UNROLL
Dusk over the hill country of Ephraim: ridge behind ridge of terraced hills fading to blue, small villages of flat-roofed stone houses with the first lamps glowing in their doorways, and on the nearest hilltop, under one old spreading oak, a single rough standing stone dark against the last light.

The Book of

Judges Intro

Between Joshua and the kings: a people who keep forgetting, and a God who keeps rescuing.

Before chapter 1≈ 2 min21 chapters

Images are artistic interpretations.

In 30 seconds

Joshua is dead, and the land is only half-taken.

Israel forgets the LORD and serves the Baals.

Enemies oppress them; they cry out; God raises a judge.

Round and round, and lower every time.

At the end, no king, and everyone does as he sees fit.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

Who wrote it

The writer

Unnamed; Jewish tradition says Samuel

  • The book names no writer; Jewish tradition names the prophet Samuel.Jewish tradition
  • “In those days there was no king in Israel” looks back from a time when Israel had kings.Judges 21:25
  • The Jebusites still held Jerusalem “to this day”: so before David took the city.Judges 1:21
  • The judges’ years add up to about 410; many judges were regional, and some overlapped.Most scholars

How it’s built

Round and down

Two openings1:1–3:6 ·half-taken,forgottenOthniel3:7–11 · the modeljudgeEhud,Deborah,Gideon3–8 · weak, yet GodsavesAbimelech,Jephthah9–12 · darker stillSamson13–16 · strong,ruled by his eyesNo king17–21 · each as hesaw fit

Whiteboard

Every judge’s story runs the same circle: sin, oppression, a cry, a deliverer, rest. And each time round, Israel ends up lower.

Reading Judges

Judges tells what happened, not all that was right.

Its own verdict: each one did as he saw fit.

Faith is praised, not every deed.

Through weak and flawed people, God still saves.

Where it happens

Mount TaborGileadJerichoOphrah (site uncertain)ShechemZorahGazaShilohDan

Stylised map · locations approximate

On the map

The judges’ land

Ehud at the City of Palms, Deborah and Barak at Mount Tabor, Gideon from Ophrah, Abimelech at Shechem, Jephthah in Gilead, Samson from Zorah to Gaza; the tabernacle at Shiloh; Dan moved north; and the crime at Gibeah, near Jerusalem (not shown). Othniel of Judah had won Debir in the south. Ophrah’s site is uncertain.

Big themes

Four threads to follow

Meet the cast

Five people to know

Watch for

everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Judges 21:25

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Question

Quick question

Some of these flawed deliverers are remembered far beyond Judges.

Which New Testament book names Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah among people of faith?

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