Culture & Context: Judges
- Donna Wright
- 6 days ago
- 5 min read
Welcome to Culture and Context, a blog that will flesh out the context of the PATH journal and other content that we study here at True North.
When you think of a judge, what comes to your mind? If you have a legal background, you might think of a judge that you know and either respect or who might make you uncomfortable. If you follow the news, you might think of local judges and their opinions or of the justices of the Supreme Court, who interpret the laws of our Constitution as they apply to cases brought before them. I sometimes think of Judge Judy, who makes me laugh but who also fairly (if comedically) decides small claims matters.
Judges in the time of the Old Testament were both legal and political. During the time of Moses, the elders of the tribes acted as judges in settling disputes. Samuel and his sons were circuit-riding judges, traveling to different towns to act as judge:
"And he (Samuel) went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah. And he judged Israel in all these places. Then he would return to Ramah, for his home was there, and there also he judged Israel. And he built there an altar to the LORD." - 1 Samuel 7:16-17
Roman rulers did most of the judging during the New Testament, but were not called judges. Roman leaders heard capital cases, where the defendant was accused of a crime punishable by death. Lower-level leaders heard civil matters. Pontius Pilate was a Roman judge, and Paul appeared before Felix and Festus. These court leaders were usually designated by their title, such as prefect (Pontius Pilate), procurator (Festus) and emperor (the Herods, Nero, etc.). Jewish legal matters were debated and settled by Pharisees and Sadducees.
After Joshua died, the people were not faithful in keeping the covenant. They turned their backs on God and were easily lured into idol worship. In the years between the death of Joshua and the establishment of Kings of Israel (initiated by Samuel), the Israelites fell into a pattern:
They abandoned God, intermarried with foreigners and thus began to worship idols and did evil in the eyes of God.
God punished them by allowing a foreign government to oppress them.
The people cried our to God and repented of their sinful ways.
God would send them a judge to guide them through repentance.
The Book of Judges tells the story of 12 judges. Some have very involved and exciting stories, while others only receive brief mention. Some scholars divide them into major and minor judges, based on the narrative. The author Judges is unknown, although some argue that it was written by Samuel. The Book of Judges is difficult to date because it is not even certain whether the stories are chronological. What is certain is that the pattern we see is something we deal with every day as we choose to live our lives for Jesus. Sometimes we sin and God may choose to use circumstances to discipline us. When we cry out to Him in repentance, we receive guidance, love and compassion from the Holy Spirit. It always comes back to Jesus’ death and resurrection, as He is our Judge today.
Judges contains several literary styles – Deborah’s Song is poetry. Jotham uses a fable (Judges 9:7-15) to reply to Abimelech’s conspiracy (He was the son of Gideon and he conspired to kill his 70 half-brothers. Jotham was the only one to escape). Much of the book is a straight narrative, describing the cycles of sin and repentance during the time when,
"In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” - Judges 17:6
The first judge is Othniel, who led the Israelites in defeat of the king of Aram Naharaim (his name was Cushan-Rishathaim, which means “dark, double wicked.”). The next judge was Ehud, noted to be a “left- handed man,” (Judges. 3:15), who plunged a sword into the very fat belly of Eglon, the king of Moab. Ehud then led the Israelites to defeat the Moabites. The next judge, Shamgar, killed 600 Philistines with an oxgoad, a farming implement used to herd animals.
The next judges are Deborah and Barak who delivered the Israelites from Canaan oppression. The song of Deborah and Barak recounts their victory in Judges 5. Forty years later, the pattern repeated with Midian oppression and deliverance through Gideon, who was called by an angel in Judges 6. His obedience to that call led to God speaking directly to Gideon, with orders to destroy the objects of Baal worship. Gideon started out well and he led many successful campaigns, but you will need to read the stories in Judges 6-8 to see that even God’s called judge had some flaws.
The next few judges’ stories follow the usual cycle, and then in Chapter 13, we come to the story of Samson, who famously delivered the Israelites from Philistine oppression. Samson was also a very flawed man and he made a lot of mistakes in his twenty years as judge. Some of the most famous Bible stories come from Samson’s story in Judges 13-16. He is the last judge, but the story does not end with him.
Chapters 17-21 concludes with another crisis of faith and the failure of the 12 tribes to obey God’s commandments. The Israelites fight one of their own tribes because it had become so idolatrous! The ESV Expository Commentary nicely sums up the conclusion to Judges:
“The corrupting power of idolatry is that it makes us become what we worship, in terms both of behavior and of judgment... The conclusions to Judges warn us about the corrupting power of misdirected or misguided worship. It blinds us from seeing the glory of the one true God (2 Cor. 4:4). But we have great hope because of the gospel.” -Van Pelt, M.V in Judges, ESVEC
What can we learn from The Book of Judges? How can we apply it to our lives? As we read it, what questions arise regarding our own lives?
Am I straying away from God’s ways? Are there idols in my own life? I recently deleted a game on my phone because it took time away that I could have spent in prayer, worship and study. It had become an idol.
Am I giving God the glory for His victories? Or am I prideful, thinking that my good fortune is all of my own doing.
Do I treat others with compassion? Can people see Jesus’ love at work within me? This is related to the story of a Levite and his concubine, Judges 19.
Am I listening to frauds, like the Levite? Are false teachers luring me away from following Jesus?
Is God the king of my life? Or am I doing what is right in my own eyes?
Our next PATH book will be Romans, a book that was transformative in my own life as a believer. It is Paul’s letter to the Romans and to us, detailing the heart, assurance, defense and transforming power of the gospel.
Works-cited and Resources
Beetham, C. A., & Erickson, N. L., eds. (2024). The NIV Application Commentary on the Bible (One-Volume Edition). Zondervan Academic.
Bible Gateway: https://www.biblegateway.com/learn/topics-themes/explainers/twelve-judges-israel/
Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible. Crossway Bibles.
Elwell, W. A., Comfort, P. W. (2001). In Tyndale Bible dictionary. Tyndale House Publishers.
The Christian Resource Institute: https://www.crivoice.org/romanrul.html
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). Crossway Bibles.
Van Pelt, M. V. (2021). Judges. In I. M. Duguid, J. M. Hamilton Jr., & J. Sklar (Eds.), Deuteronomy–Ruth: Vol. II (pp. 509–674). Crossway.
