Back Rigters Afrikaans Libro d'os Chueces AN سفر القضاة Arabic ܣܦܪܐ ܕܕܝܢܐ ARC سفر القضاه ARZ Xueces AST Buach der Richta BAR Buku Panguhum BBC Кніга Суддзяў Byelorussian Кніга Судзьдзяў BE-X-OLD
| Judges in the Hebrew Bible שופטים |
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| Italics indicate individuals not explicitly described as judges |
| Book of Exodus |
| Book of Joshua |
| Book of Judges |
| First Book of Samuel |
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The Book of Judges (Hebrew: ספר שופטים, romanized: Sefer Shoftim; Greek: Κριταί; Latin: Liber Iudicum) is the seventh book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. In the narrative of the Hebrew Bible, it covers the time between the conquest described in the Book of Joshua and the establishment of a kingdom in the Books of Samuel, during which Biblical judges served as temporary leaders.[1]
The stories follow a consistent pattern: the people are unfaithful to Yahweh; he therefore delivers them into the hands of their enemies; the people repent and entreat Yahweh for mercy, which he sends in the form of a leader or champion (a "judge"; see shophet); the judge delivers the Israelites from oppression and they prosper, but soon they fall again into unfaithfulness and the cycle is repeated.[2] Scholars hold a variety of opinions about the dating and historicity of the Book of Joshua.[3][4][5]
- ^ Niditch 2008, pp. 2–3.
- ^ Soggin 1981, p. 4.
- ^ Bacon & Sperling 2007, pp. 563–66.
- ^ Alter 2013, p. 105.
- ^ Grabbe, Lester (2017). Ancient Israel: What Do We Know and How Do We Know It?. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-0-567-67043-4 p. 118: "The book is generally too problematic to use as a historical source." p. 117–118: "Two points relating to history, however, can be made about the book of Judges: first, the picture of a tribal society without a unified leadership engaging in uncoordinated local actions seems to fit the society of the hill country in IA I, as evidenced by the archaeology....Secondly, perhaps the one exception to the historical ambiguity of the text is the Song of Deborah in Judges 5 (cf. Knauf 2005b)."