Judges

Deuteronomistic History

Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings

Edited older sources

Divine motives added by editor

Explains history as a cycle of sin-chastisement-repentance-restoration

History as revelation

• God steers earthly events, humans observe patterns in history (cf. other forms of God’s self-revelation)
• “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”
• These books are closer to the modern understanding of history in that they do preserve verifiable and/or plausible names and dates, but still not concerned with verifiable accuracy as an end itself.

Mixed feelings about the monarchy

A king besides god?

Israel originally a loose confederation of tribes

Judges 8:22-23 (HTML)

Judges 9:7-15

Judges 21:25

1 Sam 8

1 Sam 9:26 — 10:1

1 Sam 10:17-27

1 Sam 11:12-15

Push for a strong central government as a response to threats

Views toward monarchy changed with good and bad kings

Major figures before the united monarchy (1200-1000)

Samson and Jephthah covered by Collins

Hannah

• Mother of Samuel
• Miraculous birth motif
• Influence on NT (HTML)

Samuel

• Last judge, first prophet
• Anoints Saul and David

Saul

• First king, but not all tribes
• Loses God’s favor by being more practical than pious