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The judges (sing. Hebrew: שופט, romanized: šop̄ēṭ, pl. שופטים šop̄əṭīm) whose stories are recounted in the Hebrew Bible, primarily in the Book of Judges, 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.^[1]^{[page needed]}

The story of the judges seems to describe successive individuals, each from a different tribe of Israel, described as chosen by God to rescue the people from their enemies and establish 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.^[2] 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,^[3] but Malamat pointed out that in the text, their authority is described as being recognized by local groups or tribes beyond their own.^[4] The term is sometimes rendered as "chieftain," although Robert Alter cautions that this misrepresents shophetim as a normal leadership structure.^[5]

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 (c. 1150–1025 BCE), 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.^[6] However, some scholars are uncertain whether such a role existed in ancient Israel.^[7]

The book is generally too problematic to use as a historical source. [...] Two points relating to history, however, can be made about the book of Judges: first, the picture of a tribal society without a unified leadership engaging in uncoordinated local actions seems to fit the society of the hill country in IA I, as evidenced by the archaeology….Secondly, perhaps the one exception to the historical ambiguity of the text is the Song of Deborah in Judges 5 (cf. Knauf 2005b).^[8]

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 c. 1382 to c. 1063.^[9] Bill T. Arnold and Hugh G. M. Williamson wrote:

all the figures given in Judges (years of oppression, years the judges led Israel, years of peace achieved by the judges) are treated as consecutive, then the total duration of the events described in Judges is 410 years. If we accept a date of 1000 BCE for the beginning of David's reign over all Israel, which puts the beginning of Eli's leadership of Israel at about 1100 BCE, then the judges period would begin no later than 1510 BCE–impossible even for those who date the conquest to the fifteenth century BCE.^[10]

There is also doubt among some scholars about any historicity of the Book of Judges.^[11]

Judges mentioned in the Hebrew Bible

In the Hebrew Bible, Moses 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.^[12] 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. Ehud, described in the text between Othniel and Shamgar, is usually included as a judge because the history of his leadership follows a set pattern characteristic of five of the others.^[13] 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.^[14]

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).^[15]^{[page needed]} 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 (Hebrew: דְּבוֹרָה, romanized: Dəḇorā, lit. 'Bee') 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.

Rabbanic Literature

"After the death of Joshua the Israelites inquired of God whether they were to go up against the Canaanites in war. They were given the answer: “ If ye are pure of heart, go forth unto the combat ; but if your hearts are sullied with sin, then refrain.” They inquired furthermore how to test the heart of the people. God ordered them to cast lots and set apart those designated by lot, for they would be the sinful among them. Again, when the people besought God to give it a guide and leader, an angel answered : “ Cast lots in the tribe of Caleb.” The lot designated Kenaz, and he was made prince over Israel. His first act was to determine by lot who were the sinners in Israel, and what their inward thought. He declared be¬ fore the people : “ If I and my house be set apart by lot, deal with us as we deserve, burn us with fire.” The people assenting, lots were cast, and 345 of the tribe of Judah were singled out, 560 of Reuben, 775 of Simon, 150 of Levi, 665 of Issachar, 545 of Zebulon, 380 of Gad, 665 of Asher, 480 of Manasseh, 448 of Ephraim, and 267 of Benjamin.' So 61 10 ' persons were confined in prison, until God should let it be known what was to be done with them. The united prayers of Kenaz, Eleazar the high priest, and the elders of the congregation, were answered thus : “ Ask these men name of Reuben, was like sardius; the second, for Simon, like topaz ; the third, Levi, like emerald ; the fourth, Judah, like carbuncle ; the fifth, Issachar, like sapphire ; the sixth, Zebulon, like jasper; the seventh, Dan, like figure; the eighth, Naphtali, like amethyst ; the ninth, Gad, like agate ; the tenth, Asher, like chrysolite ; the eleventh, Joseph, like beryl; and the twelfth, Benjamin, like onyx. Now God commanded Kenaz to deposit twelve stones in the holy Ark, and there they were to remain until such time as Solomon should build the Temple, and attach them to the Cherubim.13 Furthermore, this Divine communication was made to Kenaz : “ And it shall come to pass, when the sin of the children of men shall have been completed by deJ fifing My Temple, the Temple they themselves shall build, that I will take these stones, together with the tables of the law, and put them in the place whence they were removed of old, and there they shall remain until the end of all time, when I will visit the inhabitants of the earth. Then I will take them up, and they shall be an everlasting fight to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” 14 When Kenaz bore the stones to the sanctuary, they il¬ lumined the earth like unto the sun at midday. Campaigns of Kenaz After these preparations Kenaz took the field against the enemy, with three hundred thousand men.15 The first day he slew eight thousand of the foe, and the second day five thousand. But not all the people were devoted to Kenaz. Some murmured against him, and calumniating him, said : “ Kenaz stays at home, while we expose ourselves on the field.” The servants of Kenaz reported these words to him. He ordered the thirty-seven 18 men who had railed against him to be incarcerated, and he swore to kill them, if God would but grant him assistance for the sake of His people. Thereupon he assembled three hundred men of his at¬ tendants, supplied them with horses, and bade them be prepared to make a sudden attack during the night, but to tell none of the plans he harbored in his mind. The scouts sent ahead to reconnoitre reported that the Amorites were too powerful for him to risk an engagement. Kenaz, how¬ ever, refused to be turned away from his intention. At midnight he and his three hundred trusty attendants ad¬ vanced upon the Amorite camp. Close upon it, he com¬ manded his men to halt, but to resume their march and fol¬ low him when they should hear the notes of a trumpet. If the trumpet was not sounded, they were to return home. Alone Kenaz ventured into the very camp of the enemy. Praying to God fervently, he asked that a sign be given him : “ Let this be the sign of the salvation Thou wilt ac¬ complish for me this day: I shall draw my sword from its sheath, and brandish it so that it glitters in the camp of the Amorites. If the enemy recognize it as the sword of Ke¬ naz, then I shall know Thou wilt deliver them into my hand ; if not, I shall understand Thou hast not granted my prayer, but dost purpose to deliver me into the hand of the enemy for my sins.” He heard the Amorites say : “ Let us proceed to give battle to the Israelites, for our sacred gods, the nymphs, are in their hands, and will cause their defeat.” When he heard these words, the spirit of God came over Kenaz. He arose “ Is it for the iniquity of the sheep that the shepherd must perish? May the Lord have compassion upon His inheri¬ tance that it may not work in vain.” The spirit of God descended upon Kenaz, and he beheld a vision. He prophesied that this world would continue to exist only seven thousand years, to be followed then by the Kingdom of Heaven. These words spoken, the prophetical spirit departed from him, and he straightway forgot what he had uttered during his vision. Before he passed away, he spoke once more, saying : “ If such be the rest which the righteous obtain after their death, it were better for them to die than live in this corrupt world and see its iniquities.” 20 As Kenaz left no male heirs, Zebul was appointed his successor. Mindful of the great service Kenaz had per¬ formed for the nation, Zebul acted a father’s part toward the three unmarried daughters of his predecessor. At his instance, the people assigned a rich marriage portion to each of them ; they were given great domains as their prop¬ erty. The oldest of the three, Ethema by name, he married to Elizaphan ; the second, Phe'ila, to Odihel ; and the young¬ est, Zilpah, to Doel. Zebul, the judge, instituted a treasury at Shiloh. He bade the people bring contributions, whether of gold or of silver. They were only to take heed not to carry anything thither that had originally belonged to an idol. His efforts were crowned with success. The free-will offerings to the Temple treasure amounted to twenty talents of gold and two hundred and fifty talents of silver. Zebul’s reign lasted twenty-five years. Before his death he admonished the people solemnly to be God-fearing and observant of the law.”

Othniel Othniel was a judge of a very different type. His con¬ temporaries said, that before the sun of Joshua went down, the sun of Othniel, his successor in the leadership of the people, appeared on the horizon. The new leader’s real name was Judah ; Othniel was one of his epithets, as Jabez was another.23 Among the judges, Othniel represents the class of schol¬ ars. His acumen was so great that he was able, by dint of dialectic reasoning, to restore the seventeen hundred tradi¬ tions ” which Moses had taught the people, and which had been forgotten in the time of mourning for Moses. Nor was his zeal for the promotion of the study of the Torah in¬ ferior to his learning. The descendants of Jethro left Jeri¬ cho, the district assigned to them, and journeyed to Arad, only that they might sit at the feet of Othniel.34 His wife, the daughter of his half-brother Caleb, was not so well pleased with him. She complained to her father that her husband’s house was bare of all earthly goods, and his only possession was knowledge of the Torah.35 The first event to be noted in Othniel’s forty years’ reign ” is his victory over Adoni-bezek. This chief did not occupy a prominent position among the Canaanitish rulers. He was not even accounted a king, nevertheless he had conquered seventy foreign kings.” The next event was the capture of Luz by the Israelites. The only way to gain entrance into Luz was by a cave, and the road to the cave lay through a hollow almond tree. If this secret approach to the city had not been betrayed by one of its residents, it would have been impossible for the Israelites to reach it. God rewarded the informer who put the Israelites in the way of capturing Luz. The city he founded was left unmolested both by Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar, and not even the Angel of Death has power over its inhabitants. They never die, unless, weary of life, they leave the city.*8 The same good fortune did not mark Othniel’s reign throughout. For eight years Israel suffered oppression at the hands of Cushan, the evil-doer who in former days had threatened to destroy the patriarch Jacob, as he was now endeavoring to destroy the descendants of Jacob, for Cushan is only another name for Laban.2* Othniel, however, was held so little answerable for the causes that had brought on the punishment of the people, that God granted him eternal life ; he is one of the few who reached Paradise alive.30^[16]

Notes

References

^ Boling & Nelson 2006.
^ Gordon 1962, pp. 296–7.
^ Coogan 2009, p. 178.
^ Malamat 1971, p. 129.
^ Alter, Robert. The Hebrew Bible.
^ Kitchen 2003, pp. 219–20.
^ Grabbe 2017, pp. 118.
^ Thompson 2000, p. 96.
^ Payne 1996, pp. 630–31.
^ Arnold & Williamson 2005, p. 590.
^ Brettler 2002, p. 107; Davies 2006, p. 26; Thompson 2000, p. 96.
^ Exodus 18:13–26.
^ "Judges of Ancient Israel". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
^ Judges 9:1–57.
^ Hauser 1975.
^ [Louis Ginzberg "The Legends of the Jews" Vol 4 pp.21- 30]

Bibliography

Arnold, Bill T.; Williamson, H.G.M. (2005). Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. ISBN 978-0-8308-1782-5.
Boling, Robert G.; Nelson, Richard D. (2006). "Judges". In Attridge, Harold W.; Meeks, Wayne A. (eds.). The HarperCollins Study Bible (rev. ed.). HarperCollins Publishers.
Brettler, Marc Zvi (2002). The Book of Judges. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-16216-6.
Coogan, Michael D. (2009). A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533272-8.
Grabbe, Lester L. (23 February 2017). Ancient Israel: What Do We Know and How Do We Know It?: Revised Edition. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-567-67044-1.
Davies, Philip R. (2006) [1992]. In Search of "Ancient Israel": A Study in Biblical Origins. London: Continuum. ISBN 978-1-85075-737-5.
Drum, Walter (1910). "Judges" . In Herbermann, Charles G.; Pace, Edward A.; Pallen, Condé B.; Shahan, Thomas J.; Wynne, John J. (eds.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Encyclopedia Press (published 1913). pp. 547–549.
This article incorporates text from this public-domain publication.
Gordon, Cyrus H. (1962). Greek and Hebrew Civilizations.
Hauser, Alan J. (1975). "The 'Minor Judges': A Re-Evaluation". Journal of Biblical Literature. 94 (2): 190–200. doi:10.2307/3265729. ISSN 0021-9231. JSTOR 3265729.
Kitchen, K. A. (2003). On the Reliability of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-8028-4960-1.
Malamat, A. (1971). Mazor, Benjamin (ed.). Judges. Givatayim, Israel: Rutgers University Press. pp. 129–163.
Payne, J. P. (1996). "Book of Judges". In Marshall, I. Howard; Millard, A. R.; Packer, J. I.; Wiseman, D. J. (eds.). New Bible Dictionary (3rd ed.). Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press. ISBN 978-0-8308-1439-8.
Thompson, Thomas L. (2000). Early History of the Israelite People: From the Written & Archaeological Sources. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-11943-7.