Verses 7-31
II. THE RECORD OF ISRAEL’S APOSTASY 3:7-16:31
"The judges are twelve in number, reckoning either Deborah or Barak as a judge and omitting Abimelech, whose status in fact depended wholly on his descent from Gideon, and who was in effect not a ’deliverer’, and a ’judge’ only in the sense of a local ruler on his own account." [Note: John Gray, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, p. 189.]
| Israel’s Judges |
| Judge | Scripture | Israel’s Oppressors | Length in Years |
| Nation(s) | King(s) | Oppression | Judgeship | Peace | ||
| Othniel | Judges 3:7-11 | Mesopotamia | Cushan-rishathaim | 8(ca. 1358-1350 B.C.) | 40(ca. 1350-1310 B.C.) | |
| Ehud | Judges 3:12-30 | Moab(with Ammon & Amalek) | Eglon | 18 | 80 | |
| Shamgar | Judges 3:31 | Philistia | ||||
| Deborah | Chs. 4-5 | Canaan | Jabin | 20(ca. 1250-1230 B.C.) | 40(ca. 1230-1190 B.C.) | |
| Gideon | Chs. 6-8 | Midian(with Amalek & Arabia) | Zebah & Zalmunna | 7 | 40(ca. 1180-1140 B.C.) | |
| Tola | Judges 10:1-2 | 23(ca. 1117-1094 B.C.) | ||||
| Jair | Judges 10:3-5 | 22(ca. 1115-1093 B.C.) | ||||
| Jephthah | Judges 10:8 to Judges 12:7 | Ammon | 18(ca. 1123-1105 B.C.) | 6 | ||
| Ibzan | Judges 12:8-10 | 7 | ||||
| Elon | Judges 12:11-12 | 10 | ||||
| Abdon | Judges 12:13-15 | 8 | ||||
| Samson | Chs. 13-16 | Philistia | 40(ca. 1124-1084 B.C.) | 20(ca. 1105-1085 B.C.) |
The total number of judges cited is 12. By selecting 12 judges the writer may have been suggesting that all 12 tribes of Israel had apostatized. One writer argued that these 12 judges each did their work in a different month, thus adding another impression of completeness to the record. [Note: J. G. Williams, "The Structure of Judges 2:6-16:31," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 49 (1991):77-85.] The writer also recorded seven examples of oppression and deliverance (by Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson). This sevenfold scheme gives the impression of totality to Israel’s degeneration. This suggests that the writer may have viewed these disasters as fulfillments of the curses in Leviticus 26 where the number seven occurs four times (Leviticus 26:18; Leviticus 26:21; Leviticus 26:24; Leviticus 26:28; cf. Deuteronomy 28:25). [Note: Block, Judges . . ., p. 145.]
Certain formulaic expressions appear in Judges 2:11-23 and then recur in the record of Israel’s apostasy (Judges 3:7 to Judges 16:31). However, as noted in the table below, they appear with less frequency as the narrative proceeds. Having established the pattern, the writer did not feel compelled to repeat these expressions as frequently since the reader learns to anticipate them as the narrative unfolds. The breakdown of these expressions is a rhetorical device that parallels and reflects the general moral and spiritual disintegration in Israel as a whole. [Note: R. H. O’Connell, The Rhetoric of the Book of Judges, pp. 19-57; and J. Cheryl Exum, "The Centre Cannot Hold: Thematic and Textual Instabilities in Judges," Catholic Biblical Quarterly 52 (July 1990):410-31.]
| Expression | Othniel | Ehud | Deborah | Gideon | Jephthah | Samson |
| The Israelites did evil (Judges 2:11-13). | Judges 3:7 | Judges 3:12 | Judges 4:1 | Judges 6:1 | Judges 10:6 | Judges 13:1 |
| Yahweh gave them over (Judges 2:14). | Judges 3:8 | Judges 3:12 | Judges 4:2 | Judges 6:1 | Judges 10:7 | Judges 13:1 |
| The Israelites cried out (Judges 2:15; Judges 2:18). | Judges 3:9 | Judges 3:15 | Judges 4:3 | Judges 6:7 | Judges 10:10 | |
| Yahweh raised up a deliverer (Judges 2:16; Judges 2:18). | Judges 3:9 | Judges 3:15 | ||||
| Yahweh gave the oppressor to the deliverer (Judges 2:18). | Judges 3:10 | Judges 3:28 | ||||
| The land had rest. | Judges 3:11 | Judges 3:30 | Judges 5:31 | Judges 8:28 |
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