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Judges, The Book of


The seventh book in the OT, containing stories of people and events in the period between the death of Joshua and the establishment of the monarchy. The book attempts to address the fundamental issue of how Israel organized itself and was governed upon entry into the promised land.

Outline of Contents

Judges

I. Introduction: conquest and final settlement (Judg 1:1-3:6)

II. History of the judges (Judg 3:7-16:31)

A. Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar (Judg 3:7-31)

B. Deborah and Barak versus royal coalition (Judg 4:1-5:31)

C. Gideon (Judg 6-8) and Abimelech (Judg 9)

D. “Minor” judges and Jephthah (Judg 10:1-12:15)

E. Samson (Judg 13:1-16:31)

III. Supplementary stories (Judg 17-21)

A. Micah and the Levite (Judg 17)

B. The migration of the Danites (Judg 18)

C. Rape and murder of a Levite’s concubine (Judg 19)

D. Civil war (Judg 20-21)

  • Powell, Mark Allan, ed. HarperCollins Bible Dictionary. Abridged Edition. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2009.