Ruth
The second book of the Former Prophets and third in the Deuteronomistic History, Judges centers on Israel's life in Canaan after the death of Joshua and before the rise of Samuel, who anoints Saul ca. 1020 B.c. as a first step toward establishing the Israelite monarchy. In the absence of a single, central leader for Israel during the bulk of these last two centuries of the 2nd millennium, God raises up "judges" who exercise judicial authority and/or provide military leadership to rid Israel of foreign oppression. The book's repeated phrase, "there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes," attests to the political and religious diversity that characterized this time in Israel's history.
Content
A two-part introduction and two-part epilogue frame the book's main body (3:7-16:31), which demonstrates the fulfillment of Joshua's prophecy that the Israelites would not be able to resist the temptation to worship foreign deities instead of serving God alone (Josh. 24:19-27; cf. God's own foretelling in Deut. 31:16-18). The cycle of Israel's losing faith, divinely sanctioned foreign oppression (= the covenantal curse), the nation's cry for help, God's deliverance, and "rest" for the land repeats itself, with some variation, in a manner that recalls Israel's recurring grumbling and disobedience answered by God's faithfulness and grace during the period of the wilderness wanderings. Israel's failure to keep God's covenant gives the reason for their failure to conquer the promised land in the kind of comprehensive way that accords with the promises given to the patriarchs and with the overall picture of the conquest portrayed in Joshua (Josh. 23:1-5; cf. Gen. 15:18-21; 28:1015). Yet Judges picks up the Bible's overarching theme of God's continued initiative in redeeming sinful humanity.
Background
Twelve judges appear in this book, most hailing from Canaan's central hill country. Deborah's military colleague Barak, the Kenite heroine Jael, and Gideon's son Abimelech also figure prominently, but they do not serve as judges. Five "minor" judges receive only brief biographical information. The careers of the remaining seven "major" judges appear varied in character. Deborah renders judicial decisions, Jephthah leads a tribal military coalition, and Samson carries out personal vendettas. Most of the major judges display serious moral flaws evidenced in behavior such as sexual promiscuity (Samson) and idolatry (Gideon). The shortcomings of these divinely appointed leaders highlight more intensely God's work of pure grace and mercy in delivering the entire nation of undeserving Israelites from the curses they have called on themselves as a result of their covenantal disobedience. Indeed, only once in judges do we see the Israelites repent of their sins (10:10-16). Hebrews 11:32 singles out Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah for their commendable faith regardless of their moral imperfections.
Though the book portrays the judges as arising in sequence over some 400 years, their careers probably overlapped, and the time designations for the periods of "rest" between their tenures most likely represent numbers of generations (one generation = "40 years") rather than precise numbers of years.
Authorship
Jewish tradition views Samuel as the author of judges, but most modern scholars see the present form of the book as an editorial compilation of material from a variety of sources (possibly including Samuel) from a wide range of periods. Sections probably composed closest to the actual time of the events include the opening chapter, the Song of Deborah (ch. 5), and the concluding stories spanning chs. 17-21. Most scholars believe that the Deuteronomistic Historian who edited judges did his work either in the 7th century during the reign of Judah's king Josiah or in the 6th century during the Babylonian exile.
1 The State of the Conquest
From the very start, judges paints a less complete picture of the Israelites' initial possession of Canaan than does Joshua (Josh. 23:1-13). Judges 1:1 reveals that the previous allotment of the land merely represented a preliminary step in the tribes' taking possession of their assigned territories, for many non-Israelite ethnic groups living in Canaan (Canaanites, Amorites, and Perizzites) remain unconquered after Joshua's death.
God chooses Judah, from whose line David and eventually Jesus would come, to take the initiative in continuing the effort. Judah enlists the aid of Simeon, and the two tribes realize great success in capturing their allotted territories in the southern hill country. They render the king of Bezek useless in battle by cutting off his thumbs and big toes to prevent him from grasping a sword and moving agilely (v. 6). Verse 8 even asserts that Judah captured Jerusalem, on Judah's northern border with Benjamin (but contrast josh. 15:63 and the Benjamites' failure in Jerusalem, V. 21). In fact, Israel did not take decided control of Jerusalem until the time of David (2 Sam. 5:1-10). Neither could the Judahites conquer their inheritance in the southwestern plains, supposedly because of the Canaanites' superior military machinery (iron chariots, v. 19; but see the theological reason given in 2:20-3:4). The assertion in v. 18 that Judah conquered Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron - three of the five cities of the Philistine pentapolis located in Canaan's southwestern plains - seems unlikely in view of V. 19, for the Philistines exercised exclusive control over the iron industry in Canaan at the beginning of the Iron Age (cf. 3:1-3). (The Greek Septuagint reads "not" in v. 18 and reverses the result of Judah's efforts against the three cities.)
Verse io records the Judahites' attack against Hebron, but both verse 20 and Joshua credit the city's actual capture to Caleb (Josh. 15:14), to whom Joshua awarded the city as an inheritance (Josh. 14:6-15). Caleb's shrewd daughter, whom he obligates by a wedding gift of land to live in the dry, infertile Negev ("south"), wisely secures water rights from her father (vv 12-15). The descendants of Moses' father-in-law Hobab leave the oasis of Jericho ("the city of palms") for an undoubtedly nomadic life in the barren Judean wilderness (v. 16).
After mentioning the Benjamites' failure at Jerusalem (v 21), the text continues its northbound progression on the map of allotted tribal territories by touching on the success of the "house of Joseph" (Ephraim and Manasseh) in the Ephraimite hill country at Bethel ("house of God," vv. 22-25). The Hittites in V. 26 are one of the peoples that make up the Canaanites. Past this verse, ch. i records only the northern tribes' failure to drive out specific cities' Canaanite inhabitants, though several tribes gain enough power to reduce these peoples to vassalage (Zebulun, Naphtali, and Ephraim ["the house of Joseph;' v. 351). Dan (v 34) originally settled in the southern hill country but later migrated to Canaan's northern extreme, for which reason the text mentions this tribe last in its geographical journey from south to north (cf. ch. i8).
Judges of Israel
2:1-19 The Reason for Israel's Military Failures
God's angel ("messenger") travels from Gilgal, site of Israel's first camp in Canaan, to Bochim (undetermined location) to announce why the Israelites have failed to conquer the promised land: they have transgressed the covenant and have thereby invoked the covenantal curses (v 2; cf. Joshua 9). The Israelites try to make amends by expressing sorrow and offering sacrifices. Verses 1-5 thus set the stage for the judges' activities of deliverance throughout the rest of the book.
Verses 6-9 recap the Israelites' religious posture at the end of Joshua (Josh. 24:28-31), and v. io begins to explain the spiritual regression of the nation after the death of Joshua and his righteous contemporaries. Evidently, the early Israelites did not adequately teach their children the Law (cf. Deut. 6:7, 20-25) - for at the heart of this generation's sin lies their forsaking the worship of Israel's God for service to Canaan's fertility gods Baal and Astarte. The nation's punishment consists not only in God's withholding his blessing but also in his actively distressing the Israelites (vv. 14-15).
Verses 16-19 preview the cycle of Israel's deliverance from her divinely appointed oppressors as an act of God's mercy, followed eventually by the nation's further spiritual decline and resulting divinely ordained oppression - a cycle that will characterize the stories surrounding the 12 judges.
2:20-3:7 God Tests His People
God's purpose in allowing Canaanite peoples to remain in the promised land now becomes to test the transgression-prone Israelites' devotion to him and to teach coming generations how to conquer and defend their land (2:203:4). But the Israelites set themselves up for failure: living among the inhabitants of Canaan leads to intermarriage (forbidden in Deut. 7:3), which in turn leads to spiritual decay (vv. 5-7).
3:8-11 Othniel's Victory
These verses record the first specific punishment God inflicts on his disobedient people - subjection to Mesopotamia (the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers; some scholars emend the text to refer to Edom, east of the Dead Sea, since a southern military confrontation with far-flung Mesopotamia seems unlikely). In time, God delivers the Israelites from their affliction through the judge Othniel - a Judahite relative of Caleb who proved his military prowess in 1:12-13. As with the coming champions Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson, God's spirit specially equips Othniel for the job (v io). This judge's victory over his nation's oppressors brings a generation of relief for Israel ("40 years," often a symbolic number in the Old Testament).
3:12-30 Ehud vs. Eglon
The Israelites slide back into faithlessness after Othniel's death, and now the Transjordanian king Eglon of Moab and his coalition of Ammonites (to his north) and Amalekites (from the desert) subdue the chosen people. They even capture Jericho ("the city of palms;' v. 13), where Israel had realized its first victory in Canaan (Joshua 6). Israel's cries to the Lord result in God's raising up a second deliverer - the lefthanded Benjamite Ehud, who clouds his purpose to assassinate Eglon under the guise of offering tribute and, upon returning to the king alone, employs the element of surprise by strapping a concealed weapon on his unsuspected right thigh (on the lefthanded Benjamite sureshots, see 20:16). Having accomplished his deadly deed in a private encounter with the indisposed Eglon, Ehud escapes the scene of the crime to lead his countrymen in defeating the kingless Moabites (descendants of Abraham's nephew Lot) at the fords of the Jordan. The victory initiates an 8o-year (two generation) period of national rest from foreign oppression.
3:31 Shamgar vs. the Philistines
Though Shamgar's saving of Israel by slaying 6oo Philistines (probably an organized fighting force) receives only brief notice N. 31), this judge's reputation must have endured, for his name appears again in 5:6. Shamgar's make-do fighting method of using a long, metal-tipped pole (an ox goad) as a weapon brings to mind Samson's use of a donkey jawbone to kill nearly twice as many Philistines (15:15). Shamgar's identification as "the son of Anath" may reflect a military title rather than a genealogical note, since Anath is the Canaanite goddess of war.
Weapons and Warfare
In biblical times hunting and warfare were significant parts of life. An individual hunter or soldier had numerous weapons that could be used offensively or defensively. Offensive weapons can be divided into short-range, medium-range, and long-range weapons. Shortrange weapons were used in hand-to-hand combat. The most common short-range weapon was the sword of various lengths and shapes. It was carried in a sheath or scabbard. One of the most unusual swords was a sickle sword, shaped like a sickle and used for slashing instead of stabbing (Judg. 21:10). Swords were made of copper or bronze in the earliest periods, but by the monarchy period those metals were replaced by carburized iron, which was much harder and more valuable. Other
short-range weapons included the club (Prov. 25:18) or the mace with either a stone or metal head. The spear was a long stick with a sharp blade attached to the end and used for stabbing or thrusting (John 19:34).
The most common mediumrange weapon was the javelin, which was generally smaller than the spear (1 Sam. 17:6-7). It was essentially a long arrow with a string looped around the shaft. The spin caused by the string's unwinding increased the throwing distance and accuracy. Another medium-range weapon was a type of spear that was light enough to be thrown.
The two long-range weapons were the sling and stone (Judg. 20:16) and the bow and arrow (Jer. 50:14). The latter had the longest
range and could be effective up to 175-200 yards, while the composite bow could reach up to 500 yards in exceptional cases. The sling included a small pouch for the stone with a long string attached on both sides. The slinger then circled the sling over his head several times before one string was released. The stone flew out of the pouch at speeds up to ioo mph, with a maximum distance of 200 yards. David's long-range sling and stones put Goliath in range; Goliath had only medium-range and short-range weapons (1 Sam. 17:5-7) and tried to move closer to David (vv. 41, 48) to get within range of him.
Horses provided soldiers with mobility and speed, and the iron chariot pulled by two horses provided a mobile platform for two or three soldiers. But the iron chariot was valuable only in flat and open land, not in wooded areas or hilly terrain. Ancient Israel probably did not use chariots and horses until the time of Solomon, and that is why they had to settle in the hill country and could not drive out the people of the coastal plain (Judg. 1:19).
Defense against offensive weapons included the shield made from leather, wood, or metal in all shapes and sizes. The larger shield often required a shieldbearer to hold it in front of the warrior (1 Sam. 17:41). Armor was worn to protect the body and free the hands for fighting. Helmets of metal or leather came in a variety of shapes and with decorations to distinguish enemy from comrade. The coat of mail protected against the arrow, but it was heavy and expensive. It was made of 700-1000 small metal plates tied or sewn together in fishlike scales. The metal breastplate covered the neck and torso, with a second piece protecting the back (Eph. 6:14).
Leg armor or greaves covered the shins (1 Sam. 17:6).
In the Old Testament period towns, except for the smallest, had to be protected by encircling walls. Since the building of such walls was expensive, they covered only a small area of the town housing the most important buildings. Most of the people lived and farmed outside the city walls but ran inside the walls in time of attack. The complex gate system with large doors, posts, and bars was designed to make enemy access extremely difficult. The enemy brought the city under siege when it attacked, allowing no one to go into or out of the city (Josh. 6:1). The goal was to enter the city by tunnelling under the wall, scaling the wall, or weakening the wall and breaking through it or through the gate. Battering rams with wheels, to make them mobile, and a long beam with a metal tip were used to dislodge the stones and weaken the wall. Entry through a water system (if found) could also be used to enter the town. Inside the
walls extensive storage of food and water was necessary to survive the siege as long as possible (Samaria, 2 Kgs. 17:5-6; Jerusalem, 25:12). In the New Testament period great empires engaged in war, but individual Jews were infrequently involved in standing armies.
Symbolic references to weapons and warfare are frequent in the Bible. God is a "man of war" (Exod. 15:3), and his power and might are often depicted in shattering the weapons of war (Ps. 76:3). Victory in battle was described as a blessing from God (Psalm 18). God's protection is symbolized by the shield (Gen. 15:1; Prov. 30:5), but he also breaks the bow and thereby defeats the nation (Jer. 49:35). Taking his cue from the Roman soldier, the author depicts the Christian as one who suffers as a good soldier (2 Tim. 2:3) and one who should put on the whole armor of God in order to stand against the Devil (Eph. 6:10-17).
JAMES C. MOYER
Four-chamber city gate at Tel Dan; Iron II (mid-9th century B.C.). (www.HolyLandPhotos.org)
4-5 Deborah and Barak vs. Jabin and Sisera
The account of the Israelites' fourth deliverance departs from the previous three in several respects: it occurs in central and north Canaan; its heroes are women; its prophetess/judge, Deborah, already sits in office when the crisis comes to a head; and Deborah exercises her judgeship in the legal/ administrative realm.
As a prophetess, Deborah brings a message from God for Barak to lead the two northernmost tribes against Israel's current oppressor, King Jabin of Hazor, and his army commander Sisera. Since Josh. 11:1-11 records the defeat of Jabin about 200 years earlier, some scholars have suggested that "Jabin" is a kingly title rather than a personal name. Others take the Judges account to refer to a different king named Jabin. In any event, Barak is reluctant to take on the assignment and accepts it only on condition that Deborah accompanies him. Deborah agrees but advises Barak that the honor for their divinely ensured victory will go to a woman. The Israelite troops muster near some of Moses' relatives by marriage (compare 4:11 with 1:16) and take their position on Mount Tabor, a prominent mound whose slopes rise steeply from the surrounding Jezreel Valley. Despite possessing the military advantage, Sisera's goo-chariot-strong army meets with total defeat, and Sisera escapes on foot.
The exhausted commander finds feigned hospitality in the nearby tent of Israel's kinswoman by law, the Kenite Jael, whose household lives in peace with Sisera's king (cf. 4:17 and 11). Jael demonstrates her family loyalty over treaty ties by applying a hammer and tent peg to Sisera's temple to give him permanent rest. Jael thus emerges as the heroine of whom Deborah spoke in v. 9, but V. 23 quickly ascribes the victory to God.
Chapter 5 relates this same story of deliverance in the form of a victory song, some of oldest Hebrew poetry in the Old Testament. The poem gives a more dramatic presentation of the events than the prose account in ch. 4. Judges 5:19 mentions Taanach and Megiddo, important cities that guarded trade routes through the strategic Jezreel Valley. Verses 24-27 praise Jael for her cunning and courage. The record of Israel's deliverance from Jabin ends with the notation in V. 31 that peace ensued for another generation ("40 years").
6-8 Gideon vs. the Midianites and Amalekites
Because Israel again abandons the faith, God allows raiders from the east to threaten the people's livelihood (6:4-5). Verse 11 pictures Gideon as "beating out" his grain in a winepress, instead of threshing it in the open, to hide his activity from the Midianites (descendants of Abraham by Keturah; Gen. 25:1-4).
The announcement of Israel's covenantal transgression by an unidentified prophet underscores the undeserved graciousness God will soon show in delivering Israel from this oppression (6:8-10). The appearance of the angel of the Lord (here God himself; 6:14,16, 22-23) provides an early clue to the theological significance of this account and begins a series of parallels with the call of Moses in Exodus 3. (Both men are hiding from enemies when they receive their call, both protest and are reluctant to accept the task, and both receive a divine promise and miraculous signs.) The angel sits under an oak tree to commission Gideon as the nation's next deliverer (6:11-14; cf. Deborah's judgment seat, 4:5).
Gideon cites his humble status as the youngest son of his tribe's most humble family in expressing his reluctance for the task (6:15). God's choice of the least socially powerful in
dividual to accomplish his purpose contributes to the account's focus on God's power rather than Israel's. The "youngest son" theme recalls the narratives concerning Abel (Genesis 4), Jacob (Genesis 25-35), Joseph (Genesis 37-50), and later David (1 Samuel 16-1 Kings 2).
As with the patriarchs and Moses, God promises to "be with" Gideon (God himself will bring about deliverance) and validates that assurance with three signs. The first sign - the spontaneous consumption of Gideon's offering - firmly establishes God's identity (6:21). With Gideon's fear upon realizing he has seen God face to face (6:22-23), compare Jacob's response in Gen. 32:30 and Moses' reaction in Exod. 3:6.
As Gideon tested God regarding his identity (6:17), so now God tests Gideon regarding obedience. Gideon carries out God's command that he destroy his father's altar to the Canaanite fertility-god Baal, as well as the wooden idol of Baal's wife Asherah. But he uses the cover of darkness to cloak his timidity in asserting his divinely-sanctioned leadership. Nevertheless, Gideon passes the test and gains a new name, Jerubbaal - one that thumbs the nose at Baal and implies the false god's powerlessness (6:31-32).
The eastern raiders' muster in the Jezreel Valley (where the confrontation between Deborah/Barak and Jabin/Sisera took place, chs. 4-5) provides a further test of Gideon's ability. The spirit-empowered deliverer (6:34) summons troops from four northern tribes, but before initiating a military confrontation he seeks a double confirmation of God's promise of victory, and God provides two additional signs of assurance. Gideon's use of a fleece in establishing God's will gives rise to the expression "lay out a fleece" for determining what course of action one should pursue (6:33-40).
Through God's instruction, Gideon reduces the size of his army to a mere 300 men (7:5-7), for God wants to establish that he, not the Israelite warriors, will win the victory. Obviously this group consists of those with the greatest faith in God's power to prevail over a virtual swarm of enemies with so few men (7:3; cf. 6:5).
God uses the Midianites themselves to steel Gideon for his task by providing Gideon opportunity to overhear a prophetic dream related in the Midianite camp - a dream that predicts Israel's impending victory over the raiders (7:10-15). Gideon worships God before initiating his battle plan, which uses the element of surprise coupled with noise, fire, and cover of darkness to confuse the Midianites so they turn their swords against each other (7:15-22).
Gideon's plan works - apparently without engaging his seemingly unarmed troops in any fighting - but the Midianite survivors flee. With the Israelite army in hot pursuit, the centrally located tribe of Ephraim now becomes involved and captures and kills two Midianite leaders - a privileged act that Gideon points to in defusing the Ephraimites' offense at not having been summoned to join the initial confrontation (7:24-8:3).
Still in pursuit of two other Midianite kings, Gideon requests refreshment for his troops from two Transjordanian towns in Manasseh's territory - Succoth and Penuel. By refusing Gideon's request, both towns show lack of faith in God's ability to bring about the kings' capture. After Gideon completes his mission successfully, he punishes them soundly (8:417), then kills the Midianite kings to avenge his brothers' blood (vv. 18-21).
Gideon appears more vulnerable to the temptations of possessions than of power. He refuses his countrymen's request that he begin a dynasty to rule over them and instead declares God as their leader (contrast his son Abimelech's response in ch. 9). But Gideon's desire for material wealth, demonstrated by his taking valuables from the Midianite kings he slays (8:21, 26) and his amassing of gold, leads to his fashioning an ephod (perhaps a priestly vestment [Exod. 28:28-30] or an image of God, which the Second Commandment [Exod. 20:4] forbids), and he and his countrymen worship the idol (= "play the harlot," 8:27). Through these acts, Gideon nullifies the good he had done earlier in tearing down the sanctuary of Baal and Asherah (6:25-27). Nevertheless, the text remembers Gideon as a man of God blessed with an abundance of sons and a long life, one whose memory the Israelites should have honored but did not (8:30-32, 35; 9:16-20). Gideon's military leadership results in another generation of peace for Israel (8:28), but after his death the Israelites once again revert to Baal-worship (Baal-berith, "Baal of the covenant").
Mount Tabor and the Jezreel Valley, where Barak defeated the army of Hazor. (BiblePlaces.com)
9 Abimelech's Rise and Fall
This extended aside from the stories of deliverance through the judges demonstrates divine retribution - here, for mass murder (not for Abimelech's grasping after political power; V. 56). Gideon's son by a Shechemite concubine convinces his hometown blood relatives to make him their leader. To accomplish this task, Abimelech and his band of hired ruffians publicly execute Abimelech's half brothers, who ruled over the mixed Canaanite-Israelite population of Shechem, and Abimelech becomes the city-state's king. Beth-millo ("house of the filling," v. 6) probably represents a fortress on an artificial mound near Shechem. The pillar, or standing stone, mentioned here likely figured in pagan religious practices.
But one brother, Jotham, escapes the bloodbath and flees to Mount Gerizim, which, along with Mount Ebal, overlooks Shechem (cf. Josh. 8:30-35 for the ratification of the covenant here after Israel's defeat of Jericho and Ai). There Jotham relates a parable denouncing the violence and calls for the destruction of Abimelech and the Shechemites.
Three years later, God exercises his power over an evil spirit to cause strife between Abimelech and the Shechemites. An outsider, Gaal the son of Ebed ("servant"), fans the flames of rebellion, and a showdown between Abimelech and the Shechemites ensues. Abimelech destroys Shechem, sows it with salt to signify the irreversibility of the city's downfall, and burns to death those who have taken refuge in the city fortress's temple of El-berith ("God of the covenant"; contrast "Baalberith;' 8:33; 9:4).
Abimelech does not enjoy his victory for long, however. In his effort to take Thebez (modern Tubas, north of Nablus), a woman on top of the city wall drops on his head a skullcrushing, wheel-like millstone used for grinding grain, and he commands his armor-bearer to finish him off with a sword to avoid the disgrace of death by a female (cf. 2 Sam. 11:21, which remembers him in exactly this way). Divine retribution thus comes full circle in the fulfillment of Jotham's curse (vv. 56-57; cf. V. 20). For the second time in judges a woman has felled a man (cf. chs. 4-5).
10:1-5 Tola and Jair
The text does not tell enough about these "minor" judges to determine whether their roles consisted mainly in administering judgments or in delivering Israel from oppressors - or both. Verse 1 does indicate that Tola "save[d]" Israel. Other minor judges appear in chapter 12.
10:6-12:7 Jephthah vs. the Ammonites
The picture of Israel's apostasy (abandoning the faith) now intensifies as the nation serves not only Canaanite and Philistine gods but also those of the lands to their north (Syria and Sidon) and west (Moab and Ammon). Their transgressions result in divinely caused oppression by the Philistines and Ammonites; thus Judges' focus returns to the southern tribes and turns east to the Transjordanian Gileadites. For the first time in the book, Israel repents from her sin, but God's heart does not soften immediately.
The Israelites find their own deliverer in the Gileadite Jephthah, an exiled son of a harlot eager to regain social position and achieve tribal power. Only later does God confirm this choice
(11:29). Jephthah first makes a rough attempt at diplomacy to stave off a military confrontation with the advancing Ammonites, but they respond by telling the Gileadites to give back their land - peaceably. Jephthah counters that God delivered the land to the Israelites, and his invocation of the Lord's immediate judgment between Israel and Ammon makes battle inevitable (11:27).
Before the engagement, however, Jephthah makes a conditional vow that, if God grants him victory, he will offer as a burnt offering whatever comes out of his house first upon his return home. Jephthah may likely have expected an animal to wander out, since animals lived on the ground floor of ancient Near Eastern houses, but instead his only child, a virgin daughter, appears. With her surprising cooperation, the devastated Jephthah makes good on his heartbreaking but binding vow (cf. Num. 30:2), although his following this Ammonite religious practice surely offended rather than pleased God (contrast Abraham's divinely aborted sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22, which constituted a divine test of faith).
Jephthah's troubles do not end with his daughter's death, for Ephraim takes offense that he excluded them from the battle against the Ammonites (cf. 8:1-3). Jephthah's accusatory explanation triggers tribal feuding, and his forces gain the upper hand. Their imposition of a pronunciation test on anyone seeking to cross the Jordan from Gilead into Ephraim routs out retreating Ephraimites and sheds light on the differences in dialect between the two tribes (and presumably between others as well). In modern usage, the text's password, "shibboleth," indicates a "litmus test" for authenticity. The 42 thousand Ephraimites killed may represent an exaggeration resulting from difficulty in interpreting the Hebrew word for "thousand" (cf. Exod. 12:37-13:16).
12:8-15 Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon
These three minor judges return us to Canaan proper. As with the others (cf. 10:1-5), only scant biographical information appears here. The note concerning Ibzan's children marrying "outsiders" may refer to Israelites outside Ibzan's lineage or to non-Israelites. The donkey-riding descendants of Abdon recall the judge Jair's mounted sons (10:4).
13-16 Samson vs. the Philistines
13 Israel's Philistine oppressors, who maintained strongholds in five southern cities on and near the Mediterranean coast, succeeded in preventing the Danites from possessing their landed inheritance on Canaan's coastal plain (Josh. 19:40-48). But before all the Danites migrated to the far north (ch. 18), their champion Samson gave the Philistines plenty of trouble.
The account of Samson's conception by a previously infertile woman recalls the reversal of the barrenness of Sarah, Rachel, and Rebekah (cf. Elizabeth; Luke 1:7,13). The angel of the Lord's appearance to Manoah's wife to announce her impending pregnancy parallels Gabriel's meeting with Mary (Luke 1:26-38). Manoah's fear upon realizing that he has seen God contrasts with his wife's insights into their encounter with the divine (contrast vv. 16-18 with v. 6; v. 22 with V. 23).
The restrictions on Samson as a lifelong Nazirite (one specially consecrated by a vow) begin in the womb; Samson's mother must therefore refrain from consuming any products of the vine as well as ritually unclean foods (Num. 6:1-21). Verse 25 foreshadows God's impending work through Samson despite the absence of a reported cry by the Israelites for deliverance from Philistine rule. Indeed, Judah even protests Samson's militant acts against these uncircumcised oppressors (15:11; cf. 14:3; of all Israel's neighbors, only the Philistines did not practice circumcision).
14-15 If Samson's dedication as a Nazirite suggested that he would grow into a pious, peaceloving adult, chs. 14 and 15 quickly dispel that notion. But God's plan for Samson uses his he-man tendencies to bring judgment on the Philistines, though their punishment falls short of bringing deliverance to the oppressed Israelites.
Samson's insistence on marrying a Philistine woman violates God's command prohibit ing intermarriage with pagan peoples (Deut. 7:3). His repeated handling of the carcass of a lion he has killed transgresses the prohibition against a Nazirite's coming into contact with dead bodies (Num. 6:6), and his eating honey from a hive inside the carcass represents a breach of Israelite food laws (Lev. 11:32-40).
Abimelech's victory at Thebez was eclipsed when he was crushed by a millstone (Judges 9). Shown here a collection of ancient basalt grinders. (www. Ho l yL an d Ph o to s. o rg)
That Samson's wife betrays the answer to his wedding party riddle enrages the bridegroom. He takes vengeance on 30 unfortunate (and unwitting) Philistines of Ashkelon (23 mi. southwest) in order to make good on his wager to provide high quality, linen outfits for his cunning guests, and then he shames his bride and in-laws by returning to his father's house before consummating the marriage. The woman's father interprets Samson's actions as calling off the marriage and he hastily weds his daughter to Samson's best man to minimize the disgrace Samson has caused the entire family.
Just when Samson's anger cools enough for him to make up with his wife, who continues to live in her father's house according to Philistine custom, he discovers his loss of her to his former friend, and his rage ignites with even greater intensity. The Philistines answer Samson's revenge of burning their crops by burning to death his would-be wife and father-in-law, who, ironically, suffer the same fate previously threatened by the stymied wedding guests (14:15). Samson responds with even more violence before he holes up in a cave in Judah.
The Philistines gain Judah's cooperation in their pursuit of Samson, and the intimidated Judahites bind and hand their captured countryman over to the enemy. But the spiritempowered strong man bursts his bonds and lays iooo of his Philistine assailants flat using the jawbone of a donkey. God demonstrates his approval of Samson's judgment on the Philistines by miraculously providing him with water in answer to his prayer (15:18-19). It was just the sort of back-and-forth vengeance these chapters outline between Samson and the Philistines that Israel's lex talionis sought to curb (cf. Exod. 21:23-25).
16 Samson's weakness for women continues to get him into trouble, now with the deceitful, probably Philistine Delilah. Swayed by her wiles and at least temporarily overconfident of his physical strength apart from God (v 20), he is captured by the Philistines. The account of Delilah's betrayal continues to portray Samson as a powerful, one-man militia, whose subjection the Philistines relish (vv 23-25), rather than as leader of a pan-Israel fighting force.
Despite his past moral shortcomings, the blinded but reinvigorated slave Samson accomplishes God's purpose to judge the Philistines even more harshly at his death than throughout his life (compare 14:4 with 16:30). In doing so, Samson demonstrates God's power over the Philistine grain-god Dagon, whose party Samson quite literally crashes. Judges represents Samson as the last of Israel's judges and the only one to die in the line of divinely assigned duty. His judgeship lasted two decades, but not until David would the Israelites gain rest from the Philistine oppressors God used Samson to afflict.
17-18 Micah, Dan, and the Whimsical Levite
These chapters flesh out examples of the Israelites' covenantal disobedience referred to throughout earlier chapters in Judges. That wayward Levites figure in this account and in
the bool's concluding section (chs. 19-21) demonstrates the moral decline of Israel's religious leadership in addition to that of the nation at large.
While the Mosaic Law expressly prohibited divination and the making of graven images (Deut. 18:1o; Exod. 20:4), the self-confessed Ephraimite thief Micah engages in just such activities - with the blessing of his unreproaching mother - and does so in the name of the Lord (17:5,13; on Micah's ephod, see 8:27). Micah even assumes divine authority in setting up his own shrine. In consecrating a private, nonAaronic priest (cf. Num. 8:5-26), who himself ignores God's provision for his dwelling-place in one of Israel's 48 Levitical cities (Joshua 21), Micah disregards the Law God ordained him to teach and enforce. In addition, he accepts wages for his services rather than relying on tithes as a means of support (17:10; cf. Numbers 18; Leviticus 27). Micah's skewed understanding of how to please God seems to have pervaded the nation's religious thought during this premonarchical, judicially decentralized period in Israel's history (17:6).
The Danites' migration from their landed inheritance near Jerusalem, which later became Israel's religious center, to Canaan's northern extremity (25 mi. north of the Sea of Galilee) symbolizes the extent to which they stray from religious orthodoxy. Not only do they abandon their divinely allotted territory after failing to wrest it from the Philistines (cf. 1:34), they also appropriate Micah's unorthodox, whimsical priest and forbidden ritual objects and employ them in the unacceptable religious shrine they establish as a rival to the sanctuary at Shiloh (ch.18). King Jeroboam I will later choose this Danite center of idolatry as one of two northern shrines to rival orthodox worship in Jerusalem (1 Kgs. 12:25-30). Judges 18:30 foreshadows the ultimate result of Israel's disobedience: the "captivity of the land," which came in the form of Assyrian subjection of the northern kingdom in the late 8th century.
19-21 Outrage and Response
Unlike the relatively innocuous Levite of chs. 17-18, the one who figures prominently in Judges' final episode appears insincere, hardhearted, and ruthless. Unfortunately, it is just such a character that the entire nation - from Dan in the far north to Beer-sheba in the far south - is willing to rally around in the kind of unity that not even the most influential of the judges appears to have engendered among them (20:1).
Though at first the Levite appears victimized by his unfaithful Judahite concubine (a lower-ranking wife recognized by Israelite law), whom he determines to woo back tenderly, the account turns this picture upside down by the end of ch. 19.
In the meantime, the overly generous hospitality of the Levite's father-in-law in Bethlehem sets up a foil for the near total lack of hospitality shown to him by his Benjamite countrymen in Gibeah on his journey back to Ephraim - hospitality he so took for granted that he passed up the earlier opportunity to lodge in Jebus.
Rabble-rousers in Gibeah approach the Levite's elderly host with the same request that the men of Sodom made to Lot (19:22; Gen. 19:5), and they receive a similar response - one that honors the current code of hospitality: sexually abuse these women, but leave my male guest alone. That later in the account the entire Benjamite tribe demonstrates solidarity with Gibeah's "worthless fellows" who rape the Levite's concubine strengthens the tie with the Genesis event, wherein all the men of Sodom join in the atrocious demand to engage in sexually abusive behavior (20:13-14).
The Levite's concubine becomes the only victim, and she pays for her husband's callousness with her life, whether the all-night abuse caused her death or the Levite himself dealt the final blow on their return home (19:29). The Levite's self-interest over his now obviously feigned affection for his wife (cf.19:3) comes to the fore in several ways. First, 19:25 suggests that the Levite himself may have handed over his wife to her abusers to avoid personal harm. Second, the text records no attempt by the Levite to rescue his wife from her night-long ordeal. Neither does he show an ounce of concern for her well-being when in the morning he discovers her prostrate body lying at their host's doorway (19:27-28). Finally, rather than grieving over his wife's brutalization, the Levite further debases her by chopping up her body, the severed members of which serve as a summons to the tribes to find an appropriate means to retaliate against the Benjamites - ostensibly for their murder of the concubine but more likely in the Levite's mind for disgracing him by abusing his wife (cf. Saul's summoning Israel's troops in 1 Sam. 11:6-7).
Except for Benjamin, in whose territory Gibeah lies, the tribes unite in their determination to punish the inhabitants of Gibeah, and each tribe commits io percent of its men to the task (20:10). The Israelite forces plan their battle strategy by consulting God at Bethel, sister shrine to the Danites' sanctuary and current home of the ark of the covenant (20:27). But though they rally to mete out punishment as a group, they also suffer a limited amount of divinely allowed corporate punishment for the sins of their Benjamite countrymen and do so at the Benjamites' own hands (20:21-25; cf. the punitive results of Achan's sin in Joshua 7).
The portrayal of the battle against Gibeah appears similar to Joshua's military victory against Ai. Gibeah's warriors pursue their assailants outside the city because of their false confidence in the inevitability of another victory. Thus they leave Gibeah vulnerable to Israelite ambushers, and the coalition slays the Benjamites on the open battlefield (2o:36ff.; cf. Joshua 8). Benjamin's siding with its wayward tribesmen ultimately results in the near extinction of the entire tribe when its punishers enforce the ban (cf. Joshua 6) and pledge not to intermarry with the defiant tribe (21:1-3).
But in contrast to their behavior in the civil war between Gilead and Ephraim under Jephthah (12:1-6), the aggressors here lament their victims' fate, and they go to morally objectionable lengths to reverse the consequences of the punishment. Not only do the Israelites shed more of their brothers' blood to provide virgin brides for 400 of the surviving Benjamite bachelors (21:10-12; cf. Num. 31:17-18), they also approve the Benjamites' kidnapping of Israelite women at Shiloh to make up the difference (21:19-21). By creating a legal loophole through the kidnapping provision (21:22), the Israelites turn a blind eye to their purposeful disobedience of their own vow and display complete disregard for the spirit in which they uttered it. The episode spanning chs. 19-21 pictures a morally clueless Israel attempting to enact covenantal law - an attempt doomed to go awry for lack of spiritual leadership and the resulting individualism created by this vacuum (21:25). The book may imply that crowning a king might not be such a bad idea (cf. Deut. 17:14-20).