The Philistines celebrated and praised their god, Dagon, for delivering Samson to them. All the rulers gathered at the temple to Dagon, and three thousand Philistines watched from the roof. In the Judges narrative and into the time of Saul and David, the Philistines are the primary oppressor of Israel. The Midianites were descended from Abraham through his second wife, Keturah, and recall that Jethro, Moses father-in-law, was a priest of Midian. Deborah was leading the Israelites, and she summoned Barak son of Abinoam to command the Israelite army, telling him God would give Sisera and his army into his hand. Tola, son of Puah, was a minor judge (which just means the Bible doesnt say much about him) who led Israel for 23 years after the death of Abimelech (Gideons son). Gideon tore down the altars of Baal and Asherah that Israel had constructed (Judges 6:25 . With the absence of an Old Testament reference to tie it to, I am going to dismiss Pauls 40-year number for now and see what else we can find. In Judges 1 God identifies Judah as the leading tribe of Israel, the tribe that should lead the way in the conquering of the Canaanites. Looking at Table 1, Josephus gives us 288 years to fit into this period the years given in Judges plus 35 years from the entry into Canaan until the start of the first oppression (25+18 = 43 to Othniel, the first judge 8 years of oppression = 35). Based on the details in this story and the parallelism with Joshua 19, I believe that these events took place very early in the period of the judges, either during the life of Joshua or shortly thereafter. This implies that Joshua and the elders that outlived him had all perished a mere ten years after the completion of the conquest and Israel had already fallen into sin. Then, Samsons birth is foretold with the prophecy that, he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines (Judges 13:5). Amenhotep II follows up on his fathers efforts with campaigns in his years 2, 7, and 9. Again, we dont know if Elons role as judge included any military leadership, or if this was a period of peace. Why? The next oppression of 18 years is under Eglon, king of Moab. To get some idea of how the Judges fit into the period between the Exodus and the coronation of David we will need to look at the whole of scripture and what scant archaeological evidence we have and try to find a solution that makes sense in the larger context. Summary So the book of Judges is all about the various tribes of Israel living among her enemies and being oppressed by one enemy after another. . As noted above, Paul gives Saul a 40-year reign length in Acts 13:21. We read about Othniels time as judge in Judges 3:711, but hes also mentioned elsewhere. Josephus has already addressed the overlap between Samuel and Saul, and no further overlaps are possible in the context of the events of I Samuel. The people of Gaza learned he was there, gathered around the city gate, and planned to kill him at dawn. The title judge makes us think of someone who determines guilt or innocence in a court case. Its clear from the context that this is the same city and event, and its inclusion in Joshua indicates that it must have occurred very early in the Judges period. But there are some additional details we can glean from the names mentioned here. The two books of Samuel record an important transition in political organization. Every time Israel repented, God showed mercy, and raised up someone to deliver them from their enemies and lead them toward himself. The Early Period begins with the first oppression and first judge (Othniel) and continues through to the brief reign of Gideons son Abimilech, covering Judges 3:7 through the end of Chapter 8. The historian drew the stories of the judges themselves from older . [34] Twice, this statement is accompanied with the statement "every man did that which was right in his own eyes", implying that the redactor is pro-monarchy,[35] and the epilogue, in which the tribe of Judah is assigned a leadership role, implies that this redaction took place in Judah. Either of these options could be correct. The complete Judges timeline is shown below in Figure 8 against the orthodox, or standard chronology for Egypt. She tries the new thing. [37] Noth maintained that the history was written in the early Exilic period (6th century BCE) in order to demonstrate how Israel's history was worked out in accordance with the theology expressed in the book of Deuteronomy (which thus provides the name "Deuteronomistic"). Interestingly, while hes listed among the judges, the Bible never explicitly calls him a judge or states that he saved Israel, as we see with most of the other judges. This verse occurs right after the ark has been returned after its capture by the Philistines. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Some scholars believe that Judges intended to demonstrate that each tribe of Israel produced a leader at some point, and that Ibzan was the judge from the tribe of Asherbut the text doesnt tell us that. So who were the judges? Recall that this was the maximum compression option that we initially put to the side. The inclusion of the name of YHWH (Yahweh) makes this a clear reference to Israel. In solving a problem like the chronology of the Judges period, it is best to start with what we can be certain about: the firm dates and time periods that we can rely on. Before we begin, I should note that the lack of archaeological links and the level of interpretation necessary means that there is more than one possible chronology for this period, and indeed mine is far from the first attempt. The New Chronology has not achieved broad acceptance but is worth discussing due to the alignment it creates between the archaeological evidence and this timeline. The central verse that . [40], Scholars agree that the Deuteronomists' hand can be seen in Judges through the book's cyclical nature: the Israelites fall into idolatry, God punishes them for their sins with oppression by foreign peoples, the Israelites cry out to God for help, and God sends a judge to deliver them from the foreign oppression. That does not mean, however, that this period is completely devoid of archaeological evidence. But for now, I will proceed with Option 2. There is also indication that Hazor was destroyed c1200 BC which is consistent with a final defeat by Israel. Found in a temple constructed in the reign of Amenhotep III is a list of the enemies of Pharoah which mentions the Shasu of YHWH. [14], By the end of Judges, Yahweh's treasures are used to make idolatrous images, the Levites (priests) become corrupt, the tribe of Dan conquers a remote village instead of the Canaanite cities, and the tribes of Israel make war on the tribe of Benjamin, their own kinsmen. And if the Bible is to be believed, we do, too. In fact in his Antiquities of the Jews, Flavius Josephus goes so far as to say that Ibzan, did nothing in the seven years of his administration that was worth recording, and makes similar comments about the next two judges (Ant 5.271-3). This means that the 40-years of oppression under the Philistines, as recorded in Judges, ends at the same time as the Judges narrative. The event in which they delivered Israel is not necessarily the beginning of their service as a judge, though it well could be that event which elevates them in status as was clearly the case with Gideon. The conquest of Jericho then occurs in the early Second Intermediate Period while Sheshi, the Pharoah whose scarabs are found at the time of the Jericho destruction, reigns in Avaris in Egypt. Thus, I believe that the period recorded in Judges ends shortly before the capture of the ark and that event signifies the start of the I Samuel account, with I Samuel 1-3 being back story that occurred during the Judges period. Later, Samson went to the city of Gaza and slept with a prostitute. The Book of Ruth occurred during the period covered in the Book of Judges. 43 years total conquest to first judge, including 8 year oppression, Oppression by Cushan-Rishathaim, King of Mesopotamia, Ant 5.197. At this point, we have a choice. What, if any, relationship exists between this campaign and the raids from Midian is not clear. Thus, we have the unique problem of needing to add years to a total that is already too high. This 300-year mark is a mere 97 years before the death of Saul. Before we can begin to figure out how to compress everything into the available time, we first need to get a complete picture of what it is that we have to compress. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man. Judges 16:17. The Beginners Guide to the Bible gives you an overview of what the Bible is, what its for, and what its all about. It doesnt work either. Judges 17 and 18 are concerned with events leading up to the conquest of the city of Laish by the tribe of Dan. It is this second campaign in his 7th year that aligns with the beginning of the next, 40-year oppression by the Philistines. An inscription found in the Berlin Museum, believed to be from a statue pedestal, contains a name ring that reads Israel. The Canaan has been plundered into every sort of woe: Thus, we do not need to look for any missing years and can continue with our chronology. [24][25], The Septuagint (Greek translation) is found in early manuscripts such as the Codex Colberto-Sarravianus (c. AD 400; contains many lacunae) and the Fragment of Leipzig (c. AD 500). Figure 7 shows a composite of the Ussher chronology and that of Nolen Jones, but adjusted for an Exodus in 1446 and 966 as the fourth year of Solomons reign which is the modern consensus following Thiele. I count 13 judges. They must be God-fearing men who can be trusted and who cannot be bribed. Scripture records a series of four judges prior to Samson. Judges reveals that in the absence of a leader, Israel would always wander astray. Understandably, Gideon was afraid, so God told him to sneak into the camp and listen to what the troops were saying. This time, when the Israelites cried out for help, God sent a prophet to remind them what hed done for them, and then the angel of the Lorda mysterious biblical figure who some believe was Jesusappeared to Gideon and commanded him to save Israel: Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midians hand. Thus, the fourth year of his reign would be 966 BC. This coincides with the period of Midianite oppression. With Jephthah in a reasonable place, we can move on to Abimilech and the judges that succeeded him. The Amarna Letters, particularly letter EA286. I will lay out what I believe makes the most sense, and in some cases will provide multiple options. by Ryan Nelson | Mar 2, 2020 | Bible characters. Both options are identical from Moses through to the beginning of Othniels judgeship. Yanoam [unknown] is made non-existent. Recall that we have Jephthah at the 300-year mark or perhaps a bit later. This gives a total of 66 years. Since he was a Gileadite, scholars believe Jair was likely a descendant of a much older Jair: Jair, son of Manasseh. While Egypt was the primary foreign power for much of this period, no direct interaction with Egypt is recorded. ", "Preface: The Hebrew Bible in Current Research", "Deuteronomistic Historiography: History of Research and Related Issues", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Book_of_Judges&oldid=1160772331. The people did not have a king, but they did have judges to lead the nation. While Josephus interprets the space between events in this period as a reign length for the judge, I dont believe that is accurate. An interesting insight into the early period is that the dates are built around the beginnings and ends of the oppressions, and the event that accomplished the delivery from that oppression. I Samuel 4:18 states that Eli had judged Israel for 40 years. Figure 7: Ussher / Nolen Jones chronology for the period of the Judges. Then Abdon son of Hillel died and was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites. Judges 12:1415. While the specifics of the period of the judges are fuzzy, scripture does provide clear and easily datable boundaries for this period. At this point, with Abimilech anchored at 1140 BC at the start of the Late Period, and with the beginning of the conquest of Canaan in 1406 BC, we have 266 years of time remaining to fill. For a more scholarly discussion see Newgrosh, Bernard, Rohl, David M., and Van der Veen, Peter G., The el-Amarna Letters and Israelite History, Journal of the Ancient Chronology Forum (JACF), Vol 6, 1993. https://patternsofevidence.com/2019/06/01/artifacts-show-biblical-exodus/, https://patternsofevidence.com/2021/09/24/inscription-provides-bible-archaeology-link/, Joshua 14:10. But when placed next to the New Chronology for Egypt, the alignment is excellent and contributes some new insights as to the causes of the later oppressions. The Israelites arrive in Canaan in the reign of Thutmose IV and are established by the reign of Amenhotep III. What is the main reason Israel failed to complete the conquest of Canaan? The best we can tell from the fragment is that the length of Sauls reign likely ended in a 2, but thats it. [42] The final tragedy described in Kings is the result of Israel's failure to uphold its part of the covenant: faithfulness to Yahweh brings success, economic, military and political, but unfaithfulness brings defeat and oppression. COMING UP: 7 AM ET - Wake Up America 9 AM ET -. After the generations of Israelites who had been acquainted with Joshua . Come now, tell me how you can be tied (Judges 16:10). Nolen Jones approach would allow for a full 40 years under Gideon while still allowing a short gap between Jair and Jephthah. [11] See Rohl, David, A Test of Time, London, Random House, 1995, Chapter 9. The information given in I Kings 6:1 allows us to construct a set of bookends, if you will, for the period of the judges: A beginning and ending date inside of which to attempt to build a chronology. If the Berlin Pedestal can be dated as early as the reign of Thutmose III, it makes sense for him to claim victory over Israel in this context. When Tola came onto the scene, Israel was a mess. It shows how the people got to the place where they felt they needed a king to rule over them (Judg. Then God caused the Midianite soldiers to turn on each other, and they fled. When he returned to marry the woman later, he found a hive of honeybees in the carcass of the lion, and he ate some honey. Considering that, except for Joshua and Caleb, everyone above the age of 20 that came out of Egypt had perished in the wilderness, the maximum age for these elders would be 60 and most were more likely in their mid to late 50s. (NKJV). In return, he killed a bunch of Philistines and hid in a cave. "[20], Judges contains a chronology of its events, assigning a number of years to each interval of judgment and peace. Figure 8: The Judges in the Orthodox Chronology. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, My own strength has saved me. Judges 7:2, And so God gradually whittled Gideons army down from 32,000 men to 300. The current accepted date for the reign of Solomon is 970-930 BC following Thiele[1]. It also allows for a more direct reading of scripture in the early part of the chronology. Indeed, the authority of the judges comes not through prominent dynasties nor through elections or appointments, but rather through the Spirit of God. We will need to find those missing years or otherwise understand why no years are assigned to him. Rebellion was commonplace as was murder, rape, and idolatry (Ch.2:12). The Philistines were hiding in the room, waiting to capture him, and in an uncharacteristic display of restraint, he snapped the bowstrings and didnt kill anyone. [9] Nolen Jones, Dr. Floyd, The Chronology of the Old Testament, Green Forest, Arkansas, Master Books, 2017, pp71-94. Judges 10:3-5: Jephthah the . It is the first in a series of books which sets before us the warning spots, the danger signals, and the perils that lie along the pathway of a believer. But it also shows us that even leaders appointed by God can do evil deeds and mislead Gods people. By the time Amenhotep III takes the throne, Samson is wreaking havoc with the Philistines and by the end of his reign he has seen the defeat of his Philistine vassals at the battle of Mizpah and the rise of the kingdom of Israel under Saul. Of particular relevance here are those conducted at Hazor which confirm that it was ruled by an, In 2019 a pottery sherd was recovered from the Khirbet al-RaI dig site in central Israel that included the name Yrbl (Jerubbaal), the alternative name for Gideon. The alignment between the Judges timeline and the New Chronology is shown in Figure 9. The Bible says Tola rose to save Israel (Judges 10:1), but it doesnt tell us what he saved them from. Place everything end to end, including the 18 year oppression. God delivers them. Realistically, the numbers likely varied with this number being the average, but as we have no other basis for allocating the 22 year reduction I will use the average numbers. Usshers approach to solving the problem of the extra years was to collapse the periods of bondage and peace so that the period of bondage was included in the period of peace as shown above. Then Samson put Shamgar (the cattle prod judge) to shame: he killed 1,000 Philistines with a donkeys jawbone (Judges 15:15). The power of the Hyksos kings remains in the Egyptian delta, extending up the coast to the southern Levant, but not into the hill country of Israel. However, we have managed to create a timeline that reconciles the information in Judges with the writings of Josephus and leaves only a few options to choose from. The book was written in tense time after Joshua had passed away and God's chosen people, the Israelites, were inhabiting the long-awaited Promised Land of Canaan. Note: This article received a significant update on October 24, 2021 with a completely new solution for the Judges timeline. [31] In the 20th century, the first part of the prologue (chapters 1:12:5) and the two parts of the epilogue (1721) were commonly seen as miscellaneous collections of fragments tacked onto the main text, and the second part of the prologue (2:63:6) as an introduction composed expressly for the book. In the account of their battles, there is a paragraph interjected that almost seems out of place. (NKJV). But first, what does judge mean here? The servants saw Ehud and assumed the meeting was over, and since the door was locked from within, they assumed the king was using the bathroom (which, in a manner of speaking, he was). We know that his death occurred at the time of the loss of the ark to the Philistines and immediately preceded the judgeship of Samuel. For a long time during the days of the Judges many of the Israelites were essentially 'hillbillies' [see Judges 6:2], hemmed in by their enemies on every side. I believe that these are two versions of the same story, with the Judges version providing more color. While the name is not specifically, Israel, this reference also predates the Merneptah Stele. Gideon refused, proclaiming: The Lord will rule over you (Judges 8:23). Of particular interest to us are Antiquities Book 5 covering the period from the death of Moses to the death of Eli and Book 6 covering the period from the death of Eli to the death of Saul. The only way to make this fit is for Samsons death to coincide (or nearly so) with the end of that 40-year period of oppression. Ashkelon [Philistines] has been overcome; In fact, the book of Ruth could be considered a third part of this Appendix, but we wont address that here. They were stumped, so they threatened his new wife and said theyd kill her and her family if she didnt tell them the riddle. Option 2 is appealing because it does not require what may be an artificial parallelism between Tola and Jair to get the numbers to work out. When and where? Vowing to make a human sacrifice wouldve been against the law (Deuteronomy 12:31, but its possible that Jephthah was so unfamiliar with Israels God and the Torah that he was willing to sacrifice any human servant or attendant, too. The Lord gave the Ammonites into Jephthahs hands, and the first thing out of Jephthahs house was his only daughter. Am I not sending you? Judges 6:14. Jephthah (pronounced / d f /; Hebrew: , Yft) appears in the Book of Judges as a judge who presided over Israel for a period of six years (Judges 12:7).According to Judges, he lived in Gilead.His father's name is also given as Gilead, and, as his mother is described as a prostitute, this may indicate that his father might have been any of the men of that area. While exact dates are not possible, I do believe that there are clues as to where to place these events on the timeline. In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit. Judges 21:25. Ehud, whose name means wheres the glory? is most known for two things: After Othniel died and the Israelites fell back into disobedience, the Lord gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel (Judges 3:12). The people had become backslidden shortly after the death of Joshua, and this led to unrest and disillusionment. These deliverances are separated by a period of peace, ostensibly the time required for the judge to pass on and the people to fall back into sin. There is a mere 11 years between the end of the 18-year oppression under the combined Philistines and Ammon and the beginning of the 40 year oppression by just the Philistines. This first Jair was the one who named these thirty towns Havvoth Jair (which just means towns of Jair). [43], This is the theme played out in Judges: the people are unfaithful to Yahweh and He therefore delivers them into the hands of their enemies; the people then repent and entreat Yahweh for mercy, which He sends in the form of a judge; the judge delivers the Israelites from oppression, but after a while they fall into unfaithfulness again and the cycle is repeated. What is interesting is that the length of the various oppressions is precise: 8, 18, 20, and 7 years. Indeed, the land originally given to Dan was along the coast west of Judah and included at least one Philistine city, Ekron. Once peace is regained, Israel does right and receives Yahweh's blessings for a time, but relapses later into doing evil and repeats the pattern above. Placing Eli in parallel with the 40 year oppression and Samson in parallel with Eli has effectively removed 80 years from our timeline. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. The prophecy about Samson said that he would begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines, so when did that deliverance ultimately occur? As we will see below, this three way parallelism is the key to solving the late period. Here are the options: I am going to dismiss Option 1 at this point as we still have 354 years[6] to fit in the 315 years between the entry into Canaan and Jephthah so we are still looking for some compression. As we move to the later part of Judges and into I Samuel the primary oppressor becomes the Philistines. raised up judges to deliver them [5] Some manuscripts of Josephus have a 40-year reign for Saul in Ant 6.378. This is just not enough time in my opinion as there would still be a majority of people alive who had witnessed the miracles of the conquest. If this is indeed the correct location, then Cushan was most likely a king of the Mittani, a Hurrian kingdom that would later be absorbed into the Assyrian empire. This will give us a good idea of how much compression is still needed in the Early Period. When the Philistines saw him they started shouting, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson again. 1 and 2 Samuel. This verse makes Shamgar a contemporary of both Jael and Deborah, and some scholars have argued that these are two different people called Shamgar (son of Anath could also be translated as Anathite). However, in this period Egypt is again weak as we are now into the Third Intermediate Period, a time where the national government has collapsed, and multiple Pharaohs are ruling in different parts of the country. The book of Judges presents an interesting puzzle in the in the chronology of Israel. However, this number should be understood as the sum of the years given in scripture and not the actual elapsed time. The Israelites worshiped it, and the ephod became a snare to Gideon and his family (Judges 8:27). The Book of Judges mentions twelve leaders who are said to "judge" Israel: Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, and Samson. On the surface, it seems straightforward enough, recording the acts of each judge and the time between events from the time of Joshua until just before the events of I Samuel. It also places the 40-year oppression and Samson in parallel with Eli. [47] Anti-monarchist theology is most apparent toward the end of the Gideon cycle in which the Israelites beg Gideon to create a dynastic monarchy over them and Gideon refuses. Judges 1 is the first chapter of the Book of Judges, the seventh book of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament, a sacred text in Judaism and Christianity.With the exception of the first verse, scholars have long recognised and studied the parallels between chapter 1 of Judges and chapters 13 to 19 in the preceding Book of Joshua. This in turn will require us to both fill in some gaps and identify ways to compress the timeline to fit. His mother had been unable to get pregnant, but the angel of the Lord appeared and told her she would conceive. First, the time from the recovery of the Ark in I Samuel 7:2 to the installation of the ark in Jerusalem in II Samuel 6 was almost exactly 40 years (32 or Samuel and Saul plus 7 for David), with much of this time equated with Saul. When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon. Judges 10:35. To understand the full meaning of p, scholars draw from related ancient languages which used the same root word: The Hebrew root of p had a much wider meaning than the idea of simply administering justice to, or to pass sentence, settle a case, do justice, and mete out justice. Based on the usages of this same root in Ugaritic, Phoenician, and texts at Mari, the basic meaning could now successfully be established as meaning to rule, or to command. Especially significant was the Ugaritic cognate root tp, with its meanings of to do justice and to rule. Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary. Of the Israelite tribe in Gilead (present northwest Jordan), he was banished from his home and became the head of a powerful band of brigands. [45], The book is as intriguing for the themes it leaves out as for what it includes: the Ark of the Covenant, which is given so much importance in the stories of Moses and Joshua, is almost entirely missing,[a] cooperation between the various tribes is limited, and there is no mention of a central shrine for worship and only limited reference to a High Priest of Israel (the office to which Aaron was appointed at the end of the Exodus story). God disciplines them. As a final note, I feel the approach provided in Figure 5 and 6 is superior to that of Ussher in that the archaeological evidence aligns with a later date for Deborah and Barak as noted in the discussion of the Merneptah stele and Hazor destruction layer. Here it seems we are being given the names of all of the judges in a sequence much like the lists of kings in Kings and Chronicles. After this victory, the Israelites attempted to make Gideon their king, saying, Rule over usyou, your son and your grandsonbecause you have saved us from the hand of Midian (Judges 8:22). My sense here is that Josephus got it backward and that we should give 20 years to Samuel and 12 to Saul. There have been many both ancient and modern attempts to solve the puzzle of the Judges chronology. The book of Judges lists twelve: Some of the more well-known judges (like Gideon and Samson) get several chapters in the Book of Judges. This means that each 40-year period is reduced to 35.6 years. The stories of Micahs idol and the Levites concubine and subsequent war with Benjamin dont impact the overall chronology, but we will try to place them once we have a chronological framework in place. Ussher used dates of 1491 BC for the Exodus and 1011 BC for the fourth year of Solomons reign and Nolen Jones sticks with these dates. According to the biblical narrative these judges led Israel from the end of the conquest of Canaan until the beginning of the monarchy. Options 2 and 3 give very similar results, however Option 2 is more consistent with our approach for this period. But how much time had elapsed from the beginning of the conquest to the start of that oppression? 7:17) in Israel. He had thirty sons, who rode thirty donkeys. 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). More recently, this view has been challenged, and there is an increasing willingness to see Judges as the work of a single individual, working by carefully selecting, reworking and positioning the source material to introduce and conclude his themes. We only get two sentences about him, and theres little we can gather from them: After him, Elon the Zebulunite led Israel ten years. Before Israel had a king, it had a series of tribal leaders called judges. Interestingly, Samson is also one of the few people in Scripture who had a miraculous birth. First, no duration is given for the time from the beginning of the conquest of Canaan by Joshua until the first oppression recorded in Judges. 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.
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