[Alumnus, Tyson Ware, is a voracious reader. Here he shares some notes on a recent theological work on the book of Judges]
This book is written in the format of a symphony with the chapters Sounding, Overture, Variations and Coda. It is full of literary analysis and kind of academic but it has the air of true understanding and is written with a deep commitment to vindicate the book as a literary whole. The alternative theory of multiple-authorship with redaction of the composition of fragments, may minimize our attitude to Scripture and rob us of some of the teaching to be found in the book of Judges. Barry Webb is a gifted writer and Old Testament theologian of highly reputable character at Moore College in Sydney. I think he succeeds in this book in driving us back into reading the scriptures themselves with refreshed attentiveness and enthusiasm. I would commend you to grab a copy of his book. I have made some notes below of the points that stuck out to me, and then made some attempts to interpret the findings from a Christocentric perspective.
Some of the interesting findings:
- The individual Judges throw light upon each other so that the book should be read in an integrated way. There are recurring similarities, and a structure of Major Judges interspersed by Minors in a 1, 2, 3 pattern. Certain recurring motifs stitch the episodes together and develop irony.
- Yahweh's ways are unpredictable- Ehud the left handed man; surprising weapons- jawbone, oxgoad, tent peg (Samson, Shamgar, Jael); shaming through female accomplices- Deborah, Jael and woman millstone.
- There are similarities between judges- 300 torches- foxes tails tied together and Gideon's men; tentpeg = same word as hairpin (recall Samson).
- Samson is exasperated by Delilah’s relentless nagging to disclose…..Yahweh is exasperated (10:16, same word) by Israel’s misery, which moves him to give Israel salvation again.
Special attention should be given to the 3 Major Judges- Gideon, Jephthah and Samson.
These Judges dominate the narrative and throw light on Israel's relationship to Yahweh:
- Gideon- (Gideon-Abimelech is seen as one episode by Webb) Jerubbaal starts well in casting down idols but his own ephod becomes a snare— one idol is replaced by another…like a dog returning to its vomit….. Gideon protests that he will not rule over Israel, nor his son (8:23). The orthodox logic is that the One who wins the battle deserves to rule over Israel. However, Gideon’s king-like behaviour is betrayed by certain features- many wives, a concubine, 71 sons and summary punishment of the officials at Succoth. Abimelech (“my father is king”) makes the hypocrisy explicit. Gideon- Abimelech turn out to disobey the logic that Yahweh’s victories rightfully make Him Israel’s king.
- Jephthah- Jephthah is used by Israel in their time of need. He thereby parallels Israel's treatment of Yahweh. Israel is shown to be using Yahweh in their time of need. They have again done evil in the sight of Yahweh (10:6). A third and bitterly tragic dimension of selfish “using” is seen when Jephthah attempts to bribe Yahweh on account of the high stakes he has negotiated into. The “Do to us what seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day” (10:15) is echoed by “Do to me according to what has gone from your mouth…….. only…leave me alone 2 months….” (10:36-7). Israel uses Jephthah. Israel uses Yahweh. Jephthah uses Yahweh.
- Samson- set apart as a Nazirite - like Israel set apart amongst the nations; and yet he is self-engrossed and disinterested in his calling. Throughout his career, his acts as a Judge are coincidental rather than deliberate. Only at the end does there begin to be some overlap between his intentions and Yahweh's- however the impurity of Samson’s motives remains at the denouement when he seeks vengeance for his blindness and achieves more in his death than in his entire life.
Each of the 3 major Judges suffer ironic retributions:
- Abimelech slaughters on a stone and is killed by a millstone.
- The Ephraimites threaten to burn Jephthah’s house down after he has already sacrificed his only child to the flames (for another pun on “house” compare 2Samuel7).
- Samson, who has said earlier "She is right in my eyes," has his eyes put out.
- God has won the battle at Calvary- so Jesus is rightfully King over our lives.
- God shows mercy because he is appalled by our misery, but he is never used- We are admonished to walk in a manner worthy of our calling Eph 4:1 etc
- We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession that we may proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light! (1Pet 2:9)
By Tyson Ware
The saving acts that are achieved through these men, and their inclusion in Hebrews 11 should temper our negative estimates.
The introductory and concluding segments that sandwich the Judges narratives are also given treatment by Webb. The command to drive out the other nations is surpassed by their zeal against their own brothers as full blown civil war erupts when Sodom is duplicated at Gibeah. The same crime is in principle reduplicated at Shiloh to provide wives for the tribe of Benjamin.
What is the Christocentric message/ other legitimate take-home messages of Judges?
New Testament correlates to the cluster of motifs that are invoked by the 3 Major Judges segments:
