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Background to the Book of Judges Historical Situation:xxxxxxThe history within the texts tells about continued settlement in the land after the death of Joshua. It is a collection of stories centred around people, called judges, who are called by God to deliver the Israelites in times of crisis. The situation appears to be collections of tribes who come together to fight a common adversary, but otherwise go their own separate ways. We have a number of oral traditions which have been collected into quite a distinctive pattern. Exodus through to Deuteronomy has Moses as the designated leader, the Book of Joshua has Joshua and from 1 Samuel on we have the Kings, with this intermediate period led by Judges who are called up by God when required. The stories are very colourful, covering all areas of life: "political intrigue and assassination, lies and deception, rape and murder, courage and fear, great faith and idolatry, power and greed, sex and suicide, love and death, military victories nd civil war" (Olson. NIB: 723). These judges were called to be military type leaders and only a few of them acted in the more traditional legal type judge, for example, Deborah. It is not possible to have external confirmation of these events, however, we need to be aware that these were an oral people long before they became composers, and quite capable of remembering those events and people who were important in their life journey with God. This does not take away the deliberate structuring of these chapters when composed into their written form as we receive them. Indeed, what we have in written form may have occurred over quite a long period of time. The rise of Judges worked for a time, but if the people were to survive within the culture around it appeared there was a need for a king to hold them together. This view is contradictory to the one set out in 1 Sam through to the end of 2 Kings which demonstrated that the failure of kings was a major factor in their Babylonian exile. It may be that different forms of leadership are needed in certain situations in the life of a nation. Literary:xxxxxThe present book of Judges is composed of three parts. The first is an introduction summarizing the Conquest and the final settlement in Canaan (Judge 1:1–3:6). The second part is the history of the judges proper (3:7–15:20), which is itself composed of two subsections: one treating an initial phase of judges’ activities (Othniel, Ehud, Deborah and Barak, and Gideon, culminating in the account of two “minor” judges; 10:1–5); and the other treating a subsequent phase of judges’ activities, beginning with 10:6–16, and then reviewing the exploits of Jephthah, three “minor” judges, and finally Samson (ending in 15:1–20). The third part is a series of supplementary stories, including another story about Samson (chap. 16), about Micah’s shrine and Micah’s Levite (chaps. 17–18), and about the rape and murder of a Levite’s concubine (chap. 19) and the civil war that followed (chaps. 20–21) (Freedman. ABD.Vol.3,1106 ). The Book is highly structured with each cycle repeated: the people worship idols, are punished, cry out, God raises a Judge to bring relief from the enemy and they have rest. Judges contains many stories about women compared with other books of the Old Testament - 19 in all (Olson:725). PURPOSE of the Book:xxxxxxThe promise to Abraham has indeed come true and now we see what happens as they settle into the land. The Book of Judges demonstrates that the people could not resist worshiping the gods of the other nations which brings it consequences from God. The Book shows a gradual slide into anarchy and a deepening loss of trust in Yahweh. In response to the fulfillment of God's promises the people are expected to remain faithful and obedient to God. Later in the books of the Deuteronomic History (Deuteronomy - 11 Kings) the writer will demonstrate that it is because the people and kings have failed to be obedient in spite of all that God gave them, that they have ended up in exile (587 BCE). One can see how important the book is within the structure of the Deuteronomic History. A brief note on the Deuteronomic History:xxxxxxMartin Noth's publication of his book (1943) in which he proposed that the body of material from Deuteronomy to the end of Second Kings was called the Deuteronomic History has been accepted, in some form, by most people. He suggested that early in exile an author/group created this history using many different sources and traditions to compose this body of work in order to explain to the people in exile why that were there. It begins with the laws given to Moses (Deuteronomy) and demonstrates in the stories following the Book of Deuteronomy how the people, priests and especially kings disobeyed the law with the consequence that they lost the land and ended up in Babylon. They gained the land (Joshua & Judges) because it was given by Yahweh and lost it because they went after other gods and were generally disobedient in their religious and ethical practices. |
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Context of Jud 4 Jud 1 describes conquests by the individual tribes and in many of the instances it states categorically that the indigenous tribes of the Canaanites were still present in the land - they were not driven out by the Israelites. The action in Jud 1 takes place after the death of Joshua. However, the theological reflection in Jud 2 occurs while Joshua is still with them and his death is not recorded until v.6. This would indicate that we have different traditions united at the beginning of the Book as well as throughout. The situation in Jud 2 is one in which the people are accused of worshipping the idols of the Canaanites and this becomes the reason for the failure of the Israelites to drive out the inhabitants of the land as was promised by God. Jud 2:16-23 is a summary of a cyclic pattern of behaviour which gets repeated throughout the Book of Judges - the people did evil in the sight of the Lord, punishment occurred, they cried out to the Lord, Judges were raised up by God to save them, after the death of the judge they turned their back on God again and so the pattern continues. Jud 3 tells the story of the first three Judges - Othniel and Ehud who both saved the people first against the King of Mesopotamia and then forty years later against the King of Moab. The third Judge, Shamgar has one verse describing his deeds (Jud 3:31). Following the exploits of Deborah, a Judge and Prophet, is the Song of Deborah (Jud 5) followed by forty years of rest before the next cycle of stories about the Judges is told. |
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Insights/Message of Jud 4 Literary::xxxxJud 4 and 5 are one unit about Deborah, Barak and Sisera. The structure of Jud 4 follows that already set out for the first of the Judges, Othniel (Jud 3:7-11). Deborah is a prophet and judge in the sense of one who arbitrates, Barak is the military general, but never called a judge and Jael is the the non-Israelite woman who kills the Canaanite enemy General, Sisera. Jud 5 repeats this story in a poetic epic and is probably a very early version of events. Barak insists that Deborah goes with him into battle after she prophecies that Barak will win the battle at Kishon. Furthermore, Deborah prophecies that the Sisera will meet his end at the hands of a woman and not Barak. Olson points out that this need for the leader to have reassurance before going into battle (Jud 4:8) increases as the stories continue and Israel deteriorate into chaos (Olson:776). barak wins the battle as prophesied and Sisera flees to the tent of a woman named Jael who was married to a Kenite man. The Kenites and the Canaanites were at peace and therefore Sisera felt safe to hide there. Jael offers him hospitality and then kills him while asleep. We have no idea why this woman whose tribe was not at war with the Canaanites would act in this way. We are clearly missing some information which those closer to the time of the events would know. Jud 4:11 tells us that Jael's husband, Heber who is a descendant of Moses' in- laws is camped near Kedesh. Whether he is working for the Canaanites or the Israelites we are not told and Sisera obviously made some wrong assumptions. Message:xxxWe are given no reason for Barak's rather insistent statement that Deborah go with him. It doesn't sound like an invitation, but rather a condition of his acceptance of the task set by God. It could be construed that he doesn't trust a woman prophet and she has to go along as guarantor that the message is really from God. On the other hand, it might have been the practice that prophets accompanied the military into battle, except for the conditional aspect of the Jud 4:8. Furthermore, Deborah's response to this appears to reflect negatively when she tells him that the glory will go to a woman as the one who defeats Sisera. The story of the two woman surrounds the battle which Barak had been reluctant to enter without Deborah's presence. It is the women who are the focus of the story and Barak the tool. It is Deborah who gives the command when to make the attack and Jael who kills Sisera. Deborah is unique in that she is named as a prophetess and a judge. She has a husband who is also named but takes no part in any of the action. She has authority in that she can send for and give instructions to Barak. After the defeat of Sisera we find the repetitive refrain which tells us that the land had rest for forty years. However, above all the characters, God is the one who "draws out" Sisera, the Lord "gives" Sisera into the hand of Barak in v.14 except we know that in the end it was the hand of Jael. The fact that we have two accounts of Deborah would appear to attest to a person who was well know for her story to be kept alive through the oral tradition via the epic song, and used as well in this very highly formulated account of the period of the judges. |
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Resources/Worship for Jud 4 Worship: xxxxx Resources:xxxxxCommentaries: The Old Testament Guides (OTG) by Sheffield Academic Press are an excellent small resource which give many suggestions for readings on particular aspects in the Book of Joshua (A.H.W.Curtis) The New Interpreter's Bible is another very helpful resource and published in the late 1990's - 2002 is more up to date than some earlier works.
The Dramatised Bible: ed. Michael Perry. London: Marshall Pickering: Bible Society, 1989 Web sites with helpful lectionary resources: These links were updated 23/11/06
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