The Downward Spiral of Judges

The book of Judges is presented as a downward spiral. It begins with Othniel (3:7-12), Caleb’s nephew who married Caleb’s daughter. He is the model judge. The Israelites worshiped Baal and Asherah and were oppressed by Cushan-Rishathaim of Aram Naharaim (or literally, “one of double-wickedness from land of double-rivers”). Othniel rescues them and Yahweh is given credit for the victory (3:10).

Our next notable judge is Ehud (3:12-30). It is recorded that the Israelites continued in their disobedience. Left-handed Ehud of the tribe of Benjamin (which ironically means “son of my right hand”) kills Israel’s oppressor, the very fat King Eglon (whose name sounds like the word for “calf,” implying that he was like a fattened calf ready for slaughter). Ehud saves the Israelites by assassinating Eglon with his left hand by thrusting a “double-edged” or “double-mouthed” dagger into his belly, which is fitting for a king described tongue-in-cheek as having a “double-mouth” with which he gorged himself. Even his belly is described as “swallowing” up the dagger, immediately followed by “the dirt fell out,” or in other words “he pooped himself.” Ehud then escapes via the sewer system (i.e., he jumps down the king’s poop chute to escape) and leads Israel in victorious battle against the Moabites.

Next up, we have Deborah/Barak (4:1-5:31). King Jabin of Hazor and General Sisera oppress the Israelites because the Israelites have once again done evil. Note that Joshua had already defeated a “King Jabin.” Deborah was a prophetess and the “wife of Lappidoth,” meaning “woman of fire.” There is hesitation on the part of Barak to go into battle, yet both of the women in the story, Deborah and Jael, show more courage than the leading man. God throws Sisera’s army into a panic and after Sisera flees the battle and seeks refuge in the tent of Jael, Jael, whose name means “Yahweh is God,” drives a tent peg through Sisera’s “temple.” The word used hear as “temple” is in Hebrew “berragato,” which is related to “baraq,” so it is sort of in Barak’s face that a woman killed Sisera and not him.

Next is Gideon (6:1-8:35). Deborah was successful, but the cycle of disobedience starts again and Israel is impoverished by Midianite oppression. But God sends a prophet to them in Gideon. However, Gideon is very unsure of everything. He responds to God’s messenger with defiant questions, with pointing out the insignificance of his own roots, and with repeatedly requesting signs. God tests Gideon by reducing the size of his army, yet Gideon is only reassured of victory after listening to a Midianite conversation instead of listening to God. Gideon’s name means “cut down” which is fitting since he cuts down the idols of his father Joash, whose name ironically is Yahwistic. His father renames him “Jerub-Baal,” ironically refusing to acknowledge Yahweh by only saying that his son is “one who contends with Baal,” which is what Jarub-Baal means. Overtime, quality leadership in Israel becomes less and less. There is still idolatry in the land, and Gideon even makes a golden ephod that the people worship, which is similar in nature to the story of Aaron the priest in Exodus setting up the golden calf which the people worship. Gideon begins by cutting down idols, and ends by setting them up. The significance of the story of Gideon’s son Abimelech is addressed elsewhere.

Next on our list is Jephtah (10:6-12:7). Again, Israel was evil in the LORD’s sight and began to be oppressed, but they began to cry out and confess to him and they put away their gods. Yahweh’s response is “impatient” for he could bear their misery no longer. Enter Jephtah. After rejecting him, the people then try to bring him back so that he may lead them in victory over their enemies and save them. Jephtah is the son of a prostitute. He is referred to as the son of Gilead, which is a territory and not a person. In other words, nobody knew who his father was. The oppression present at this time was by the Philistines and the Ammonites. Jephtah promises a child-sacrifice to God in exchange for victory, and he ends up killing his own daughter, showing that Israel has mixed the sacred with the perverted.

Our next judge is Samson (13:1-16:31). At this point, the Philistines have become prominent in the narrative. Samson is a Nazarite from birth, but he is constantly breaking his covenant. He does so secretly by eating honey out of a dead lion’s carcass. He also gets drunk for seven days and marries a Philistine woman, saying “she is right in my eyes.” Samson is weak towards women and loses a bet/riddle/game with the Philistines because he gives in to the nagging of his wife. He leaves in a rage and the Philistines give his wife to another man. In revenge, Samson burns the Philistines’ crops, and they respond by burning his wife. The people of Judah hand Samson over to the Philistines because he is out of control, but Samson breaks the ropes that tie him and slaughters 1,000 men with a donkey’s jawbone. Later, he meets and falls in love with Delilah, whose name means “of the night.” Samson’s name, in contrast, means “sunshine.” The Philistines pay Delilah 1,100 pieces of silver to betray Samson. He is so stupid that he falls for her trick and is humiliated before Dagon, the god of the Philistines. However, Samson’s final act of suicidal terrorism brings about a partial deliverance to the people.

Later we see the Danite Migration take place (17:1-18:31). The character of Micah is introduced. Micah’s mother may have been Delilah. Micah returns 1,100 pieces of silver to her which had been stolen. She uses 200 of these 1,100 pieces of silver to build an idol in order to honor Yahweh. This is very twisted in nature and shows the backwardness of the time-period. Micah makes an ephod and appoints his own son as priest of his illegitimate shrine. He hires a Levite as a priest, but everything about the arrangement is illegitimate. Micah is of Dan, just as Samson was of Dan, and the text may be implying that Micah was Samson’s illegitimate son. The Danites move north and take Micah with them.

Later, a second Levite arrives on the scene in order to retrieve his wife who has fled from him to the house of her father in Bethlehem. On their way back, they spend the night in the town of Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin. The men of Gibeah come out to commit “sodomy” with the Levite, but instead the Levite offers them his wife/concubine and they brutally rape her all night. In the morning, the Levite sees her lying on the doorstep and cuts her body up into twelve pieces. He sends a piece to each of the twelve tribes. A civil war then erupts against Benjamin, and all but 600 men of Benjamin are killed. Judah leads the way in battle. The end of the book deals with the eleven tribes attempting to avoid the complete extinction of Benjamin by providing the remaining 600 men with wives. The book closes by echoing the words of Samson, by saying, “At that time, there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.”

It would seem that in the book of Judges the tribe of Judah is the favored one. In chapter one, the model judge, Othniel, is from Judah. The victories ascribed to Moses, Joshua, and Caleb elsewhere in the Bible are given to Judah in the book of Judges. It would also seem that book of Judges is indicating that the North is bad. According to Judges, it was the northern tribes who failed to drive out the Canaanites in the land. Othniel is the good judge and hails from Judah, but other judges are from the North and are portrayed as being not as good. This helps to set up the Saul/David conflict that comes later in the Deuteronomistic History. As Judges progresses it begins to show the tribes besides Judah to be growing worse and worse, especially the tribe of Benjamin from where Saul later comes. More specifically, Saul comes from Gibeah of Benjamin, the location of the attempted sodomy, gang-rape and murder of the Levite’s wife/concubine, and the scene of the great civil war at the end of the book. The Deuteronomistic History intentionally portrays Saul negatively by showing his association with Benjamin among other things, while at the same time portraying David positively by showing his association with the more faithful tribe of Judah. The narrative is asking, “Which is the legitimate leadership? David of Judah? – Or Saul of Benjamin?”