Biblical Judges

The judges (sing. , pl. ) whose stories are recounted in the Hebrew Bible, were individuals who served as military leaders of the tribes of Israel in times of crisis, in the period before the monarchy was established.

Role

A cyclical pattern is regularly recounted in the Book of Judges to show the need for the various judges: apostasy of the Israelite people, hardship brought on as divine retribution, and crying out to Yahweh for rescue. Consequently, the God chooses a judge from a certain tribe of Israel who rescues the people from the divine retribution, usually enemies, and establishes justice.

While ''judge'' is a literalistic translation of the term '' shophet'' used in the Masoretic Text (as well as by other Canaanitic-speaking societies), the position as described in Judges 12:7–15 is an unelected non-hereditary leadership rather than a position of legal pronouncements. Cyrus H. Gordon argued the shophetim may have come from among the hereditary leaders of the fighting, landed, and ruling aristocracy, like the ''basileis'' or kings of Homer. Coogan says that they were most likely tribal or local leaders, contrary to the Deuteronomistic historian's portrayal of them as leaders of all of Israel, but Malamat pointed out that in the text, their authority is described as being recognized by local groups or tribes beyond their own. The term is sometimes rendered as "chieftain," although Robert Alter cautions that this misrepresents shophetim as a normal leadership structure.

Historicity and timeline

The biblical scholar Kenneth Kitchen argues that from the conquest of Canaan by Joshua until the formation of the Kingdom of Israel and Judah (), the Israelite tribes may have formed a loose confederation. No central government would have existed in this conception, but in times of crisis, the people would have been led by ''ad hoc'' chieftains known as shophetim. However, some scholars are uncertain whether such a role existed in ancient Israel. Others doubt about any historicity of the Book of Judges.

Working with the chronology in ''Judges'', Payne points out that although the timescale of Judges is indicated by Jephthah's statement (Judges 11:26) that Israel had occupied the land for around 300 years, some of the judges overlapped one another. Claiming that Deborah's victory has been confirmed as taking place in 1216 from archaeology undertaken at Hazor, he suggests that the period may have lasted from to . Bill T. Arnold and Hugh G. M. Williamson wrote:

Mentioned judges

In the Hebrew Bible is described as a shophet over the Israelites and appoints others to whom cases were delegated following the advice of Jethro, his Midianite father-in-law. The Book of Judges mentions twelve leaders who are said to "judge" Israel: Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, and Samson. On the basis of the length of the biblical narrative referring to them, the six of them (Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah and Samson) are regarded as the major judges, with the rest being the minor judges.

The First Book of Samuel mentions Eli and Samuel, as well as Joel and Abiah (two sons of Samuel). The First Book of Chronicles mentions Kenaniah and his sons. The Second Book of Chronicles mentions Amariah and Zebadiah (son of Ishmael).

The Book of Judges also recounts the story of Abimelech, an illegitimate son of Gideon, who was appointed as a judge-like leader by the citizens of the city of Shechem. He was later overthrown during a local conflict, and the classification of Abimelech as a judge is questionable. Judges 9:1–57.

The biblical text does not generally describe these leaders as "a judge", but says that they "judged Israel", using the verb שָׁפַט (''š-f-t''). Thus, Othniel "judged Israel forty years" ( Judges 3:11), Tola "judged Israel twenty-three years" ( Judges 10:2), and Jair judged Israel twenty-two years ( Judges 10:3).

According to the Book of Judges, Deborah () was a female prophet of the God of the Israelites, the fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel and the only female judge mentioned in the Bible.

See also

* Shophet
* Judges in the Book of Mormon

Notes

References

Bibliography

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Further reading

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{{book of Judges

judges, Hebrew Bible