If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.

For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.

And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well the stranger, as he that was born among them; half of them over against mount Gerizim, and half of them over against mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel.

And Joshua called for all Israel, and for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and said unto them, I am old and stricken in age:

And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God.

Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.

And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so.

And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.

Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah ° went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.

And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.

13:13 children of Belial. This is the first use of the epithet “Belial” in the Bible. See note on Judges 19:22.

17:18 a copy of this law. Not only were Moses’ original writings being preserved in the ark of the covenant, but copies were to be for kings, and no doubt for others. Note that, when the young boy Joash was made king of Israel, a copy of “the testimony” was given him at the time he was crowned king (II Chronicles 23:11. Both judges and Levites would also need copies (II Chronicles 17:7-9; 19:10). No king or any other official should ever consider himself above God’s law. The king, or president, or any ruler is specially responsible before God to “read therein all the days of his life,” conforming his life and his reign to the Word of God.

10:28 Joshua took Makkedah. The campaign summarized in Joshua 10:28-40 involved the slaughter of the inhabitants of seven city-states–Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Gezer, Eglon, Hebron and Debir. Three of these–Lachish, Eglon and Hebron–had been in the five-city confederation of Amorites (Joshua 10:3) that had already been routed by the children of Israel, and their kings executed. Evidently only a portion of the armies of these three cities had gone with their kings against Gibeon, with all the others being slain later. A second king of Hebron was also slain at this time (Joshua 10:37), probably acting in absence of the first. 11:1 Jabin king of Hazor. Jabin was probably a standard name for kings of Hazor, like Pharaoh in Egypt (note Judges 4:2). Hazor was one of the major cities in Canaan, located in what is now northern Israel. Even though Joshua burned Hazor (Joshua 11:13), it was later rebuilt and continued to harass Israel during the days of the judges. It was later part of Solomon’s kingdom (I Kings 9:15), and was eventually captured by the Assyrians (II Kings 15:29).

17:13 Canaanites to tribute. As the Ephraimites had done (Joshua 16:10), the children of Manasseh put the Canaanites to tribute, thus enriching themselves, but did not drive them out of the land, as God had commanded. Many of the other tribes did the same, and this became a snare to them later. 18:1 Shiloh. Shiloh was a town in the territory assigned to Ephraim, which was Joshua’s tribe (Numbers 13:8). This became both the political and religious center of Israel during its early years in the land. Since the name essentially means “rest,” and had been applied by Jacob as a name of the promised Savior (Genesis 49:10), it seems possible that its name was given by Joshua, who thought it would be an appropriate location for the tabernacle. There is no obvious connection with the Shiloh of Jacob’s prophecy, unless the town was named in reference to this Messianic prophecy. 18:1 tabernacle. The tabernacle had been carried from place to place during the forty-year wilderness wanderings. It had remained with the camp at Gilgal until Joshua moved it to Shiloh. It remained at Shiloh all during the period of the judges, until Shiloh was finally overthrown by the Philistines in the days of Eli, and the Ark of the Covenant carried away (I Samuel 4:10,11).

Introduction to Judges The book of Judges is the second in order of what are called the historical books of the Bible, following chronologically immediately after Joshua. The name, of course, refers to the gifted men (plus one woman, Deborah) whom God raised up to lead and govern Israel between the times of Joshua and Samuel. Altogether, fourteen of these judges were named in the book, including Deborah and Barak, who served as sort of co-judges, but not including Eli and Samuel, who judged Israel later. The authorship of Judges is unknown, although the most likely candidate is believed to be Samuel. Since the period involved is at least three hundred years, it is probable that records were kept by a number of writers, then later compiled and edited by Samuel or someone else after the period of the judges had passed. That eventual editor/writer was, of course, guided by the Holy Spirit in such a way that the book that resulted was divinely inspired and inerrantly correct. The chronology of the book of Judges has been very controversial. The total length of both the judges’ rules and the intermittent periods of alien rule as recorded was about 410 years, but this turns out to be too great to accord with other chronological data (I Kings 6:1). Many writers, therefore, assume that some of the listed judges may have governed different regions of Israel at the same time. A few writers, however, believe that there may be significant gaps in the records and the total period may have been much longer. The archaeological evidence is also equivocal, but it should be remembered that methods of dating ancient events (pottery dating, radiocarbon dating, tree-ring dating, and so on) are often contradictory and are based on very questionable assumptions. Furthermore, even though the numbers in the original writings of Scripture were inerrantly correct as divinely inspired, transitional scribal errors in copying older manuscripts possibly occurred in some instances. Thus one should be very cautious in ascribing specific dates to the various incidents, not only in Judges but also in the earlier books of the Old Testament. The main characteristic of this segment of Israel’s history seems to have been the cyclic repetition of national fellowship with God, then apostasy, followed by captivity, and finally repentance, deliverance and restored fellowship. One of the saddest indictments of the people during such periods of apostasy is that contained in the very last verse of Judges: “Every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25; see also 17:6; Deuteronomy 12:8). Nevertheless, despite uncertainties of authorship and chronology, as well as the frequent periods of apostasy and servitude, the historicity of the records in Judges has been confirmed in the New Testament. See especially Acts 13:19-21 and Hebrews 11:32.

1:10 And Judah went. Judges 1:10-15 essentially repeats Joshua 15:14-19, with verses 12-15 being practically identical to Judges 15:16-19. The passage here in Judges 1:1-20 describes the conquest of the lands assigned to Judah and Simeon by Joshua, all of which only happened after Joshua’s death, except the taking of Hebron by Caleb. The conquest of Hebron and the award to Othniel and Ochsah had probably taken place before Joshua died, but the author of Judges incorporated the account here also in his own record in order to place it in the context of the finished work of Judah. Another reason for the repetition is that Othniel was destined to become Israel’s first judge following Joshua.

1:19 chariots of iron. See footnote to Judges 4:3.

1:20 sons of Anak. See also Joshua 15:14; Judges 1:10. Caleb, the leader of the forces of Judah, drove the sons of Anak out of Hebron, and either he or his followers later slew them.

1:21 the Jebusites dwell. Since David later drove the Jebusites out of Jerusalem, this statement shows that Judges was written before the time of David.

1:28 Canaanites to tribute. The incompleteness of the destruction of the Canaanites is also noted in Judges 1:30, 33, 35. Yet, in Joshua 10:40 reports that Joshua had “utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded” (note also Joshua 11:14,15; etc.). In the early part of his conquests, Joshua evidently swept rapidly through the southern cities, destroying everyone he encountered. However, there presumably were many who escaped by hiding in the hills or elsewhere. Furthermore, the conquest of the more northerly and westerly regions was never completed, and the remnants of the various Canaanite nations either retained or regained enough strength to cause great problems to Israel during the period of the judges.