Book of Judges (Hebrew: Sefer Shoftim ספר שופטים) is a book of the Bible originally written in Hebrew. Books of the Bible are listed differently in the canons of Jews and Catholic, Protestant, Greek Orthodox Slavonic Orthodox Georgian Armenian Apostolic It appears in the Tanakh and in the Christian Old Testament. See also Old testament, Septuagint, Targum, Peshitta The Tanakh (תַּנַ"ךְ (taˈnax or; also Tenakh or Tenak is In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. 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. Biblical judges ( Hebrew: shoftim שופטים were leaders of the Israelites, which included the judicial and military roles A judge, or justice, is an Official who presides over a Court of law See also History of ancient Israel and Judah According to the Bible, the Israelites were the dominant group living in the Land of Israel.

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. Samson, Shimshon ( Hebrew: שמשון, Standard Šimšon Tiberian Šimšôn; meaning Eli ( was according to the Books of Samuel, the name of a priest of Shiloh, and one of the last Israelite Judges before the rule of kings in ancient Israel 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. The Books of Samuel ( Hebrew: Sefer Sh'muel ספר שמואל are part of the Tanakh (part of Judaism 's Hebrew Bible) and also of 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. This article is about the ancient Hebrew religious text For the 20th-century English-language novel see The Book of Ruth (novel The Book of Ruth

Structure and content

Introduction

The Introduction (1:1-3:10 and 3:12) gives a summary of the book of Joshua, in some cases giving additional details.

• The choosing of Judah to lead the attack (Judges 1:1-3)
• The capture of Adonibezek, and destruction of Jerusalem, (Judges 1:4-8)
• The story of Othniel Ben Kenaz (Judges 1:11-15) almost identical to its mention in Joshua (Joshua 15:15-19)
• A list of the successes and failures of Judah and Simeon's campaigns (1:17-20)
• Caleb driving away the sons of Anak from Hebron (Judges 1:10 and 1:20) as mentioned in Joshua (Joshua 15:14)
• The destruction of Luz and sparing of an individual who aided the Israelite spies (1:22-26)
• A list of the failures of the campaigns by the northern tribes (1:21-36)
• A threat by an angel at Bochim (2:1-5)
• The death of Joshua (Judges 2:6-9) similar to the account in Joshua (Joshua 24:28-31)
• An introduction to the role of Biblical judges (2:10-3:6)
  • The falling of the Israelites into heathen practices (2:10-14)
  • A very brief overview of the main part of the Book of Judges (2:15-19)
  • An explanation of why God allowed some Canaanites to remain (2:20-3:4)
  • A recap of the Israelites falling into heathen practices, as the start of the main part of the book (3:5-6)
• The story of Othniel Ben Kenaz (Judges 3:7-10) again, presented differently to the earlier mention (Judges 1:11-15)

Main text

The Main text (3:11-16:31) discusses the five Great Judges and Abimelech. The Tribe of Judah ( was one of the Tribes of Israel. At its height it was the leading tribe of the Kingdom of Judah, and occupied most of the territory of the kingdom In the Book of Judges (14 - 7 Adonibezek (simply "lord of Bezek " was a Canaanite king who having subdued seventy of Othniel Ben Kenaz ( is the first of the Biblical Judges. His wife Achsah was the daughter of Caleb (Josh This is not a list of archaeological remains in the modern day Middle East. For other meanings of the word Caleb or Kalev see Caleb (disambiguation Caleb ( Hebrew; Tiberian vocalization According to the Book of Numbers, during the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites Anak (spelt as both ענק and as הענק depending upon the reference Hebron ( al-Ḫalīl or al-Khalīl, Standard Hebrew: Ḥevron Tiberian Hebrew: Ḥeḇrôn is the largest city in the West Bank, located in the south LUZ may refer to University of Zulia Larger Urban Zones (LUZ in the European Union See also This is not a list of archaeological remains in the modern day Middle East. Biblical judges ( Hebrew: shoftim שופטים were leaders of the Israelites, which included the judicial and military roles Othniel Ben Kenaz ( is the first of the Biblical Judges. His wife Achsah was the daughter of Caleb (Josh It consists of six stories each concerning a major judge and their struggles against an oppressive foreign overlord. There are also brief glosses of the rule of lesser judges, often only giving their name and the number of their sons.

• Othniel (3:9-11) warred against and defeated Cushan-Rishathaim, King of Aram. Israel had 40 years peace until the death of Othniel
• Ehud (3:11-29) vs. For other uses see Ehud (given name. Ehud ben‑Gera ( Hebrew: אֵהוּד בֶּן‑גֵּרָא, Standard Eglon of Moab
• Deborah the prophetess and Barak the army leader (4-5) vs. Moab (; Greek Μωάβ; Arabic مؤاب, Assyrian Mu'aba, Ma'ba, Ma'ab; Egyptian See also Biblical judges Book of Judges List of women warriors in folklore literature and popular culture Barak (בָּרָק "Lightning" the son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, was a military general in the Book of Judges in Jabin of Hazor (in Canaan) and Sisera, his captain
• Gideon (6-8) vs. Jabin (ja'-bin is a Biblical name meaning 'discerner' or 'the wise' Canaanites redirects here For the 1940s social and political movement in Israel, see Canaanites (movement. Sisera, Heb סיסרא mentioned in the Book of Judges 42 in the Hebrew Bible, was the captain of Jabin 's army which was routed and destroyed Gideon ( also known as Jerub-Baal (from the Hebrew "let Baal plead" is a judge appearing in the Book of Judges, in the Bible. Midian, Amalek, and the children of the East
• Abimelech (9) (who is traditionally counted as a king not a judge, and is considered evil) vs. According to the Book of Genesis and 1 Chronicles, Amalek ( Arabic, عماليق, was the son of Eliphaz and the grandson of In the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible, Abimelech was a son of the great judge Gideon ( thus his name אֲבִימֶלֶךְ / אֲבִימָלֶךְ all the Israelites who opposed him
• Jephthah (11-12:7) vs. Jephthah (also spelled Jephtha; from Hebrew יפתח Yiftach / Yipthaχ is a character in the Hebrew Bible 's Book the Ammonites
• Samson (13-16) vs. Ammon or Ammonites ( also referred to in the Bible as the "children of Ammon" were a people (also known from Assyrian and other records living east Samson, Shimshon ( Hebrew: שמשון, Standard Šimšon Tiberian Šimšôn; meaning the Philistines

Appendices

The Appendices (17:1-21:25) give two stories set in the time of the judges but do discuss the judges. The Philistines ( Hebrew פלשתים plishtim) (see "other uses" below were a people who inhabited the southern coast of Canaan, The stories have no apparent narrative connection to each other, or the remainder of the text.

• Dan and the Idols of Micah (17-18)
• Gibeah and the Levite Concubine (19-21)

Authorship

While the authorship of Judges has traditionally been ascribed to Samuel, the great majority of modern scholars have come to a much more complex conclusion, regarding the work as having hardly any literary unity at all. The narrative of Micah's Idol, recounted in the Book of Judges, concerns the Tribe of Dan, their conquest of Laish, and the sanctuary that was subsequently Samuel ( Hebrew: שְׁמוּאֵל, Standard Šəmuʼel Tiberian Šəmûʼēl) is an important Many suspect the brief Book of Ruth to have originally been part of the Appendices of Judges, owing to its style, linguistic features and the time period in which its contents are set. This article is about the ancient Hebrew religious text For the 20th-century English-language novel see The Book of Ruth (novel The Book of Ruth It is thought that the Book of Ruth became disconnected and misplaced at a later date.

According to some (but not all) experts in textual analysis known as textual criticism, the majority of Judges was originally part of a continuous work known as the Deuteronomic History stretching from Deuteronomy to 2 Kings, which was later broken up—according to the documentary hypothesis—when the Torah was constructed by its redactor from the early parts of the Deuteronomic History and other writings such as JE and the Priestly source. Textual criticism (or lower criticism) is a branch of Literary criticism that is concerned with the identification and removal of Transcription errors in The Deuteronomist (D is one of the sources of the Torah postulated by the Documentary Hypothesis Deuteronomy (Greek deuteronomion, Δευτερονόμιον "second law" is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament The Books of Kings ( Sefer Melachim, ספר מלכים are a part of Judaism 's Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible. The Torah Redactor (R is according to the Documentary Hypothesis (DH the figure who assembled hypothetical source texts of the Torah &mdashthe Deuteronomist JE is a hypothetical intermediate source text of the Torah postulated by the DH. The Priestly Source (P is posited as the most recent of the four chief sources of the Torah, as postulated by the long-established "standard" Wellhausen (or Graf-Wellhausen It is for this reason that many textual critics also treat 1 Samuel 1:1-7:2, which discusses Eli and Samuel, as having originally been part of the Judges section of the Deuteronomic History narrative.

Introduction

Some passages (1:12-15, 2:6-9 and 3:7-11) of the introduction are almost identical to ones in the Book of Joshua. On the other hand, part of the text which surrounds them (1:1-11, 1:16-2:5) instead presents a summarised overview of the events in Joshua, recording differing traditions, such as that concerning Adonibezek (cf. Joshua 10), or those concerning the continuing presence of Jebusites in Jerusalem to this day (1:21) or not (1:8). For those who support Hexateuch-like theories, where the sources that the documentary hypothesis ascribes to the Torah extend through the Book of Joshua, these passages are often seen as deriving from such sources parallel to the corresponding ones of Joshua. The Hexateuch ("six scrolls" is the first six books of the Hebrew Bible (the Torah or Pentateuch and the Book of Joshua

The majority of critical scholars believe that that first part of the introduction (1:1-2:5) was a late addition to the text, added after the Deuteronomist version of Judges was constructed. The Deuteronomist (D is one of the sources of the Torah postulated by the Documentary Hypothesis Hence 2:6-3:7 is viewed as the original introduction by the Deuteronomist to the Judges period, spinning the later stories to imply that the history of the period involved the Israelites repeatedly turning to worship of other gods, suffering for it, and being alleviated of their suffering by five great leaders, and Abimelech; whereas the original source texts were independent and without the Deuteronomist's alterations, some could be regarded as parallel local events rather than sequential national ones.

Main text

The text is believed under textual criticism to contain further compositional structure. The Deuteronomist here is believed to have combined together six earlier separate texts, one for each of the five Great Judges and one for Abimelech, adding passages to join them together (4:1a, 8:29-31, 10:17-18, and 13:1), sometimes interrupting the narrative to do so. Samson, Shimshon ( Hebrew: שמשון, Standard Šimšon Tiberian Šimšôn; meaning

The text is believed to have been further altered by the (possibly later) addition of passages concerning Minor Judges (10:1-5 and 12:8-15) in order to make the total number of Judges a more religiously significant number, harmonizing them chronologically so that the total number of years of their reign (71) is close to the number of years of oppression under the Great Judges (70). The presence of 3:31, placing Shamgar in the list of Judges, is believed to be a later recension, created in order to remove Abimelech from being counted amongst the judges without disturbing the total number, in order that someone so apparently wicked not taint the role.

Three of these six earlier texts each contain partly duplicate accounts:

• Judges 4 is believed to be based on two separate stories, one based on the ancient Canticle of Deborah (Judges 5) concerning Sisera, the other a story concerning Jabin, which had merged together when Barak of Issachar (identified at 5:15 as the one who defeats Sisera) was confused with Barak of Naphtali (identified at 4:6 as the one who defeats Jabin), and consequently Sisera is reinterpreted in Judges 4 as Jabin's general rather than as the chief of a confederation (as in Judges 5)
• Although difficult to separate, there are considered to be two distinct interwoven narratives about Gideon; the first narrative (which includes at least 6:2-6, 6:11-24, 6:33-35, 7:1, and 7:9-25) describing a surprise assault on the Midianites on Mount Gilboa with the fugitive Kings Oreb and Zeeb being killed, and the second narrative (which includes at least 6:7-10, 6:25-32, and 6:36-40, and 8:4-27) discussing Gideon capturing the fugitive Kings Zebah and Zalmunna.
• The narrative of Judges 9, concerning Abimelech, is thought not to have originally contained the parable of Jotham (9:7b-20), it being inserted into the story at a later date. However, the parable is believed to be earlier than the rest of the narrative, which is thought to be at least partly based upon it.

In addition, the Samson narrative (13-16) contains two distinct cycles; the first a series of tableaux concerning his romance of a Philistine woman and subsequent problems arising from it; the second is the tale of his relationship with Delilah, which begins with him standing between two gateposts at dawn and ends with him standing between two temple pillars in the evening. Though these two cycles may have been collected separately from each other, textual criticism favours the view that the whole Samson narrative originates from one author. That the narrative of Samson is easily broken into 12 episodes is considered to be a deliberate literary conceit, owing to the significance of the number 12 to the Israelites.

In addition to such parallel narratives, the story of Jephthah (11:1-12:7) is often suspected to have been subject to later editing in three locations, though the reasons for the first two are not at all clear

• According to 11:1-2, it is Jephthah's own brothers which expelled him, whereas according to 11:7 it is the elders of Gilead
• The message to the Ammonites at 11:12-27 is written as if directed at Moabites.
• 11:35-40 has the appearance of abridging a more extensive original text, glossing over the existence in the text of human sacrifice to Yahweh, which is mentioned fairly obviously at 11:31

Appendices

The Appendices cover two stories from the time of the Judges, rather than Judges themselves, and so only have contextual relationship in passing with the remainder of the work. Perhaps the most unusual aspect of the Appendices is that they cover events occurring at the start of the period of Judges and so chronologically belong before the remainder of the book, not after it. Even more noticeable is that the narrative preceding the Appendices continues in 1 Samuel, as if the narratives of the Appendices are not present. Hence scholars view the Appendices as texts that were not originally present but later added because of the shared time frame, though the reason they were inserted at the end rather than the beginning is unclear.

The story of Micah and his Idols (17-18) is thought by some scholars (e. The narrative of Micah's Idol, recounted in the Book of Judges, concerns the Tribe of Dan, their conquest of Laish, and the sanctuary that was subsequently g. Ernst Bertheau, Karl Budde, Rudolf Kittel, and Carl Heinrich Cornill) to be composed from two distinct accounts, one recording Micah making an Ephod and Teraphim and hiring a Levite to be "father and priest"; the other recording Micah making a graven image and a molten image and hiring a Levite as a priest whom he treated as a son. Karl Ferdinand Reinhard Budde (1850- ?) was a German theologian, born at Bensberg. Rudolf Kittel ( 28 March, 1853, Eningen, Württemberg - 20 October, 1929, Leipzig) was a German Were this to be the case, it may indicate that at least part of the Appendices could be considered further continuations of the Jahwist, Elohist, or Priestly sources, hence explaining their origin. However, other critical scholars have proposed that such discrepancies may simply be later scribal interpolations. The story is notable because it describes a cult and priesthood at Dan which is mentioned nowhere else in the entire Hebrew Bible, and hence is considered to be based on a particularly early source, prior to later recensions glossing over cult centres of Yahweh outside Jerusalem and Shiloh. The term Hebrew Bible is a generic reference to those books of the Bible originally written in Biblical Hebrew (and the related Biblical Aramaic

The other story of the appendices (19-21), concerning the Levite and his concubine, is thought to date from a similarly early era based on linguistic similarities to the first appendix. However, since everyone in the story is anonymous except Phinehas, many Biblical critics regard the story as fictional. Nevertheless, Hosea (10:9) says that ". Hosea ( Greek = Ōsēe) was the son of Beeri and a prophet in Israel in the 8th century BCE He is one of the Twelve Prophets . . since the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel. . . ", evidencing at least the presence of traditions resembling parts of the story, though some scholars, beginning with Noldeke, believe the story is actually based on something from a slightly later time period—the ruining of the tribe of Benjamin by the war between David and the son of Saul. David, Arabic: داوود or داود dawud, "beloved" was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible Saul (שאול המלך (or Sha'ul) ( Arabic: طالوت,Tālūt ( (reigned 1047 - 1007 BCE is identified in the Books of Samuel, 1 Chronicles

See also

• Tanakh
• Bible
• Biblical canon
• Documentary hypothesis
• Deuteronomic Cycle

External links

Original text

• שֹּׁפְטִים - Shoftim - Judges (Hebrew - English at Mechon-Mamre. See also Old testament, Septuagint, Targum, Peshitta The Tanakh (תַּנַ"ךְ (taˈnax or; also Tenakh or Tenak is Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin A Biblical canon or canon of scripture is a list or Set of Biblical books considered to be authoritative as Scripture by a particular religious The Deuteronomic Cycle is a recurring theme of the Book of Judges in the Tanakh ( Hebrew Bible) org)

Jewish translations

• Judges at Mechon-Mamre (Jewish Publication Society translation)
• Shoftim - Judges (Judaica Press) translation with Rashi's commentary at Chabad. For the astrological concept see Rāshi (Jyotiṣa. Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki, (רבי שלמה יצחקי better known by the acronym Rashi org

Christian translations

• Online Bible at GospelHall.org
• Judges at BibleFu (King James Version)
• Judges at Bible Gateway (Various versions)
• Judges at Wikisource (Authorised King James Version)

Articles

• Book of Judges article (Jewish Encyclopedia)
• The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran (Chronology for Israel's Period of the Judges 1412 BCE to 1039 BCE)

This entry incorporates text from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897.