Right Words

The first 16 chapters of Judges describe the transition to this period (ch. 1-2) and the exploits of the judges from Othniel to Samson (Eli and Samuel were the last judges before the monarchy, as described in 1 Sam. 1-7; cf. 1 Sam. 4:18, 7:15-17). The events of Judg. 1-16 are roughly chronological. The remaining chapters are in two sets – 17-18 and 19-21 – and, in my view, serve as appendices to the main body of Judges. Here’s why I think so:

Judg. 17-18. These chapters don’t describe the actions of any judge but an incident in the days of the judges (as do Judg. 19-21 and Ruth 1-4). Since the Danite conquest of Laish (or Leshem) is mentioned in Josh. 19:47, the events in Judg. 17-18 likely occurred early in Judges, rather than hundreds of years passing before the Danites sought “lebensraum” for their tribe.

Judg. 19-21. The events in these chapters occur while Phinehas is the high priest (20:27-28), putting them near the beginning of the Judges period rather than at the end, Eleazer being the high priest during the transition from Joshua to the judges (Josh. 24:31-33).

To cite one commentator in general terms, the last five chapters of Judges present two profiles of the spiritual declension in this period of Israel’s history. Things got SO bad that a part of one tribe permanently turned to idolatry (Judg. 18:30): no wonder Jeroboam set up one of his calves in Dan, since the northern Danites had been idolaters for hundreds of years by the time he did so (1 Kings 12:29-30). Moreover, another tribe had sunk so low that they were almost extirpated for their heinous crimes and refusal to repent (Judg. 20:12-21), even attacking their brethren from “the scene of the crime” (20:21).

On a final note, multiple books in scripture are not in chronological order, especially the prophetic books – including Revelation, which presents four separate accounts of the second coming of Christ, just as the gospels present four separate accounts of the first coming (Rev. 6, 8-11, 12-14, 16-19). In Judges, the LORD chooses to give us the overall chronology of the times first, then adds two incidents occurring early in this period to complete the book and the spiritual picture of Israel when “there was no king in Israel…and every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judg. 17:6, 21:25), this statement occurring at the beginning and ending of the “appendices.”