Kimhi Lagrange LXX. cod. B LXX. Luc. LXX. MSS. Moore Nowack NSI. Onom. or OS. OTJC.2 Pesh. or Syr. The commentary of David Ķimhi of Narbonne (A.D. M.-J. Lagrange, Le Livre des Juges, 1903. Among the cursive MSS. which belong to the version George F. Moore, A Critical and Exegetical Com- G. A. Cooke, A Text-book of North-Semitic Inscrip- Paul de Lagarde, Onomastica Sacra, 1870; written in Greek by Eusebius, and translated into Latin W. Robertson Smith, The Old Testament in the Peshitto, the Syriac Version of the Bible. Rashi RD RVm Syro-Hex. Vulg. ZDPV. The commentary of R(abbi) Sh(ělōmoh) Y(iṣhāķi) of The Revised Version marginal notes. The Syriac version, ascribed to Paul of Tella, of the Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palaestina-Vereins. A small 'superior' figure attached to the title of a book (e.g. Introd.) indicates the edition of the work referred to. In citations, e.g. Jud. ii. 1 b, 5 a, the letters a, b (sometimes c, d) denote respectively the first and second (or third and fourth) parts of the verse cited. The citations always refer to the English Version; occasionally, where the Hebrew numbering differs from the English, attention is called to the fact. In the transliteration of Hebrew and Arabic words or proper names زح the following equivalents are used: '=; '=Y; gh = ¿; ḥ=M, kh (in Arabic words) =; dh=i; k=p, ÿ; $=3, ∞; خ s=Y, INTRODUCTION § I. NAME AND CONTENTS IN the Hebrew Bible the Book of Judges (shōphěțim) stands second in the division of the Former Prophets, between Joshua and Samuel. In the Greek Bible, followed by the Vulgate and English Versions, it holds the same position, but Ruth comes immediately after it, because the scene of the story is laid in the time of the Judges. The title is probably taken from ii. 16-19, a passage which sums up the characteristics of the period covered by the Book, and describes the judges as men raised up by God to save Israel in the days of calamity and humiliation which invariably succeeded each act of national apostasy. The word is used in a special sense of the heroes of this age. The judge was not a magistrate, but a deliverer and ruler: when he had delivered his people he ruled them for the rest of his life; his authority extended over the whole nation; he was a king in all but the name and the right to transmit his office; and he formed one of a succession lasting from Othniel and Ehud to Eli and Samuel1. 1 The following references to this period illustrate the usage: for judges in the special sense mentioned above see Jud. ii. 16—19, Ruth i. 1, 2 Sam. vii. 11, 2 Kings xxiii. 22, 1 Chr. xvii. 6, 10; for judge in the sense of deliver (lit. vindicate the honour, or establish the right, of the oppressed), Jud. ii. 16, 18, iii. 10, iv. 4 n., 1 Sam. vii. 6, viii. 20; for judge in the sense of rule, followed by a note of the duration of the rule, and implying an authority over all Israel, Jud. x. 2, 3, xii. 7—14, xv. 20, xvi. 31, 1 Sam. iv. 18; for judge in the sense of magistrate, Jud. iv. 4 n., 1 Sam. vii. 15-17, viii. 1, 2. All these functions were b JUDGES Now this representation of the Judges is due, not to the ancient sources preserved in the Book, but to the later historian who collected and interpreted them. From the older sources we learn that the heroes of the period, so far from exercising authority over all Israel and fighting battles on a national scale, were rather local leaders who won a victory for their particular district with such forces as they could muster. Israel had not yet outgrown the tribal stage, and a nation of Israel did not yet exist; but some kind of leadership was needed in a time of incessant conflict. It was the prowess and faith of the tribal heroes which saved the Hebrew colonies from being overwhelmed by the native population, and the way was thus prepared for the growth of a national life organized under a central authority. Whether or not the name of judge was derived by the compiler from tradition we do not know; in xi. 6 Jephthah is invited to become not a judge but a chief (ķāṣîn); at any rate the title of our Book is derived from a conception of the history which is not borne out by the older documents. Nevertheless, the title conveniently suggests the transitional character of the period, and the position which its leaders filled. The Book falls naturally into three parts: Part i. Ch. i. 1-ii. 5. A Preface designed to explain the state of affairs at the time when the history begins. Part ii. Ch. ii. 6—xvi. 31. 1. Ch. ii. 7--iii. 6. 2. 3. The History of the Judges. An Introduction to this, the main body of the Book, shewing the principles which it is to illustrate. Ch. iii. 7-11. Othniel delivers Israel from Cushanrishathaim. Ch. iii. 12--30. Ehud delivers Israel from the Moab ites. assumed later by the king, 1 Sam. viii. 5, 6, 20, cf. Hos. xiii. 10, Is. xi. 3, 4. The word is a very ancient one, and is found in Babylonian, shapâțu to judge, shipṭu=judgement, punishment, e.g. KB. vi. pp. 72, 387; see also KAT.3, pp. 647, 650. For the word as used in Phoenician see on ii. 16. 4. Chs. iv. and v. Deborah and Barak deliver Israel from the Canaanites. The Song of Deborah. 5. Chs. vi.-viii. Gideon delivers Israel from the Midian ites. 6. Ch. ix. Abimelech and the men of Shechem. Jotham's fable. 7. Ch. x. I-5. Two Judges, Tola and Jair. 8. Ch. x. 6-xii. 7. 9. Ch. xii. 8-15. IO. Chs. xiii.-xvi. Jephthah delivers Israel from the Three Judges, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon. Part iii. Chs. xvii.-xxi. An Appendix of sundry tribal tradi I. 2. tions. Chs. xvii. and xviii. The origin of the sanctuary at Dan. Chs. xix.-xxi. The outrage at Gibeah and the punishment of the Benjamites. § 2. SOURCES AND LITERARY STRUCTURE A. The Deuteronomic Redaction. The Book of Judges, like the Hexateuch and the Historical Books, is not the work of a single writer, but a compilation drawn from various sources of various dates; and for the understanding of the Book it is important to distinguish the compiler's own contributions from the earlier documents which he has incorporated. We start, then, with the compiler. He is responsible for the main body of the Book, chs. ii. 6—xvi. 31, and he has constructed it upon a definite plan. The stories of the six Greater Judges, Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, Samson, are fitted into a framework which is marked by certain stereotyped expressions, enforcing a particular theory of the religion and chronology of the period. The theory is stated in ii. 11—19: the age of the Judges can shew nothing to deserve the approval of a religious mind; both in faith and in morals it fell far below the standard |