'JUDGES OF ISRAEL, a,name given to those who at intervals directed the affairs of Life Israelites during the four and a half centuries which elapsed from the•death of Joshua to the. reign of Saul. Their names were Othoniel, Ehud, Shanigar, Deborah, Barak, Gideon, Abimelech, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, lbzan, Lion, Abdon, Samson, Eli, Samuel. They were called shop/team, from a word denoting both to judge in the usual sense, and to rule or govern, a name appropriate because judging and ruling are inti mately connected in the east. They were then not merely those who determined liti• gated questions, but persons appointed to perform various duties, which are to be ascer tained from the history. It is common to consider their chief function as that of delivering Israel from foreign oppression. Bnt all did not thus begin their career. Eli and Samuel were not military men. Deborah judged Ibzan, had a military command is unknown. Moreover, the nation in general had much more prosperity than adversity in the time of the judges, the whole period of foreign oppression being. only 111 years— less than a fourth part of their dominion. It is true that many of these judges arose during the time of foreign oppression, and to military exploits was often due their appointment as judges; but, in general, the appointment depended on the exigencies of the times, requiring gifts or influence adequate for deciding questions between tribe and tribe, administering public affairs,•and acting as the head of the people in their inter course with their neighbors and oppressors. The judges then were faithful men who acted for the most part as agents of the divine will, regents of the, invisible king of the chosen people. "They were," says Jahn, "not merely the deliverers of the state from
a foreign yoke, but destroyers of idolatry, foes of pagan vices, promoters of the knowl edge of God, of religion. and of morality; restorers of theocracy in the minds of the Hebrews, and powerful instruments of divine providence in the promotion of the great design of preserving the Hebrew constitution, and by that means of rescuing, the true religion from destruction." In nearly every case recorded the judges were appointed by the freechoice of the people. The only cases of direct divine appointment are those of Gideon and Samson. The office was for life, but not hereditary, and the judge had no power to appoint a successor. Their authority was limited by the Hebrew law, and in doubtful cases they were required to consult the divine king through the priest. In • great emergencies they convened a general assembly of the rulers, over which they pre sided, and in which they exerted a great influence. They could not levy taxes or appoint officers. Their authority was over only those tribes that elected or acknowledged them. They received no income, bore no external marks. of dignity, were simple in their style of life, free from avarice, patriotic. Regarding themselves as the officers of God they in most instances strove to bring their countrymen to acknowledge his authority as that of their invisible king.