Why study the book of Judges? A study of Judges will reveal the startling truth about God’s chosen people. Although knowing about God, and witnessing many of God’s miraculous works, God’s people often forgot about God. They replaced worshipping God with the worship of idols. They refused to obey God’s commands about intermarriage with the Canaanites and other peoples. They fought against each other and almost snuffed out the small tribe of Benjamin. Were the Israelites any different than many who believe in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ today? A study of Judges should instill in each believer the need for wholehearted devotion and worship of God.
The book of Judges not only follows Joshua in the order of the books of the OT but is a sequel to Joshua. It is the story of the failure of the tribes of Israel to remove the Canaanites and other peoples from the land. It is also a collection of accounts from various parts of the promised land of the oppression of the peoples of Canaan against the Israelites. Due to their sin and rebellion against God, He allowed the Canaanites and other peoples to oppress His people. They repented of their sins and cried out to God and God raised up a champion, a “judge” to lead the Israelites to victory over their enemies. They then had peace. But soon the Israelites fell back into sin, intermarriage and the worship of false gods and the cycle repeated itself. Some recognize a series of seven such cycles in Judges, involving fourteen judges ending with the final statement of the book, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Each man did what was right in his own eyes.” Judges 21:25.
There is no stated author of the book of Judges, however Jewish scholars who wrote the Babylonian Talmud attest that Samuel wrote the book as He was a witness to many of the events described in it. Judges spans the period from the death of Joshua to the selection of Saul as the first king of Israel.
Simple Outline of Judges
Summary of Sinfulness: 1:1-3:6
Sequence of Struggles 3:7-16:31
Supplement of Shamefulness: 17:1-21:25
Summary of Sinfulness: 1:1-3:6
From the death of Joshua to the beginning of the story of the cycles of struggles, the first section of Judges begins with a summary of continued warfare against the Canaanites by the various tribes of Israel. These tribes however failed to completely remove the Canaanites and other peoples that God had told his people to destroy, 1:1-2:5. After a short summary of the death of Joshua, 2:6-10, the story of the cycles of struggles is introduced, 2:11-23. The beginning of chapter 3, verses 1:6, reveals that God tested His people through the oppression of the peoples of the land of Canaan. At the end of this summary a listing of the peoples (nations) of the land of Canaan is given.
Sequence of Struggles 3:7-16:31
The central and longest section of Judges relates the struggles of the tribes of Israel against the peoples of the land of Canaan. This section is not chronological in time but is presented as a sequence of events in various parts of the land. There are seven sequences of events or “cycles” which are often understood by the name of the champion(s) or leader(s) who God uses to bring victory over the enemies of the Israelites. The first is the account of Othniel, 3:7-11. The second is the account of Ehud and Shamgar, 3:12-31. The third is the account of Deborah, 4:1-5:31. The fourth is the account of Gideon, 6:1-8;32. The fifth is the account of Tola and Jair. The sixth is the account of Jephthah, 10:6-12:7. The seventh is the account of Samson, 13:1-16:31.
Supplement of Shamefulness: 17:1-21:25
The last section of the book of Judges is extremely disheartening and very graphic in detail. This section consists of two stories, the first, 17:1-18:31 is the account of the idolatrous acts of Micah and a young Levite and the tribe of Dan. The second, 19:1-21:25 is the account of a horrific incident involving a Levite and his concubine and its consequences in which the tribe of Benjamin was attacked by the other tribes of Israel and was almost annihilated.
Suggested Verses to Memorize from Judges
2:1 The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land I swore to give to your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you.
5:3 Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers! I, even I, will sing to the Lord; I will praise the Lord, the God of Israel, in song.
5:31 So may all your enemies perish, Lord! But may all who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.
6:12 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor. (ESV)
16:28 Then Samson called to the LORD and said, O LORD GOD, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes. (ESV)
Resources for studying Judges
See the article on how to study the Bible for suggestions on the method of Bible study and recommended resources to obtain. Suggested commentaries and studies are listed below for a more extensive study. Some are available on-line in a pdf format.
One Hour – One Book: Scroll down to video on Judges.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSrCJNW5eUWQMyVw_2VqW_w
Commentaries
Block, Daniel I. Judges, Ruth. New American Commentary, Broadman & Holman, 1999.
Chisholm, Robert B. A Commentary on Judges and Ruth. Kregel Publications, 2013.
Constable, Thomas. Notes on Judges, latest edition. Online at Plano Bible Chapel.
Lindsey, Duane F. Judges, in The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Old Testament. Victor Books, 1985.
McMath, John. Judges, in The Moody Bible Commentary, Moody Publishers, 2014.
Wolf, Herbert. Judges, in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 3, Zondervan, 1992.
Wood, Leon. Distressing Days of the Judges, Zondervan, 1975.
Younger, K. Lawson, Jr. Judges, Ruth. The NIV Application Commentary series. Zondervan, 2002.
Studies
Block, Daniel I. The Period of the Judges: Religious Disintegration under Tribal Rule. In Israel’s Apostasy and Restoration: Essays in Honor of Roland K. Harrison, pp. 39-58. Baker Book House, 1988.
Block, Daniel I. Will the Real Gideon Please Stand Up? Narrative Style and Intention in Judges 6—9. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 40:3 (September 1997):353-66.
Chisholm, Robert B., Jr. The Chronology of the Book of Judges. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 52:2 (June 2009):247-55.
Constable, Thomas L. A Theology of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth. In A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, pp. 89-113. Moody Press, 1991.
Dyer, Charles H., and Eugene H. Merrill. Nelson’s Old Testament Survey. Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001.
Hamilton, Victor P. Handbook on the Historical Books. Baker Academic, 2001.
Hanna, Kenneth G. From Moses to Malachi: Exploring the Old Testament. 2nd ed. CrossBooks, 2014.
Hindson, Edward E. The Philistines and the Old Testament. Baker Studies in Biblical Archaeology. Baker Book House, 1983.
Steinmann, Andrew E. The Mysterious Numbers of the Book of Judges. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 48:3 (September 2005):491-500.
Wood, Leon, (Revised by David O’Brien). Judges, in A Survey of Israel’s History. Zondervan Publishing House, 1986.
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