The Book of Judges – Summary – Christianity

The Book of Judges does not conform with modern historical standards. We might say that it is an ancient historiography, but even this is not quite correct. It was never meant to be an accurate chronology of early Israelite history. The Book of Judges is a theological work derived from available source documents and oral traditions. These include deliverer lists, songs, official records, tales, and conquest annals. It is an ancient sermon, a warning. The intent is prophetic. Like a modern preacher, the author crafts the work according to their agenda. Each dramatic case study demonstrates the accuracy of the Book of Deuteronomy. Turn away from your God and he will remove his protections. Obedience leads to blessing. Namely:

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set life and death before you, the blessing and the curse. Therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your descendants (Deut 30:19).

The Book of Judges weaves its themes together in an impressive manner. Though the dark humor and gruesome depictions can be offensive to modern readers, people experiencing deliverance from oppressions never see it that way.

To whom does the Book of Judges address? Some scholars posit centuries of redactions continuing till the sixth century BCE. This is unlikely. The clan-based structure of a people loosely aligned through a common heritage permeates the chapters. Judges describes a nation in transition and in crisis patterned by conflict and jealousy. This wouldn’t resonate to a united people suffering the Babylonian exile.

Scholars are coming to accept that Judges is a unified literary work with minor updates. Still, a majority insist that the same author wrote both Deuteronomy and Judges sometime during the time of King Josiah (c. 649–609 BCE) or perhaps a short time before. Consider the following passage:

He [Amon] did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, as Manasseh his father did. He [Amon] walked in all the ways that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshiped them; and he abandoned Yahweh, the God of his fathers, and didn’t walk in the way of Yahweh (2 Kgs 21:20–22).

Notice the similarity of language (highlighted above) from that of the Book of Judges. Manasseh (687–642 BCE) and Amon (642–640 BCE) were evil kings; Manasseh even blood sacrificed his child to Molech (2 kgs 21:6). The warnings from Deuteronomy and Judges would resonate at that point.

Up to the nineteenth century few disputed whether Moses authored Deuteronomy and Samuel Judges. The pattern of disobey, punish, contrition, and deliverance (DPCD) described in Deuteronomy and fulfilled in Judges is not unique. It is found in many ancient extrabiblical texts from the second millennium BCE. The Egyptian Archaeologist Kenneth Kitchen provides a number of examples (Reliability, 217–18). The most famous dates to within the 1290–1140 BCE timeframe. We learn about Nakhtamun.

Disobedience: “Wrongdoing in the sight of Amun.”
Punishment: Sickness where “he [Nakhtamun] was close to death.”
Contrition: “Supplications made in his [Amun’s] presence.”
Deliverance: “In mercy Amun turned around.”

The author of Judges was not inventing history as some insist. He was using traditional methods and real history to illustrate God’s interactions with humanity. Some of the phrases like “to this day” appearing seven times invite readers to verify the details. This links Judges’ origin much closer to the events. Samuel remains a possible, even a probable author.

When

When did the period of the judges begin? The Bible presents confusing and sometimes conflicting texts. Scholars who rely on Exodus 1:11 propose a time around 1266 BCE. The time in the wilderness is forty years (Deut 2:7). If we accept Josephus (Antiquities, Book 5 1:29), Joshua lived twenty five years after Moses’s death. This brings us to 1201 BCE (1266 – 40 – 25). Let’s see if this date is supported by archeological records?

Synchronism

Definition: An alignment of contemporaneous events described in historical documents which enables scholars to establish accurate ancient timelines.

Judges Start Date

The Philistines provide an extrabiblical synchronism. This people group is referenced thirty-one times in the Book of Judges. These are diverse ethnicities who the Egyptians call “The peoples of the sea.” Long-term droughts and famines during the second Millennium BCE forced migrations from Southern Europe and the northern Mediterranean. The fertile Nile Delta was a desirable migration point. According to the archaeologist Kenneth Kitchen, two waves of immigration occurred (Reliability 137–138). The first was an attack defeated by pharaoh Merneptah in 1209/1208 BCE. The second wave was defeated by Ramesses circa 1180 BCE. Some of this latter group settled in the coastal region of Canaan (biblically, “The land of the Philistines”).

A scientific study verifies these dates. Human remains were excavated at the ancient Philistine seaport city of Ashkelon and analyzed genetically. The following quote from the study is significant:

Our analysis suggests that this genetic distinction is due to a European-related gene flow introduced in Ashkelon during either the end of the Bronze Age or the beginning of the Iron Age. This timing is in accord with estimates of the Philistines arrival to the coast of the Levant, based on archeological and textual records (“Ancient DNA sheds light on the genetic origins of early Iron Age Philistines”).

The paper cites a book chapter by L.E. Stager titled “The impact of the Sea Peoples in Canaan (1185–1150 BCE).” These synchronisms demonstrate that Shamgar in Judg 3:31 had to take place no earlier than 1185 BCE, possibly as late as 1150 BCE. The first judge Othniel was Caleb’s brother. He must have been alive during the Shamgar episode. This fits well with the Judges era commencing at 1201 BCE .

Push Back

There is a problem. The word Philistines occurs twelve times in the Pentateuch and in the Book of Joshua. This long precedes the Sea People migrations. Many scholars assume therefore that this discredits biblical history. They further claim that the early books of the Bible are unreliable when it comes to history. Let’s see if we can resolve this mystery.

The standard Masoretic Old Testament has a single word that translates to Philistines. The Greek Septuagint though, uses two words in its translation. The first six Books of the Bible exclusively use the first of these. All other books of the Bible use the second, which translates to foreigners, aliens, or people of another race. Apparently the Septuagint translators distinguish the earlier philistines from the later ones (Armstrong).

Jewish tradition agrees. The Midrash Tehillim commentary on Ps 60 writes:

Now, when the children of Israel were about to enter the land of the Philistines, it was said to them, are you not sons of Abraham? And will you not keep the obligations of the covenant which Abraham made with Abimelech [an early Philistine]? The children of Israel replied, indeed we would keep the covenant. But you are not Philistines, for the Philistines have long since departed.

A pair of Bible verses strengthen the argument:

Mizraim became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, Casluhim (which the Philistines descended from), and Caphtorim (Gen 10:13–14).

For Yahweh will destroy the Philistines, the remnant of the isle of Caphtor [Crete] (Jer 47:4).

According to Josephus, the Casluhim were one of the Egyptian peoples who were wiped out during an Ethiopic War that occurred during the lifetime of Moses (Antiquities, Book 1 6.2). If the Philistines in the books of Moses were different from the later Philistines, the earlier references are not anachronisms.

Judges End Date

The start of construction of the first Jewish Temple is a major synchronism. The scholarly consensus is 966 BCE, the fourth year of Solomon’s reign (1 kgs 6:1). David reigned forty years before him (1 kgs 2:10). This brings us to 1010 BCE (966 + 4 + 40). Saul ruled before David. Things become tricky. Consider the following variations in translations of 1 Sam 13:1.

Saul was fifty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel for twenty-two years (New English Bible).

Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years (New International Version).

Saul was forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-two years over Israel (New American Standard).

A son of a year is Saul in his reigning, yea, two years he hath reigned over Israel (Young’s Literal Translation).

Saul was – – years old when he began to reign; and two years he reigned over Israel (Jewish Publication Society).

The son of a year, Saul, in his reign; and two years he reigned over Israel (Translation of the standard Jewish Masoretic text).

What is going on? Some commentators suggest that “son of a year” is some kind of idiom meaning naïve. They also suggest that he reigned for two years before he established himself as king. Others believe that the verse was corrupted. Because of this, they rely on other sources in their translations. Most Greek Septuagint translators delete the verse entirely. These difficulties prevent us from ascertaining anything conclusive about Saul’s reign length.

A second pair of texts are more compelling, but still not conclusive as I recently discovered.

From the day that the ark stayed in Kiriath Jearim , the time was long; for it was twenty years; and all the house of Israel lamented after Yahweh (1 Sam 7:2).

They brought it [a cart] out of Abinadab’s house, which was in the hill, with God’s ark; and Ahio went before the ark (2 Sam 6:4).

Twenty years encapsulate these two verses (Saul’s entire reign and seven years of David’s). Apparently Saul could not have been king for more than twelve years. Various commentaries disagree (Benson, Ellicott). They insist twenty years was not the total time the ark resided at Kiriath Jearim. It only covered the time till Israel lamented after Yahweh.

So, where does this leave us? Most translators favor Saul’s reign of forty years. This agrees with the first century historian Josephus (Antiquities Book 6 14.9) and Steven (Acts 13:21). Why? The answer comes from another pair of Biblical verses.

Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchishua (1 Sam 14:49).

Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he began to rule over Israel (2 Sam 2:10).

Ishbosheth Saul’s son was not listed at Saul’s anointing (1 Sam 14:49). If he was born in the first year of Saul’s reign, Saul ruled for forty years. The bottom line: We cannot know for sure how long Saul was king. We can be confident that it didn’t exceed forty years. Therefore the era of the judges ended no earlier than 1050 BCE (1010 [David recognized as king] +40).

Numeric Difficulties

The following table documents the periods for Israel’s oppressors and deliverers as presented in the Book of Judges.

Opressor	Ethnicity	Years	Judge	Judged For	Years of Peace
Cushan Rishathaim	Mesopotamia	8	Othniel		40
Eglon	Moab	18	Ehud		80
	Philistines		Shamgar
Jabin	Hazor	20	Deborah		40
	Midian	7	Gideon		40
			Abimelech	3
			Tola	23
			Jair	22
	Philistines/Amnon	18	Jephthah	6
			Ibzan	7
			Elon	10
			Abdon	8
	Philistines	40	Samson	20
	Philistines		Eli	40
	Philistines		Samuel	12
Total		111		151	200

If we add the total (462) to the date of the anointing of Saul (1050), we get a date of the Exodus as 1512 BCE, not 1266 BCE. The only solution to this is if the episodes described in the Book of Judges are not in strict chronological order but significantly overlap. This is not unusual in ancient works. The reigns of Pharaohs in Egyptian dynasties for example have major overlaps. Kenneth Kitchen notes that the Judges oppression periods were confined to local regions with only a limited number of after him phrases. The following table summarizes one possible chronology patterned after his proposal (Reliability, 199–208).

	Years	Dan	Judah	Benjamin	Ephraim	Manasseh	North	East
Dan Moves North		1200
Benjamin War				1197
Cushan Rishathaim	8		1196–1188
Othniel	40		1188–1148
Shamgar		1170
Eglon	18			1195–1177
Ehud	80			1177–1097
Jabin	20				1180–1160
Deborah	40				1160–1120
Midian	7					1195–1188
Gideon	40					1188–1148
Abimelech	3					1148–1145
Tola	23				1145–1122
Jair	22							1122–1100
Ammon	18							1100–1082
Jephthah	6							1082–1076
Ibzan	7						1076–1069
Elon	10						1069–1059
Abdon	8				1059–1051
Philistines	40	1102–1062
Samson	20	1082–1062
Eli	20				1102–1062
Samuel Antiquities 6.13.5	12			1062–1050

Of course, it is impossible to conclusively establish when things occurred more than three thousand years ago. This layout does tell us that the biblical accounts are plausible and should not be dismissed out of hand.

Application

This article required a dizzying read through many commentaries. As I reflect, a couple verses come to mind.

But Jesus said, “Allow the little children, and don’t forbid them to come to me; for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to ones like these (Matt 19:14).”

You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me. Yet you will not come to me, that you may have life (John 5:39–40).

It doesn’t really matter when the period of the Judges began or ended, who ruled when, and for how long. The overall message is sufficient. Yahweh is God; trust in him alone.

On one hand, scripture’s message is so simple that even a small child with an open heart can understand and believe. On the other hand, scripture has a depth that cannot be penetrated even in a lifetime. Without the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the most intelligent scholar can achieve pseudo certainties that lead them astray. Let’s keep that which is really important central.

Thanks for listening.

References

Kenneth Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament, Eerdmans (2003), 137–218.
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews.
Michael Feldmen et al, “Ancient DNA sheds light on the genetic origins of early Iron Age Philistines” Science Advances 5, no.7, July 2019.
L. E. Stager, “The impact of the Sea Peoples in Canaan (1185–1050 BCE),” In The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land, T. E. Levy, Ed. (Leicester Univ. Press, 1995), 332–348.
Christopher Eams, “Are ‘Philistines’ During Abraham’s Time Evidence Against Bible Historicity?,” Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology.
Midrash Tehillim commentary on Ps 60.
Barry G. Webb, The Book of Judges: New International Commentary on the Old Testament, Eerdmans (2012), 1-76.
Daniel I. Block, The New American Commentary: Judges, Ruth, B & H Publishing (1999), 391–472.
John H. Walton, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, Zondervan (2009), 96–103.
A. Yasur-Landau, The Philistines and Aegean Migration at the End of the Late Bronze Age (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2014).

Dan Harvey, author of Wrestling with Faith and Experiencing the Apocalypse, secondlooknow.com

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