Judges

AN INTRODUCTION If the book of Joshua is the book of the free salvation, in which Joshua received the leadership of the people to bring them forth to enter the promised land; to overcome the pagan nations, to reign, and to divide the land among the tribes; the book of Judges, on the other hand, reveals the condition of the Israeli people in the promised land, having despised the great gift of God, and become slothful to seek the free divine promises. The zeal of the people came to be lukewarm, and the majority tended to partake of the idol-worship and abominations of the pagan nations, that they let live in their midst. But God would not forsake His children, but resorts to chastise them, using those same nations, as a firm tool. And once the people of God return to Him, He saves them and bring forth salvation to them. We can say that the book of Judges is the book of life of every believer, who tasted the sweetness of the new life in Christ Jesus, being the spiritual land that flows with milk and honey. But, instead of setting forth, in it, from strength to strength, he comes to be spiritually slothful, and despises the multitude of God’s gifts, to apostatize to the carnal life, and to the deadly earthly mind; a situation that provokes God to chastise him with afflictions and sufferings, to bring him back to Him, a son, holy in the truth. https://coptic-treasures.com/ FATHER TADROS Y. MALATY AN INTRODUCTION JUDGES: The name of this book in Hebrew is ‘Shophtim’, a plural of ‘Shopht’, meaning (judge); even though the word ‘judge’, probably taken from the Canaanite language (Amos 2: 3), in the Hebrew origin, bears the meaning of being ‘a leader’, or ‘a ruler’, and not ‘a judge’ in the concept we understand. In other words, it was not the mission of the judge as it came in this book, to issue verdicts based upon a written law or an oral tradition, as much as to restore righteousness to the life of the congregation, to defend and to keep the rights of its members, and to save them of any affliction into which they may fall. Those judges who appeared during the period between the death of Joshua and the beginning of the era of the kings (Saul), had authority, yet not as that of the kings. The reign was divine; namely, God was the hidden King of the people, who works through the high priest to proclaim the divine purposes. The regular issues of each tribe was run by the head of the tribe; but, the great decisions that touch the life of the people as a whole, on the level of all the tribes, or some of them, like entering into war against enemies, and getting rid of their yoke, would be done by the judge who, otherwise, has no right to set laws, nor to put burdens over the people, but only to practice judgment and to issue verdict particularly on perverts to idol-worship; and to lead battles against the enemies. It was God who usually set the judge; and was sometimes chosen by the people; but, in most cases he did not have the authority on the level of the twelve tribes of Israel, but only on a local level. https://coptic-treasures.com/ The judge was most probably considered as a savior from the tyranny of the pagans, through strife, repentance, and the return to God. THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK OF JUDGES According to most scholars, he was the prophet Samuel, as it came in the Jewish tradition, and adopted by many fathers of the church. This is confirmed by the inner testimony of the book; which shows that it was written after the royal system was established (19: 1; 21: 15); before the captivation of Jerusalem (1: 21); and adding it to the cities of the Jews in the time of king David (2 Samuel 5: 6-8). By that it would be written in the days of king Saul, or the beginning of those of king David; when the prophet of the time was Samuel. According to some, it was written by Hezekieh; while, according to others it was gathered together by Ezra the scribe, from what the judges wrote, each in his time. Those who adopt the later view depend on the phrase “up to the time the land was captivated”; to believe that the book was written after the Babylonian captivity. But, according to what came in (Psalm 78: 6, 61; 1 Samuel 4: 11), the captivity here, refers to what happened when the Philistines took the ark of the covenant. Besides, not including any Chaldean words, this confirms that the book was written before the Babylonian captivity. THE UNITY OF THE BOOK OF JUDGES Some critics tend to tear the unity of the book into three part; by referring the main body of the book (Chapters 3 to 16) to someone, other than the author of the introduction (Chapter 1 and 2), and other than the author of the annex (Chapter 17 – 21); and believing that the annex was written in a very late era. ……. But Richard Valpy French, in his study of the linguistics of the book, confirms its unity, through finding many Hebrew words, mutual between the main https://coptic-treasures.com/ body of the book and its annex; between the introduction and the annex, and between the introduction and the main body of the book. THE GOAL OF THE BOOK OF JUDGES We can say that the period of history of the judges has been one of apostasy, during which the people were too preoccupied with idol-worship, and partaking of the abominations of the nations, to continue the strife to complete the possession of the promised land, Yet, there was, among them, a remnant of believers who worshipped the true God, as testified by the presence of the tabernacle of the meeting in Shiloh (18: 31); the celebration of the annual Feast (21: 19); the presence of a high priest, the care for the ark of the covenant (20: 27, 28), offering sacrifices to God (13: 15, 16, 23, 20-26; 21: 4); practicing of circumcision (14: 3; 15: 18), and offering vows to the Lord (11: 30; 13: 5). This book came, not to give the history of that era, but to deal with the problem of apostasy, that made the congregation lose its sanctity and unity, to be destroyed and humiliated before the enemies; all of which were by a divine allowance, to bring them back to God, in a collective repentance; and to open up their hearts to God, who would then send help and salvation to them. CONTENTS OF THE BOOK OF JUDGES This book deals with a period of time between two and three centuries, following the entrance of the children of Israel into Canaan under the leadership of Joshua the son of Nun; starting from the death of Joshua, and ending with the death of Samson; namely a little before the time of the prophet Samuel, and the beginning of the era of kings on his hands (Saul then David). It is most difficult to reckon the duration of that era through the book itself; on account of that, if we add up the periods judged by the judges, to those of https://coptic-treasures.com/ affliction or servitude to the nations, when there were no judges, we would find it be 410 years; contrary to the actual case which would never reach such a figure. The time of the judges were not successive, but some were contemporary to others, some had their authority on a local level, and not on that of the whole people; besides, there were gaps between some of them, as the judges did not represent a continuous series the way the kings did. The following general table gives the history of judges (taking into consideration that some of the periods overlapped others): The reference The duration in years 3: 8 The servitude to Cushan Rishathaim 8 3: 11 The rule of Othniel 40 3: 14 The servitude to Eglon king of Moab 18 3: 30 The peace in the days of Ehud and Shamgar 80 4: 3 The affliction by Jabin 20 5: 31 The rule of Deborah and Barak 40 6: 1 The servitude to Midian 7 8: 28 The rule of Gideon 40 9: 22 The reign of Abimelech (not a judge) 3 https://coptic-treasures.com/ 10: 2 The rule of Tola 23 10: 3 The rule of Jair 22 10: 8 The affliction by the people of Ammon 18 12: 7 The judgment of Jephthah 6 12: 9 The rule of Ibzan 7 12: 11 The rule of Elon 10 12: 14 The rule of Abdon 8 13: 1 The servitude to the Philistines 40 15: 20 16: 31 The rule of Samson 30 ----- 410 There were 14 judges, twelve of them came in this book, to be called “the book of the twelve judges”; excluding Abimelech (Chapter 9) who was not a judge; and considering Deborah and Barak to represent one judge. For according to St. Ambrose and to St. Jerome, Deborah was the judge; and according to St. Ambrose, Barak, her son, was no more than a military leader and not a judge. CHRIST IN THE BOOK OF JUDGES https://coptic-treasures.com/ If the book of judges represents one of the dark eras of the people of Israel, because of their slothfulness to enjoy the perfection of God’s promises, and their perversion to idol-worship, after they settled down in the promised land; yet God did not forsake His people, but kept sending to them saviors and judges to provoke them to the life of repentance, and to save them from the enemy to whom God delivered to chastise them; or rather to whom their sins did, to make them taste its bitter fruit. The persons of those judges came to reveal certain of the features of the True Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Besides, the events bound to them, came to proclaim several aspects of the ministry of the new covenant that touch our spiritual life. That is the program I intend to follow in interpreting this book, in some kind of simplicity, depending upon how the fathers of the early church viewed the events and the persons of this book. THE BOOK OF THE JUDGES AND THE SPIRIT OF STRENGTH; If the book of the Judges proclaims the Person of the Lord Christ through the life and the behavior of the Judges; Being the book of the conquest upon the enemy through those judges, it reveals “The Holy Spirit”, as the Spirit of strength, by whom we prevail, in our spiritual strife. What those judges did of glorious and exalted works, by the Spirit of the Lord, rather than by any human work, present to us a possibility in our spiritual life and in our strife against the devil and his evil works, not through our own power, but by the work of the Spirit in us. In his talk about the Holy Spirit, St. Cyryl of Jerusalem says: [The might of this Spirit is revealed in the book of the Judges; for by Him, Othniel (3: 11) judged; ………Gideon was strengthened (6: 34);……… Jephthah conquered (11: 29); ………….Deborah led a war; …………..and Samson – during the time he behaved with righteousness – did works that were beyond human ability.. https://coptic-treasures.com/ THE DIVISIONS OF THE BOOK OF THE JUDGES This book includes two introductions: In the first (chapter 1), it presents to us the possibility of man, or of the congregation in the promised land (the new life), to unceasingly conquer and reign. And in the second introduction (chapter 2), it presents a summary of the Theologies of this book in a concise way. ………. The book, besides, presents two annexes, in two events that took place in the time of the Judges, that reveal the extent of corruption reached by the people (chapters 17 – 21). 1- The condition of he people after Joshua (an introduction to the book) Chapters 1 - 2 2- The era of the Judges 6 - 13 3- Two events during the era of the Judges 17 – 21 THE FIRST SECTION THE CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE AFTER JOSHUA The possession of the rest of Canaan (chapter 1) An introduction to the Theologies of the book (chapter 2) The first two chapters are considered an introduction to the book of the Judges, which reveal the goal and the Theologies of the book. Even though the book reveals a period of apostasy lived by the greatest majority of the people in the https://coptic-treasures.com/ promised land; Yet, in the first chapter, the Holy Spirit showed clearly the possibility of man, to overcome ‘Adoni-Bezek’ (the devil), and to uproot the Canaanites (his evil works); and that man had no excuse for his apostasy, which was actually caused by his slothfulness with sin, in spite of the new possibilities given to him to enjoy the true promises of God. The second chapter came to present to us the Theological concept of the whole book; that “apostasy”, namely (Perversion from God), and breaking His commandment, are the causes of the bitterness that dwelt upon man. If this book proclaims a series of troubles and afflictions, that dwelt through the nations; yet it is a simplified portrait of the humiliation into which man, himself, gets by his own free will through his perversion from the true God. In this chapter we see the angel of the Lord come up from ‘Gilgal’, where there was the memory of “rolling away the reproach (the bondage) of Egypt from them” (Joshua 5: 9), for “Gilgal” means (rolling away); setting forth to Bochim meaning (weeping) …….; as though he intended to bring them forth to tears, even in the promised land, as long as they have fallen into evil. This book is an unceasing series of perversion, humiliation, crying out, repentance, and then salvation. This is the main line of the whole book, as proclaimed in this chapter.