JUDGES, BOOK OF, the third in the list of the historical compositions of the O. T. It consists of two divisions, the first comprising chaps. i. -xvii. ; the second, being an appendix, chaps. xvii.-xxi.
I. Plan of the Book. —That the author, in composing this work, had a certain design in view, is evident from ch. ii. 1-23, 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 allud ing (ch. ii. i-to) to the benefits which Jehovah had conferred on them, and the distinguished protection with which he had honoured them. Next lie states his leading object, namely, to prove that the cala mities 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 (cb. 15). Nevertheless, when they repented and obeyed again the commandments of the Lord, Ile delivered them out of the hand of their enemies by the Sho phetint 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 episodes occur ; but in arguing his subject he never loses sight of his leading theme, to which, on the contrary, he frequently recurs while statitg facts, and shows how it applied to them ; the moral evidently being, that the only way to happiness was to shun idolatry and obey the commandments of the Lord. The design of the author was not to give a connected and complete history of the He brews 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 re lation 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 neighbours, but enjoyed rest and peace. The appendix, containing two narratives, further illustrates the lawlessness and anarchy prevailing in Israel after Joshua's death. In the first narrative (chaps. xvii.-xviii.), a rather wealthy man, Micah, dvvelling in Mount Ephrairri, is introduced. He bad a house of gods,' and molte» and graven images in it, which he worshipped. After having, at an annual salary, engaged an itinerant Levite to act as his priest and to settle in his family, the Danites, not having as yet an inheritance to dwell in, turn in thither, seize the images, and take the priest along with them. They then establish idolatry at Leshem, or Laish, in Ccele-Syria, which they conquered, smiting the quiet and secure in habitants with the edge of the sword. The second narrative (chaps. xix.-xxi.) first gives an account of the brutal and criminal outrage committed by the Benjamites of Gibeah against the family of a Levite dwelling, in the age immediately subsequent to Joshua's death, on the side of Mount Ephraim ; and next relates its consequence, a bloody civil war, in which all the tribes joined against the tribe of Benjamin and nearly destroyed it. The appendix then do6 not continue the history of the first sixteen chapters, and may have an author different from him who composed the first division of the book, to which inquiry we now turn.
2. Author.—If the first and second divisions had been by the same author, the chronological in dications would also have been the same. Now the author of the second division always describes the period of which he speaks thus : In those days there was no king- in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes ' (cb. xvii. 6 ; xviii. t ; xix. 1; x.xi. 25); but this expression never once occurs in the first division. If one author had composed both divisions, instead of this chronolo gical formula, we should rather have expected, In the days of the Shophetim," At a time when there was no Shophet,' etc., which would be con. sonant with the tenor of the first sixteen chapters. The style also in the two divisions is different, and it will be shewn that the appendix was writtcn 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 wlao composed the appendix (see L. Bertholdt, Historisch-Kritische Einleitung in die sauna/lichen Schrtflot des A. una' N. T., p. 876 ; Eielthorn'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. In the book of Joshua there is a continual reference to the law of Moses, which is much less frequent in the book of Judges ; and in Joshua, again, there are no such inferences from history as are common in Judges (ch. iii. t, 4; viii. 27; ix. 56). The style of the book of Joshua is neater than that of Judges; the narration is more clear, and the arrangement is better (comp. ch. i. to, 1, 20, with Josh. xiv. 6-15, and xv. 13-19 ; also ch. ii. 7-1o, with Josh. xxiv. 29-30. That the book of Judges was com posed by Samuel is an invention of the Talinudists, unsupported by any evidence ; nor will the opinion that it was written by Ezra be entertained by any who attentively peruses the original. For it has a phraseology of its own, and certain favourite ideas, to which it constantly reverts, but of which there is not a trace in Ezra. If Ezra had intended to continue the history of the Hebrews from Joshua down to Eli in a separate work, he would not have given a selection of incidents to prove a particular theme, but a complete history. The orthography of the book of Ezra, with many phases characteristic of his age, do not appear in the book of Judges. The prefix L.; occurs, indeed (ch. v. 7; vi. 17; vii. 1 2 ; viii. 26); but this cannot be referred to in proof that the language is of the time of Ezra, for it belonged to the dialect of North Palestine, as Ewald and others have proved. rin, instead of it^),N, is found also in Dent. xxiii. 3. Forms like wool', ver. 14, and ver. 2S, 110, ver. 10, mn, ver. t, resemble Chaldaisms, but may be accounted for by the poetical style of the song of Deborah. The forms 'TIN (ch. xvii. 2), and t,:ht (ch. xix. I), belonging to a late age of the Hebrew language, may be considered as changes introduced by copyists (see Ottmar, in Henke's ilIagazin, vol. iv. ; W . M. L. de Wette, Lehrbuch der Einleitung in die Bibel, Berlin 1833-39, 2 vols. Svc)).