Who wrote the book of Judges? Who was the author of Judges?

As in many other books in the Old Testament the author of the book of Judges is not mentioned either. According to ancient Jewish tradition the author was Samuel the prophet, who lived at the times of Saul and David around the year 1000 BC.

The book of Judges describes the time after the death of Joshua (Judges 1:1; 2:8) up to the end of Samson's life (Judges 16:31).

Judges. According to generally accepted Jewish tradition, Samuel was the writer of this book. The remark, "In those days there was no king in Israel," four times repeated (Judges 17:6; Judges 18:1; Judges 19:1; Judges 21:25) would show that the book was written after the establishment of Monarchy in Israel, but before the capture of Jerusalem and destruction of the Jebusites by David (for this compare Judges 1:21, with 2 Sam. 5:6-9). The administration of the thirteen Judges from Othniel to Samson embraced a period of about three hundred years. The last five chapters form an important appendix which must be placed historically at a very early period of the book. The reference to Phinehas (Judges 20:28) would prove this. This supplementary part discloses the moral condition of the people — one of lawlessness, anarchy, and idolatry.

The following statements in Judges indicate its origin at the beginning of King Saul's reign:

We read in chapter 1:21: ". but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day." According to 2 Samuel 5:6-8 only David conquered Jerusalem. Judges 1:21 therefore had to been written before that.

The repeated mention of the fact that there was no king in Israel (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25) indicates a time of writing during the beginning of the kingdoms in Israel.

The land was the land in connection with Dan, and especially of Zorah and Eshtaol. Now this was the very part of the land that was captive to the Philistines. There Samson was born and there his doings. The Northern Danites came thence, and set up their teraphim before Samson. It continued as long as the House of God was in Shiloh, a few years after this. Samson judged Israel twenty years. Then there was Eli still in the time of the Philistines; he judged Israel forty years. This image of Micah was there all the time the house of God was in Shiloh; this gives a date. The captivity of the land was the Philistine captivity. There being no king shows nothing but that there were kings elsewhere, compare Psalm 78:58-61. And note, they were priests to the tribe of Dan, not to the northern part of it; so the men said "To a tribe in Israel." Were it not for verse 31 (Judges 18), one might well suppose verse 30 to be a prophetic, later addition; in this case, "the captivity of the land" might mean the Assyrian. But Jonathan is none the less a near descendant of Moses, and the question is one of interpretation, whether the captivity refers to the Philistines or a later one; if a later, then verse 30 is a prophetic addition. This I think very probable. The Judges, written in Samuel's time or thereabouts, go down to Shiloh. The prophetic addition shows the idolatry to have continued till the captivity. But this in no way affects the question as to Jonathan, or the date of his name.

The Book of Judges deals with the history of Israel from the death of Joshua to the raising up of Samuel the prophet. There are three distinct sections: (1) a preface; (2) the account of the judges; (3) an appendix.

(1) The preface (Judges 1:1 - 3:6) shows the degeneracy of Israel and their lapse into idolatry after the death of Joshua. (2) The principal narrative of the Book (Judges 3:7- Judges 16:31) relates to the twelve judges whom God raised up to deliver the tribes from their servitudes to foreign nations and to give them periods of rest from the oppression brought upon themselves by their wilfulness and idolatry. (3) The appendix (Judges 17-21) records two infamous incidents of idolatry and immorality among the Israelites in illustration of the debasements to which departure from God leads. The grave events named in the appendix are not placed chronologically. Probably, they actually occurred nearer to the death of Joshua than the death of Samson (Judges 16).

The previous book began with the statement: "Now after the death of Moses, the servant of the LORD, it came to pass"; the book of Joshua is, therefore, closely linked with Deuteronomy. The book of Judges has for its opening word a similar announcement: "Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass." Judges is, therefore, the book which contains Israel 's history after the occupation of the promised land and the death of Joshua. It covers about 320 years, extending to the judgeship of Samuel. In Acts 13:20 we read: "And after that He gave them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet." This is a general statement and does not claim a chronological character. It is founded on the addition of the numbers mentioned in Judges. Some of these synchronize with others and must be deducted from the total.

"We find one express and clearly fixed chronological point in 1 Kings 6:1, according to which 480 years intervene between the departure out of Egypt , and the building of the temple, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign; after the necessary deductions have been made, about 320 years remain for the age of the judges. The chronological data in the book of Judges agree with this result, if the Ammonite oppression of the east-Jordanic territory (Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon) are assumed as contemporaneous with the Philistine oppression of the west-Jordanic territory (Eli, Samson, Samuel). In this case, Eli's priesthood preceded the term of Samson's labors; the first operations of Samuel (merely prophetic in their character), belong to Samson's term, and it was only after the death of the latter that he assumed the office of a judge. It may, indeed, appear a singular circumstance, that the book of Judges should not refer to Eli and Samuel, and that the two books of Samuel should not mention Samson, but both circumstances are readily and satisfactorily explained by the difference in the objects for which these books respectively were written. The books of Samuel design to relate the history of David, the necessary introduction of which is an account of Saul, Samuel, and Eli, the events of whose lives are interwoven with those which belong to the earlier years of David's career; and here no reference whatever to Samson was required. The book of Judges, on the other hand, relates nothing concerning Eli, because he was not a judge, in the peculiar sense of that word, but presided over public affairs merely in the capacity of a high-priest; and it related nothing concerning Samuel, since his later acts, when he officiated as a judge, no longer belong to the period of Israel 's repeated apostasy from Jehovah, which it is the design of this book to describe." (J.H. Kurtz, Sacred History)

The nature of these documents forbids us to expect a detailed narrative of the progress of religion, or of rites and observance of public worship. The book of Ruth is a family record, a sketch from private life. The book of Judges is a collection of memoirs of the remarkable persons, whom the LORD raised up to defend or to deliver the invaded provinces of Israel, not even an outline of the history of the whole nation. Allusion therefore to priests or religious laws or even to those parts of the land not similarly exposed, must be few and incidental. Those that do occur are the more satisfactory and convincing.

1909 337 One can hardly read the account given us in these chapters, of the movements of the tribe of Dan and of the conduct of the man of mount Ephraim, Micah, without being arrested by the way in which the Holy Spirit describes the *whole proceedings. In the book of Judges we read twice, "In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (Judges 17:6; Judges 21:25), and again, twice, "In those days there was no king in Israel" (Judges 18:1; Judges 19. 1). Were not these days to be deplored? And are not the events here recorded written for our learning, that we may be saved from motives of lawlessness? For "lawlessness" is sin, and, "sin is lawlessness" (1 John 3:4) — this being, what grammarians call, a reciprocal proposition, both clauses being convertible. What can one think of a man stealing eleven hundred shekels of silver from his mother, and she cursing about it? but when the son owns to the theft, the mother, instead of rebuking him for what he had done, unconcernedly saying, "Blessed be thou of Jehovah, my son."

These chapters are linked together by a characteristic phrase occurring four times. "In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (Judges 17:6; Judges 21:25). "In those days there was no king in Israel" (Judges 18:1; Judges 19:1).

These chapters are linked together by a characteristic phrase occurring four times. "In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (Judges 17: 6; Judges 21: 25). "In those days there was no king in Israel" (Judges 18: 1; Judges 19: 1).