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.
19So the LORD was with Judah. And they drove out the mountaineers, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had ychariots of iron.
20zAnd they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Mos
es had said. Then he 4expelled from there the athree sons of Anak.
21bBut the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; so the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
22And the 5house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, cand the LORD was with them.
23So the 6house of Joseph dsent men to spy out Bethel. (The name of the city was formerly eLuz.)
24And when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Please show us the entrance to the city, and fwe will show you mercy.”
25So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man and all his family go.
26And the man went to the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day.
Incomplete Conquest of the Land
27gHowever, Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its villages, or hTaanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of iDor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land.
28And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites 7under tribute, but did not completely drive them out.
29jNor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; so the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.
30Nor did kZebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol; so the Canaanites dwelt among them, and 8were put under tribute.
31lNor did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Acco or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob.
32So the Asherites mdwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out.
33nNor did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth Anath; but they dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were put under tribute to them.
34And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountains, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley;
35and the Amorites were determined to dwell in Mount Heres, oin Aijalon, and in 9Shaalbim; yet when the strength of the house of Joseph became greater, they 10were put under tribute.
36Now the boundary of the Amorites was pfrom the Ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela, and upward.
Judges 2
Israel’s Disobedience
1Then the Angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: a“I led you up from Egypt and bbrought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and cI said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you.
2‘And dyou shall make no 1covenant with the inhabitants of this land; eyou shall tear down their altars.’ fBut you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this?
3“Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be gthorns2 in your side, and htheir gods shall 3be a isnare to you.’ ”
4So it was, when the Angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voices and wept.
5Then they called the name of that place 4Bochim; and they sacrificed there to the LORD.
6And when jJoshua had dismissed the people, the children of Israel went each to his own inheritance to possess the land.
Death of Joshua
(Josh. 24:29–31)
7kSo the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD which He had done for Israel.
8Now lJoshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died when he was one hundred and ten years old.
9mAnd they buried him within the border of his inheritance at nTimnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash.
10When all that generation had 5been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who odid not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel.
Israel’s Unfaithfulness
11Then the children of Israel did pevil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals;
12and they qforsook the LORD God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed rother gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they sbowed down to them; and they provoked the LORD to anger.
13They forsook the LORD tand served 6Baal and the 7Ashtoreths.
14uAnd the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel. So He vdelivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and wHe sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they xcould no longer stand before their enemies.
15Wherever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for calamity, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had ysworn to them. And they were greatly distressed. The Judges of Israel
16Nevertheless, zthe LORD raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them.
17Yet they would not listen to their judges, but they aplayed the harlot with other gods, and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers walked, in obeying the commandments of the LORD; they did not do so.
18And when the LORD raised up judges for them, bthe LORD was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; cfor the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and harassed them.
19And it came to pass, dwhen the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way.
20Then the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and He said, “Because this nation has etransgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not heeded My voice,
21“I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua fleft when he died,
22“so gthat through them I may htest Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the LORD, to walk in them as their fathers kept them, or not.”
23Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out immediately; nor did He deliver them into the hand of Joshua.
Judges 3
The Nations Remaining in the Land
1Now these are athe nations which the LORD left, that He might test Israel by them, that is, all who had not 1known any of the wars in Canaan
2(this was only so that the generations of the children of Israel might be taught to know war, at least those who had not formerly known it),
3namely, bfive lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who dwelt in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of Hamath.
4And they were left, that He might test Israel by them, to 2know whether they would obey the commandments of the LORD, which He had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.
5cThus the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
6And dthey took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons; and they served their gods.
Othniel
7So the children of Israel did eevil in the sight of the LORD. They fforgot the LORD their God, and served the Baals and 3Asherahs.
8Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and He gsold them into the hand of hCushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Cushan-Rishathaim eight years.
9When the children of Israel icried out to the LORD, the LORD jraised up a deliverer for the children of Israel, who delivered them: kOthniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.
10lThe Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD delivered Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; a
nd his hand prevailed over Cushan-Rishathaim.
11So the land had rest for forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.
Ehud
12mAnd the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD strengthened nEglon king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD.
13Then he gathered to himself the people of Ammon and oAmalek, went and 4defeated Israel, and took possession of pthe City of Palms.
14So the children of Israel qserved Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.
15But when the children of Israel rcried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for them: Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a sleft-handed man. By him the children of Israel sent tribute to Eglon king of Moab.
16Now Ehud made himself a dagger (it was double-edged and a cubit in length) and fastened it under his clothes on his right thigh.
17So he brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. (Now Eglon was a very fat man.)
18And when he had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who had carried the tribute.
19But he himself turned back tfrom the 5stone images that were at Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” He said, “Keep silence!” And all who attended him went out from him.
20So Ehud came to him (now he was sitting upstairs in his cool private chamber). Then Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” So he arose from his seat.
21Then Ehud reached with his left hand, took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly.
22Even the 6hilt went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the dagger out of his belly; and his entrails came out.
23Then Ehud went out through the porch and shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.
The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV Page 121