The Book of Judges in the Old Testament is a continuation of the Book of Joshua.
For more information on the Book of Joshua, please see this article.
What is the Book of Joshua about? Explain the summary!
What is the story of Joshua in the Old Testament? This is an easy-to-understand explanation of the summary of Book of Joshua, which comes after Torah!
Moses, who achieved the Exodus, and his successor, Joshua.
After Joshua's death, heroes called Judges lead the Israelites.
What can I say, this Book of Judges is just so confusing!
Names of people, lands, peoples, etc., etc., etc.
In this article, I would like to introduce the Book of Judges in a very rough outline.
Before the synopsis of the Book of Judges
What is the Judges anyway?
I would like to start by explaining.
Judges are, simply put, leaders.
The original meaning of the word is "one who governs" or "one who judges."
To put it simply, judges have two aspects: a politician and a judge.
In the Old Testament, they were the people who judged ancient Israel between the death of Joshua and the coming of the prophet Samuel.
The Judges are not hereditary, and their ruling area is limited to a few tribes and their surroundings, so to speak, in a decentralized form.
Judges are divided into two types of people: major judges and minor judges.
- Major judges: Heros who save their people from oppression by other tribes.
- Minor judges: judges and arbitrators.
The Book of Judges Synopsis
I would like to give you a very brief synopsis of the Book of Judges.
Let's get started!
The Appearance of Gideon
After Joshua's death, various rulers and judges of the Israelites fought, and the Israelites were ruled by the rulers of the time.
One day, a messenger of God appeared to a man named Gideon and said,
Gideon, I appoint you to be a judge.
Then Gideon broke the altar and the sacred tree that were already there and built an altar to Yahweh (God) there.
To learn more about Yahweh (God),
What does Yahweh mean in religion?
God used to be called "Yahweh". What is Yahweh that is common to all religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam? It's a surprisingly deep story!
Please read this article.
There were 32,000 soldiers gathered at Gideon's side, and God chose 300 of them.
Now let the battle begin!
Gideon and his 300 men fought against the Midianites.
Gideon and his 300 men dispersed to surround the Midianites and blew their horns around them.
Strangely enough, the enemy soldiers began to fight each other.
It is said that the number of Midianites who died at this time numbered 120,000.
The Appearance of Samson
After Gideon died, his son Abimelech died, and several more generations of judges appeared, Samson appeared.
Before Samson was born, the Philistine ruled over the Israelites.
One day, an angel of God appeared to Manoah's wife.
You will give birth to a boy. That child will be the one who will rescue Israel.
True to the words of God's messenger, Manoah's wife then gave birth to a son and named him Samson.
Samson married a Philistine woman living in Timnah, but Samson and the people of Timnah did not get along well and clashed.
I don't like those guys.
Samson defeated 1,000 Philistines, but was eventually captured by the Philistines and Samson's eyes were plucked out.
Although 3,000 Philistines gathered at the temple and tried to make a spectacle of Samson,
I... can't go on like this!
With his last ounce of strength, Samson toppled the pillars of the temple, causing the Philistines to fall to their deaths under the temple.
Various other Judges appeared thereafter, and the war between the Israelites and other peoples continued.
What is the Book of Judges?
The book of Judges is a story of various Judges who led the Israelites and caused conflicts in their respective eras.
What we have presented here is really only a part of the story.
It may be more appropriate to call it a record of battles rather than a story.
Moses escaped from Egypt to the land promised by God in the time of Abraham, and his successors managed to defend or invade the promised land.
See this article for how God intended to give the Promised Land.
Abraham life story in the Bible summary
A character in the Old Testament Book of Genesis, Abraham was the first prophet and is also called the "father of faith". What was his life like?
Here is the story of how Moses left Egypt for the Promised Land.
What is the Book of Exodus all about?
What was the life of the prophet Moses as described in "Book of Exodus"? Here's the story of Moses who performed the miracle of splitting the sea!