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About this book: Judges

Judges covers the roughly two centuries between Joshua and the first kings, when Israel held the land but kept forgetting the God who gave it. The pattern repeats: the people turn to the gods of their neighbors, foreign oppressors overrun them, they cry out, and God raises up a deliverer, called a judge, to rescue them. Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah and Samson are flawed leaders, and the book does not hide their failures. Deborah's leadership and Gideon's small army show God working through unlikely people. As the book goes on, the cycles grow darker, ending in violence, idolatry and civil war. Its closing refrain, that there was no king and everyone did what seemed right to them, sets up the need for a better leader. Christians read the book as a sober picture of human drift and of God's patient mercy, and they differ on how to read its hardest episodes.

Author
Unknown; Jewish tradition names Samuel, and many scholars see a later editor shaping older stories.
Date
The events span roughly 1350–1050 BC, with scholars placing the writing during or after the early monarchy.
Audience
Israel, reflecting on its history and on why it needed faithful leadership under God.

Themes

The cycle of sin and rescueGod's mercy toward a failing peopleFlawed leaders, faithful GodThe cost of everyone doing what seems rightThe need for a true king

Outline

  1. 1:1–3:6Incomplete conquest and the pattern set
  2. 3:7–5:31Othniel, Ehud and Deborah
  3. 6:1–8:35Gideon and the small army
  4. 9:1–12:15Abimelech, Jephthah and the lesser judges
  5. 13:1–16:31Samson
  6. 17:1–21:25Idolatry and civil war

Key verses

Judges 2:16 →Judges 6:14 →Judges 21:25 →
About this chapterAfter Joshua's death, Judah and Simeon go up against the Canaanites, and Judah captures cities including Jerusalem, Hebron and Debir, with the Lord's help. Caleb and Othniel appear again. But the rest of the chapter is a list of failures: Benjamin, Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali and Dan each fail to drive out the inhabitants, who remain among them and are put to forced labor rather than removed. The book opens with a slow slide from full obedience to compromise, explaining why Israel's later troubles began.

After Joshua's death, Judah and Simeon go up against the Canaanites, and Judah captures cities including Jerusalem, Hebron and Debir, with the Lord's help. Caleb and Othniel appear again. But the rest of the chapter is a list of failures: Benjamin, Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali and Dan each fail to drive out the inhabitants, who remain among them and are put to forced labor rather than removed. The book opens with a slow slide from full obedience to compromise, explaining why Israel's later troubles began.

Themes

  • Judah leads
  • Incomplete conquest
  • Compromise begins

Key verses

Audio Bible · Judges 1

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Judges 1

Berean Standard Bible36 verses · 4 min read

1After the death of Joshua, the Israelites inquired of the LORD, “Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?” 2“Judah shall go up,” answered the LORD. “Indeed, I have delivered the land into their hands.” 3Then the men of Judah said to their brothers the Simeonites, “Come up with us to our allotted territory, and let us fight against the Canaanites. And we likewise will go with you to your territory.” So the Simeonites went with them. 4When Judah attacked, the LORD delivered the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands, and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek. 5And there they found Adoni-bezek and fought against him, striking down the Canaanites and Perizzites. 6As Adoni-bezek fled, they pursued him, seized him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes. 7Then Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have gathered the scraps under my table. As I have done to them, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, where he died. 8Then the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire. 9Afterward, the men of Judah marched down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, in the Negev, and in the foothills. 10Judah also marched against the Canaanites who were living in Hebron (formerly known as Kiriath-arba), and they struck down Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. 11From there they marched against the inhabitants of Debir (formerly known as Kiriath-sepher). 12And Caleb said, “To the man who strikes down Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage.” 13So Othniel son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz captured the city, and Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him in marriage. 14One day Acsah came to Othniel and urged him to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you desire?” 15“Give me a blessing,” she answered. “Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me springs of water as well.” So Caleb gave her both the upper and lower springs. 16Now the descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, the Kenite, went up with the men of Judah from the City of Palms to the Wilderness of Judah in the Negev near Arad. They went to live among the people. 17Then the men of Judah went with their brothers the Simeonites, attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and devoted the city to destruction. So it was called Hormah. 18And Judah also captured Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron—each with its territory. 19The LORD was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the plains because they had chariots of iron. 20Just as Moses had promised, Judah gave Hebron to Caleb, who drove out the descendants of the three sons of Anak. 21The Benjamites, however, failed to drive out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. So to this day the Jebusites live there among the Benjamites. 22The house of Joseph also attacked Bethel, and the LORD was with them. 23They sent spies to Bethel (formerly known as Luz), 24and when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Please show us how to get into the city, and we will treat you kindly.” 25So the man showed them the entrance to the city, and they put the city to the sword but released that man and all his family. 26And the man went to the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called it Luz, which is its name to this day. 27At that time Manasseh failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and their villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land. 28When Israel became stronger, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor, but they never drove them out completely. 29Ephraim also failed to drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer; so the Canaanites continued to dwell among them in Gezer. 30Zebulun failed to drive out the inhabitants of Kitron and Nahalol; so the Canaanites lived among them and served as forced laborers. 31Asher failed to drive out the inhabitants of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, and Rehob. 32So the Asherites lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, because they did not drive them out. 33Naphtali failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath. So the Naphtalites also lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, but the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath served them as forced laborers. 34The Amorites forced the Danites into the hill country and did not allow them to come down into the plain. 35And the Amorites were determined to dwell in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim. But when the house of Joseph grew in strength, they pressed the Amorites into forced labor. 36And the border of the Amorites extended from the Ascent of Akrabbim to Sela and beyond.
Verses in Judges 1
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Chapters of Judges

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