Lecture Six: The Downward Spiral of Judges

The Book of Judges

Judges is the second book in the Deuteronomistic History.

The book of Judges contains the history of Israel in the land of Canaan before Israel had kings.

Judges was written during the time of the kings.

The book of Judges is presented as a downward spiral.

Its outlook on Israel’s entry into the Promised Land is quite different than the book of Joshua.

Structure of Judges

1:1-2:5 – Unfinished Conquest

2:6-12:15 – A Succession of Judges

13:1-16:31 – Samson the Lone Hero

17:1-21:25 – Disorder and Infidelity

Themes

Leadership

Deborah holds court

The other major judges are deliverers of the people

The minor judges usually govern in times of peace

Kingship is at first seen as negative because God should be Israel’s king

Later, kingship is seen as a good thing in light of the disasters Israel experienced without one.

The Spirit of the Lord

God’s spirit comes upon certain people and allows them to perform great feats

God’s spirit does not come upon everyone

Holy War

“In Holy War, the LORD alone wins victory.”

Israel can only defeat her enemies because God fights on her behalf.

There is a sense of a spiritual battle taking place on top of the physical battles.

Unfinished Conquest (1:1–3:6)

Chapter one shows the Israelites continuing to conquer the land of Canaan.

However, they begin to have great difficulties in doing so.

Caleb offers his daughter to anyone who will attack a certain region.

Othniel leads the way.

In chapter two, the Israelites are portrayed as settling among the Canaanites instead of driving them out.

God says that Israel has violated their covenant and He will no longer assist them in driving out the nations.

Othniel (3:7-12)

Israel’s first judge is Othniel.

Othniel is from the tribe of Judah.

Othniel was Caleb’s nephew.

Othniel married Caleb’s daughter.

Othniel is the model judge.

The Israelites worshiped Baal and Asherah.

The Israelites were oppressed by Cushan-Rishathaim of Aram Naharaim.

Cushan-Rishathaim of Aram Naharaim literally means, “one of double-wickedness from land of double-rivers.”

Othniel rescues the Israelites after they have been oppressed for eight years.

Yahweh is given credit for the victory (3:10).

Othniel rules Israel for forty years.

Ehud (3:12-30)

The Israelites continued in their disobedience (v. 12).

God allowed them to be oppressed by the Moabites.

Ehud comes to the rescue.

Ehud is from the tribe of Benjamin. In Hebrew, Benjamin means “son of my right hand.” Ironically, Ehud is a left-handed man.

Ehud kills King Eglon, Israel’s oppressor.

Eglon is described as being very fat (v. 17).

The name “Eglon” sounds a lot like the word for “calf.” This is a pun, comparing Eglon to “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.

This 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.

After this the text reads, “and the dirt fell out,” or in other words “he pooped himself.”

Ehud escapes via the sewer system (i.e., he jumps down the king’s poop chute to escape).

The king’s attendants thought Eglon was just taking a long time in the bathroom.

Ehud then leads Israel in victorious battle against the Moabites and there was peace for 80 years.

Shamgar (3:31)

“After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.”

  -- Judges 3:31

Judges 1:33 refers to a town named “Beth Anath,” or “House of Anath” that was in the territory of Naphtali.

Perhaps Shamgar was from the tribe of Naphtali.

Deborah and Barak (4:1-5:31)

King Jabin of Hazor and General Sisera oppress Israel 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, so Deborah tells him the victory will be given to “a woman.”

Both of the women in the story, Deborah and Jael, show more courage than the leading man.

Deborah’s name means “honeybee.” Barak’s name means “lightning.” Yet in the story… “honeybee” is brave and “lightning” is chicken.

God throws Sisera’s army into a panic near the Kishon River and Sisera flees the battle.

Sisera seeks refuge in the tent of Jael.

Jael’s husband is a Kenite.

Jael’s name means “Yahweh is God.”

“Sisera” means “snake.”

Jael gives Sisera milk to drink and he falls asleep.

While he is sleeping, Jael drives a tent peg through Sisera’s head, or “temple.”

The word used here as “temple” is in Hebrew “berragato,” which is related to “baraq.”

When Jael crushes Sisera’s “temple,” she also crushes Barak with embarrassment, because a woman had to do what he had failed to do.

The Song of Deborah (5:1-31)

The song of Deborah is thought to be the oldest section of the book of Judges.

In this song, Deborah praises God for giving them victory in battle.

She also praises Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for her violence against Sisera.

The song also records some interesting details of the battle, such as that God had sent giant hailstones upon the armies of King Jabin and General Sisera.

The song also provides us with a look at what Sisera’s own mother might have thought about his violent death.

The text also says that there are forty years of peace after this successful battle.

Gideon (6:1–8:35)

Deborah was successful, but the cycle of disobedience starts again.

Israel is impoverished by Midianite oppression.

God sends a leader to them in a man named Gideon.

Gideon was from the weakest clan in Manasseh, and he was the lowest-ranked person in his family.

Gideon is hiding in a winepress, threshing wheat, when an angel appears to him.

The angel says, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.” He tells Gideon to go save Israel from the Midianites.

However, Gideon is very unsure of everything.

Gideon responds to God’s messenger with:

Defiant questions

Pointing out the insignificance of his own roots

Repeatedly requesting signs, such as the fleece incidents.

Gideon’s name comes from “gada,” which means “cut down.”

Gideon’s name fits him because he cuts down the idols of his father Joash.

The name of Joash is, ironically, a Yahwistic name, even though Joash is an idolater.

His father renames him “Jerub-Baal,” meaning “one who contends with Baal,” still refusing to acknowledge Gideon as Yahweh's servant, but only as Baal's enemy.

God tests Gideon by reducing the size of his army.

People who are afraid are told to go home.

People who get down on their knees to drink water instead of lapping it with their tongues are told to go home.

Gideon's army is reduced from 32, 000 to 300 men.

Gideon is only reassured of victory after listening to a Midianite conversation instead of listening to God.

The army uses trumpets and water pitchers to create noise confusion at night surrounding the Midianite campl

The Midianites panic and slaughter themselves.

Gideon is victorious in battle!

The people cry out “The sword of the LORD and of Gideon!”

Gideon gets trigger-happy and wipes out several other groups of people along with the Midianite army.

The people try to make Gideon king, but he refuses, insisting that God is Israel’s king.

He rules Israel for forty years.

Overtime, the quality of Gideon’s leadership becomes less and less.

There is still idolatry in the land.

Gideon even makes a golden ephod that the people worship, hearkening back to Aaron and the golden calf.

Gideon begins by cutting down idols, and ends by setting them up.

Previously, Gideon refused to be made king over Israel; now, he is living like a luxurious king.

Gideon also has a son named Abimelech.

“Abimelech” means “father is king.”

Abimelech’s Rebellion (9:1-57)

Abimelech was the son of Gideon and Gideon’s concubine.

Abimelech had seventy half-brothers.

He got them to support his kingship cause.

He used the money they gave him to hire a bunch of thugs.

Abimelech killed all but one of his half-brothers by crushing their heads against a large stone.

Gideon’s youngest son, Jotham, escaped by hiding.

Abimelech proclaimed himself king of Israel.

Jotham decided to resist his half-brother.

He climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted a parable to the people of Shechem.

Parable of the trees:

Olive tree rejected kingship

Fig tree rejected kingship

Vine rejected kingship

So the people made the Thorn Bush king

The Shechemites got the message and rebelled by robbing Abimelech’s allies.

A guy named Gaal moves to Shechem and tries to get the people to follow him.

Abimelech finds out and slaughters the rebels.

The next day, Abimelech slaughters the farmers in their fields.

He then enters the city to kill everyone else.

The people hide in a temple-tower.

As Abimelech is preparing to burn the tower, a woman from above drops a large millstone on his head.

As he is dying, he tells his men to quickly stab him so that he won’t be remembered as the one who was killed by a woman... even though that's what we remember him for today...so that plan worked out great.

Tola and Jair (10:1-5)

Tola

He was from the tribe of Issachar

He lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.

His father was Puah and his grandfather was Dodo.

“He rose to save Israel.”

He led Israel 23 years

Jair

He was from Kamon in the region of Gilead

He had thirty sons who rode thirty donkeys and who controlled thirty towns in Gilead

He led Israel 22 years

Jephthah (10:6–12:7)

Again, Israel was evil in the LORD’s sight and began to be oppressed.

However, 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 Jephthah.

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.

Jephthah is the son of a prostitute.

He is referred to as the son of Gilead, which is a territory.

In other words, nobody knew who his father was.

The oppression present at this time was by the Philistines and the Ammonites.

Jephthah 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.

Three Minor Judges (12:8-15)

Ibzan

He was from Bethlehem in the land of Judah

He had thirty sons and thirty daughters

He led Israel for seven years

Elon

He was from Aijalon in the land of Zebulun

He led Israel for ten years

Abdon

He was from Pirathon in the land of Ephraim

He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy donkeys

He led Israel for eight years

The Birth of Samson (13:1-25)

A strange man appears to a woman and says she will have a son.

He tells her that her son will be a Nazirite from birth and gives her specific instructions.

She tells her husband Monoah about the strange man.

Manoah comes to see the strange man later on and offers him a meal.

The man does not need food and tells them to use it to make a sacrifice to God.

Monaoh asks what the man’s name is and the man says, “Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding.”

As they make their sacrifice the man ascends in the flames.

Monoah freaks out and says they are going to die because they just had an encounter with God and didn’t know it.

His wife reassures him that God wouldn’t have given them such good news if He had wanted to kill them.

She gives birth to a son and names him “Samson.”

Samson (13:1-16:31)

At this point, the Philistines have become prominent in the narrative.

Samson is a Nazirite 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 his wedding in a rage and the Philistines give his wife to another man.

Later he comes back to patch things up with his bride by bringing her a goat, only to hear from his father-in-law "I gave her to the best man because I thought you hated her."

In revenge, Samson sets 300 foxes on fire and sets them loose in the Philistines’ crops, and they retaliate by burning his wife.

The people of Judah hand Samson over to the Philistines because he is out of control.

However, Samson breaks the ropes that bind him and slaughters 1,000 men with a donkey’s jawbone.

He's quite pleased with himself and makes up a little ditty, singing, "With an ass's jawbone I've made asses out of them."

We also learn that Samson sleeps with prostitutes.

Once, he only spends half the night with a prostitute because he knows people are coming to arrest him.

He gets up in the night and walks off with the city gates on his shoulders.

Later, he meets and falls in love with Delilah.

Delilah’s name literally means “of the night.”

Samson’s name, in contrast, means “sunshine.”

What does light have in common with darkness?

The Philistines pay Delilah 1,100 pieces of silver to betray Samson.

Samson is so stupid that he falls for Delilah’s trick and lets her cut his hair.

He is humiliated before Dagon, the god of the Philistines.

Samson falls further into darkness when the Philistines poke out his eyes.

However, Samson’s final act of suicidal terrorism brings about a partial deliverance to the people.

Summary of Israel’s Judges

Micah and the Danite Migration (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 from Ephraim, but his association with the Danites may be implying that Micah was Samson’s illegitimate son.

The Danites move north and take Micah’s priest and idol with them.

Later, Moses’ own grandson becomes the idolatrous priest of the Danites.

The Climax of the Downward Spiral (19:1–21:25)

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 of her to each of the twelve tribes.

A civil war then erupts against Benjamin, with Judah leading the way in battle, and all but 600 men of Benjamin are killed.

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.

They do so by staging a giant kidnapping of several hundred girls from the towns that refused to participate in the civil war.

The book closes by echoing the words of Samson, saying, “At that time, there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.”

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?”

YHWH versus Ba'al

In his article "Yahweh versus Baal: a narrative-critical reading of the Gideon/Abimelech narrative" Vince Endris seeks to show foremost that the narrative within the book of Judges covering the stories of Gideon and his son Abimelech are really one narrative showing the power-struggle between Yahweh and Baal in which Yahweh eventually emerges victorious. Endris suggests that looking at these stories that are placed in the middle of Judges will provide better insight into the rest of the overall story of Judges, in which the Israelites struggle severely will fidelity, constantly returning the gods which Yahweh has consistently defeated. Eventually, Yahweh begins to become less active in the lives of his people as they continue to betray him. Endris seeks to apply a narrative critical approach to the book of Judges. I believe that Endris does an excellent job with his article in showing the conflict between Yahweh and Baal, as well in the way he shows the downward spiral in the book of Judges as a whole, especially after Israel rejects Yahweh in the midst of his victory over Baal in the story of Gideon. I believe the connections he makes between Gideon and Abimelech as one narrative are convincing as well. He has obviously done very serious and legitimate research on this subject, and he provides numerous scriptural and scholarly references to support his claims.

Endris writes that in the narrative Yahweh appears to be defeated but “returns to bring about Baal's ultimate demise” (174). Gideon serves as a human representative of Yahweh and Abimelech serves as a human representative of Baal. As the Gideon story progresses, Gideon becomes less and less faithful to Yahweh and appears to bring about Yahweh’s defeat. However, Yahweh show himself ultimately victorious as the story continues when Abimelech who is Baal’s representative is destroyed, thus defeating Baal. Endris comes up with three main points in for the progression of this narrative. These are that the Gideon/Abimelech story gives reason for why God deals so harshly with the Israelites, saying that he will no longer defend them because they have turned to Baal because Baal and Yahweh are at war with each other; also, this explains why in the second half of the book of Judges there is a significant decrease in the acts of God and an increase in the activities of humans; also, in the last few chapters of Judges is presented four separate times the idea that during the days of the judges there was no king in Israel. Kingship is portrayed in a positive light in the book of Judges. The narrative believes that once Yahweh is represented in the human office of king, only then will the chaos Israel has brought upon herself be done away with.

There are parallels between the Gideon/Abimelech narrative and the book of Judges as a whole. Both stories begin with a period of rest. When Gideon comes on the scene it has been forty years since Deborah defeated Sisera. This is similar to what is found in Numbers. There is a new generation on the scene when Gideon comes along. At the beginning of the Gideon story is seen the prophet who reminds Israel of all God did for them in Egypt and warns them to flee from idolatry, just as at the beginning of Judges.

The conflict between Baal and Yahweh emerges when Yahweh commands Gideon to tear down the altar which his father had built to Baal. Gideon does as he is instructed and his father renames him “Jerubbaal.” In this is seen the beginning of the conflict. Jerubbaal can mean “one who contends with Baal” or “Baal will contend” or “Let Baal contend against him.” Also, the Midianite and Amalekite armies are seen as representatives of Baal. They are Israel’s human oppressors, just as Baal is Israel’s divine oppressor. It would seem that Baal is directly connected to these armies because immediately after Gideon destroys Baal’s altar and the judgment of Baal is pronounced upon him these armies begin to invade. It is apparently understood that the enemies are Baal worshipers. Gideon’s side in the war is that of Yahweh. Gideon tests Yahweh’s power several times. Yahweh proves to him that he is master over the elements. He provides dew for Gideon when Gideon asks for it. Baal was thought to be in control of the weather but Yahweh proves himself to be in charge. Yahweh takes control of the dew, so the reader expects that ultimately Yahweh will be victorious over Baal.

When the battle begins, Yahweh, or Elohim, brings Gideon’s numbers down to a few. He tests Gideon just as Gideon tested him. Also, this shows that the victory is not that of Gideon, but of Yahweh himself. It is Yahweh who is fighting for Israel. After the defeat of the enemies, the end of the story seems to be in sight. The people ask Gideon to be their ruler and Gideon responds that he will not and that only Yahweh shall rule over them. However, Gideon continues speaking and asks the people for jewelry so that he can make an ephod for them. This is a surprising turn of events for the reader. Gideon places the ephod in Ophrah, which is significant because this is the same location in which Gideon built an altar to Yahweh at the beginning of the narrative. Israel then proceeds to prostitute herself before the ephod. The narrative records that the ephod became a snare for all Israel and Gideon’s household. Immediately after Yahweh’s defeat of their enemies Israel returns to worshiping other gods. This scene with the ephod is reminiscent of the story of Aaron in the desert who took gold from the people in order to provide them with golden calf to worship. It seems to be implied that Gideon has replaced the shrine he built for Yahweh with an object of worship for Baal. This is in contrast to the beginning of the story in which Gideon pulls down Baal’s altar and sets up a shrine for Yahweh. It would seem that through Gideon’s unfaithfulness Baal has defeated Yahweh. Gideon’s story ends with infidelity. The Israelites even rename Baal as “Baal of the Covenant,” replacing Yahweh completely.

The next section focuses mostly upon Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal. At this point in the story Gideon is no longer referred to as Gideon but as Jerubbaal, indicating that Baal has indeed contended for himself. The word “baal” is used throughout the story of Abimelech to show which side Abimelech is on. Abimelech becomes “a brother of the baals of Shechem” and he is “paid with money from the house of Baal of the Covenant” (179). His association with Baal is seen in his rejection of his own family. He eventually kills all but one of the sons of Jerubbaal. He does so by killing them on a rock at Ophrah one by one. This indicates that he is making human sacrifices to Baal. After this, the baals of Shechem and the house of Milloh pronounce Abimelech king. Jurubbaal’s remaining son Jotham shows up and pronounces judgment upon Abimelech for his actions. The author says that “before running away, Jotham utters a curse on Abimelech and the baals of Shechem that they be destroyed by fire” (180). This foreshadows that Yahweh will soon defeat Baal. Jotham mentions Elohim in his curse, and it would seem that Elohim, or Yahweh, will soon make an appearance after his long silence since the time of Jerubbaal. The story says that God sent an evil spirit to confuse the baals of Shechem so that they would betray Abimelech.

At this point in the story, yet another house is introduced, the house of Gaal, who worship a completely different god. Gaal boasts against Abimelech and Abimelech seeks revenge by attacking him at night. This is reminiscent of Gideon’s night attack on the Baal idol at Ophrah. That scene set up the narrative, and the night attack of Abimelech begins to bring the narrative to a close. Abimelech destroys the house of Gaal and burns down the temple of “God of the Covenant,” which is no longer considered to be Yahweh at this point. Abimelech then goes to the tower at Thebez to inflict more destruction, but suddenly a woman throws a millstone over the wall at random and it lands on his head. He instructs a young man to kill him and he does. This is contrasted with the Gideon story, where Gideon instructs his son to kill one of the enemy but he does not do it for he just a boy and was afraid. The number one is significant in this story. Abimelech kills the sons of Jerubbaal on one stone and acts as the single representative of Baal. In the end it is a single woman, acting as the representative of Yahweh who kills him.

At the end of the story, Elohim is revealed to have defeated Baal, but the Israelites immediately begin to do evil again, and Yahweh lets their enemies defeat them. They cry out to him again, but this time his response to them is a rebuke.

The article goes on to discuss other elements of the narrative. Gideon is originally portrayed as a good character resembling Moses. The call of Gideon is similar to God’s appearance to Moses in Exodus 3. Both leaders encounter the messenger of God, raise questions and objections, are visited by Yahweh, and are given signs. Also, Moses’ father-in-law is a priest of Midian, and Gideon’s father has an altar to Baal indicating that he is also a pagan priest. However, Gideon’s character spirals down within the story until he winds up betraying Yahweh. Up until this point Gideon is the only judge to be specifically raised up by Yahweh himself. As the narrative progresses Gideon is seen to be working more so on his own as well becoming much more aggressive and assertive. He kills those who had killed his own brothers in retribution. This is in contrast with Abimelech who later kills all of his own brothers.

Abimelech is seen as an evil character. He kills his brothers on a single stone and at the end of the story he is killed by a single stone. The end of the narrative concludes with a chiasm. It says, “God returned/Abimelech’s evil/and all the men of Shechem’s evil/God caused to return” (188). The conclusion here is significant because it shows how it was God who acted against the wickedness of these people, and it was God who ultimately defeated Baal by acting against them. After the Gideon narrative Baal ceases to act anymore. Yahweh acts a few times, but because of Israel’s refusal to worship him alone as they turn to gods Yahweh has already defeated he does not act very often. Human activity, rather than divine, is emphasized in the rest of the book.

The decrease of the activity of Yahweh in the rest of the book makes it look as though Yahweh has lost control of his people. Since the time of Othniel, every time the Israelites were saved from their enemies the land had rest for many years after the deliverance. Gideon is the last judge to bring rest to the land. He is also the last judge portrayed as having Yahweh “with him.” Jephtah and Samson act mostly on their own, sometimes doing the will of God and sometimes not. The book of Judges even says that the spirit of the Lord had left Samson.

There are also similarities in the last half of Judges with Genesis. However, whereas God acts in Genesis, he does not intervene in Judges. Jephtah’s sacrifice of his daughter parallels Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac, except that God stops Abraham from killing his son and he does nothing about Jephtah’s acts. Also, the story of the Levite and his concubine parallels the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Both stories have men of the cities desiring to rape the male guests of one within the city. Both stories show the host offering the men his own virgin daughter or daughters to do with as they please. The difference is that in Genesis God strikes the Sodomites with blindness and destroys the city, and in Gibeah God does nothing to prevent the Levite’s concubine from being brutally raped all night and killed. Also, the overall story structure becomes more chaotic in the second half of Judges. Samson’s story is filled with a bunch of random things that he does, and the last few chapters do not give the reader the typical story of the judge saving the people, but rather several stories about seemingly random people doing horrible things.

The stories in the last half of Judges focus more on personal stories about individuals, such as Abimelech, Samson, and Micah. There is little activity by any god at all. The focus becomes on what seems right in the eyes of the individual rather than what is right in the eyes of God. This is seen when Samson wants to marry the Philistine woman because “she is right in my eyes,” as well as at the close of Judges when it is recorded that everyone did what was right in their own eyes and that at that time there was no king in Israel. Intertribal war also arises several times – Jephtah and the Ephraimites, Samson is handed over to the Philistines by his own people, the Danites attack Laish, and of course the war against Benjamin in which the entire tribe is almost made extinct.

The article concludes by pointing out how the narrative seems to indicate that once Yahweh’s reign is established through a human monarch, then the chaos will end and rest will return to the land. The Israelites have abandoned Yahweh even in the midst of his victory over their enemies and Baal. The reason that he does not come to their aid again by raising up a successful representative of himself is because Yahweh has in turn abandoned them. The reason there is no representative of Yahweh in Israel anymore is because Yahweh is not in Israel anymore.