JUDGES, Book of. This book in the He brew Bible derives its name from the deliverers whose exploits it records. In its present form, the book is the product of that active era of historical interpretation inaugurated by the publication of Deuteronomy in 621 a.c. (See DEUTERONOMY). The narrative of the struggle between the Hebrews and the earlier inhabitants for the possession of the land furnished ma terial especially adapted to exemplify the doc trine of Deuteronomy, that Israel's prosperous possession of the land was contingent upon her faithfulness to Jehovah. It was one of the first tasks of the historians who were dominated by the thought of the great law book to edit the stories of the Judges and compose the book now contained in chapters ii, 6-xvi. They had at hand for their purposes a history of the early heroes, which may have formed a part of the great, composite work already compiled from the histories of Judah and Ephraim (JE), or may have been a separate work. In any case, the earlier document contained some of the oldest and most authentic historical traditions of the nation. The Song of Deborah (Chap. v), for example, is the oldest considerable com position preserved in the Hebrew Bible. It must have been sung immediately after the events which it celebrates. Taking this price less collection of hero tales, that had been gathered and combined in the three centuries preceding their time, the Deuteronomic editors introduced a heading and conclusion for each tale designed to enforce the great doctrine which they found so well exemplified in the varying fortunes of the times. When Israel forgot Jehovah ani turned to other gods, her enemies prevailed; when she returned to him in penitence, a deliverer was raised up and peace secured throughout his rule. They in troduced their readers to this new interpreta tion of the old stories by a summary statement of the facts andprinciples (ii, 6-iii, 6) which they were to find fully illustrated in the separate stories and their interpretation of each. Seven principal stories form the main body of the work, those of Othniel, Ehud, Deb orah. and Barak, Gideon-Jerubbaal, Abime lech, Jephthah, Samson. Of these leaders, AbimeleCh is styled a prince and king, rather than a judge; in truth the brief hereditary rule set up by this man and his son may be counted the first attempt at establishing a monarchy in Israel. Between the longer narra tives short notices of six other judges are in serted. The little that is told of them is in the characteristic language and style of the editors. Perhaps they were included in order to bring the number of the judges to 12. To this original book, edited not far from 600 a.c., there was prefixed as an historical introduction an ancient account of the entrance into Canaan and of the failure of the tribes to dispossess the in habitants (i, and there were added two appendixes (xvii-xviii, xix-xxi) which did not receive the editorial interpretation characteris tic of the body of the book. The former of
these, telling of the migration of Dan to the northern borders of Israel's territory, is ob viously a very old narrative, but the latter, the story of the outrage at Gibeah, gives many in dications of a relatively late date.
Fortunately the exilic editors confined their interpretations of the history to the framework which they composed and left the stories them selves in their ancient form, so that they afford the student of Israel's early political, social, and religious development a mine of information and preserve for the general reader the rugged spirit of the pioneer days of struggle against many and varied dangers. The chronology of the book belongs to the editorial framework it is based on the theory that the heroes ruled united Israel, whereas the stories themselves reveal the fact that the judges were local leaders in their different tribes and districts. Their lives may have been, in some cases, con temporaneous. An historical use of the book requires careful discrimination between its earlier and later elements, varying in date of composition by as much as 500 years.
From a literary point of view, the older por tions of the book give some of the best speci mens of rapid, picturesque narrative, full of human interest and of simple loyalty and faith toward Jehovah, which make Israel's early prose so vital, while the Song of Deborah ranks as one of the finest examples of a vic tory ode preserved in the early literature of any language. On the other hand, the com pleted book is a monument of great interest in the art of historical composition. It is per haps our first important example,of a deliberate interpretation of events long past from the standpoint of a conscious philosophy of his tory. The distinction so clearly visible be tween the naive stories themselves and the rigid, solemn interpretation of the editors marks a transition in the development of historical writing in Israel. Since Israel was the first people to develop a true historical literature, this transition is an important land mark in the story of the world's historical writing.
Bibliography.— Cornill, C. H., 'Introduc tion to the Canonical Books of the Old Testa ment' (London 1909) • Creelman, H., 'Intro duction to the Old Testament' (New York 1917) ; Driver, S. R. 'Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament' (New York, revised ed., 1914) ; (New York 1901): Fowler, H. T., of the Literature of Ancient Israel' (New York 1912); Hastings, J., (Dictionary of the Bible' (New York 1900) ; Kent, C..F., innings of Hebrew History' (New York 1904) ; Encyclopzdia) (New York 1904); Moore, G. F., (Judges' (in Critical Com mentary' (New York 1895J.