JUDGES, BOOK OF (jOrds, Lib-6k Ov), the third in the list of the historical compositions of the Old Testament. It consists of two divisions, the first comprising.cc. i-xvi; the second, being an appendix, cc. xvii-xxi.
(1) Plan of the Book. That the author, in composing this work, had a certain design in view, is evident from ch. ii :11-23, where he states the leading features of his narrative. He introduces it by relating (ch. i) the extent to which the wars against the Canaanites were continued after the death of Joshua, and what tribes had spared them in consideration of a tribute imposed; also by al luding (ch. to the benefits which Je hovah had conferred on them, and the distin guished protection with which he had honored them.
Next he states his leading object, namely, to prove that the calamities to which the Hebrews had been exposed since the death of Joshua were owing to their apostasy from Jehovah, and to their idolatry. 'They forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth' (ch. ii :13) ; for which crimes they were deservedly punished and greatly distressed (ch. ii:i5). Nevertheless, when they repented and obeyed again the commandments of the Lord, he delivered them out of the hand of their enemies by the Shophetim whom he raised up, and made them prosper (ch. ii :16:23).
To illustrate this theme, the author collected several fragments of the Hebrew history during the period between Joshua and Eli. Some epi sodes occur; but in arguing his subject he never loses sight of his leading theme, to which, on the contrary. he frequently recurs while stating facts, and shows how it applied to them; the moral evidently being, that the only way to hap piness was to shun idolatry and obey the com mandments of the Lord. The design of the author was not to give a connected and complete his tory of the Hebrews in the period between Joshua and the kings; for if he had intended a plan of that kind, he would also have described the state of the domestic affairs and of the government in the several tribes, the relation in which they stood to each other, and the extent of power exercised by a judge; he would have further stated the number of tribes over whom a judge ruled, and the number of years during which the tribes were not oppressed by their heathen neighbors, but enjoyed rest and peace. The appendix, con
taining two narratives, further illustrates the law lessness and anarchy prevailing in Israel after Joshua's death.
(2) Author. If the first and second divisions had been by the same author, the chronological indications would also have been the same. Now the author of the second division always de scribes the period of which he speaks thus: 'In those days there was no king of Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes' (cc. xvii :6 ; xviii :1 ; xix :1 ; xxi :25) ; but this expression never once occurs in the first division. If one author had composed both divisions, in stead of this chronological formula, we should rather have expected, 'In the days of the Sho phetim,"At a time when there was no Shophet,' etc., which would be consonant with the tenor of the first sixteen chapters.
The style also in the two divisions is different, and it will be shown that the appendix was writ ten much later than the first part. All modern critics, then, agree in this, that the author of the first sixteen chapters of our book is different from him who composed the appendix. (See L. Ber tholdt. Historisch-Kritische Einleitung in die sammtlichen Schriften des A. und N. T., p. 876; Eichhorn's Einleitung in das A. T., iii, sec. 457). The authorship of the first sixteen chapters has been assigned to Joshua, Samuel, and Ezra. That they were not written by Joshua appears from the difference of the method of relating subjects, as well as from the difference of the style.
But though we cannot determine the author ship of the book of Judges, still its age may be determined from internal evidence. The first six teen chapters must have been written under Saul, whom the Israelites made their king in the hope of improving their condition. Phrases used in the period of the judges may be traced in them, and the author must consequently have lived near the time when they were yet current. He says that in his time 'the Jebusites dwelt with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem' (ch. i :21) ; now this was the case only before David, who conquered the town and drove out the Jebusites.