Gideon was of the tribe of manasseh and was used by god to achieve a mighty victory over the midianites who had been oppressing israel. The best example of this is daniel block, whose commentary on judges is widely considered one of the best on the book. Then the children of israel did evil in the sight of the lord. These books tell of the israelites reign over the land of canaan and have a heavy focus on divine reward and punishment. A critical and exegetical commentary on judgesintroduction. The author of the book of judges, was in exile in babylonia. In the narrative of the hebrew bible, it covers the time between the conquest described in the book of joshua and the establishment of a kingdom in the books of samuel, during which biblical judges served as temporary leaders. Overall, scripture suggests that israel was just as wicked under the leadership of judges, as it was later under the reign of kings. One thing we learn in the book of judges is that a people who spend much of their time in disobedience to. After abimelech there arose to save israel tola the son of puah, the son of dodo, a man of issachar.
Judges 8 matthew henrys concise commentary on the bible. An easyenglish bible version and commentary 2800 word vocabulary on the book of judges. Gideon lapsed into doubt despite and samson continuously pursued philistine women. For my first exegetical paper on judges, i have selected the passage about deborah and barak, in judges 4. The book of judges is the second book in neviim prophets, the second section of the tanach hebrew bible. It was very sure that the lord was with him, when his angel was with him. It is considered part of the deuteronomic history that begins in the last book of the torah and ends with the second book of kings. The fear that clutched at gideon s heart came from the knowledge that no man could see god and live. The text says that the spirit of the lord was upon jephthah, as it describes his victory over the ammonites. However, in the case of judges the major theme of the book is reserved for the end. He is introduced in chapter 6 of the book while he was collecting wheat and hiding it from the enemy. The new international commentary on the old testament.
The fear that clutched at gideons heart came from the. The title, judges, or, the book of judges, which the book bears in the jewish and christian bibles, is given to it because it relates the exploits of a succession of israelite leaders and champions who, in the book itself as well as in other parts of the old testament, are called judges. The chief judges were deborah, gideon, samson and samuel the book begins with compromise and ends with confusion. Rhetorical use of texts, exegetical paper 1 judges. Oct 29, 20 while some judges were godly deborah, eli, samuel, there were also judges who were guilty of fornication with prostitutes samson, excessive polygamy gideon, and child sacrifice jephthah. God chose 300 soldiers because those were the men who passed the two tests. And those who are the most backward to difficult services, will be the most angry not to have the credit of them. The first test reduced gideon s army from 32,000 to 10,000 judges 7. The angel of the lord came and sat down under the oak in ophrah that belonged to joash the abiezrite, where his son gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it. We will see a cycle that the israelites pass through repeatedly in the history of the judges. A study of the life of gideon from the standpoint of lessons of faith for disciples. Yes, he knew the book of moses, and it hardly needs mentioning that hundreds of examples of this same phenomenon utterly contradict and destroy the critical fairy tale about the pentateuchs being a late production.
The book of judges, sefer shoftim is the seventh book of the hebrew bible and the christian old testament. Therefore, when we come to the story of gideon in the book of judges, you are probably expecting me to pounce on gideon as another one of the bad boys of the bible. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. It most cases the narrator of any particular book will highlight the theme in the beginning paragraphs or the opening narrative within the book. Wilcocks introductory level commentary on judges is a helpful and practical exposition of the text. The fear that clutched at gideons heart came from the knowledge that no man could see god and live. Gideon judge in israel amazing bible timeline with world. Jul 24, 2017 the book of judges as a whole unfolds culminating with this conclusion.
The form of government in the days of judges was a theocracy, that is, god himself ruled over the nation. Preachers and teachers will find much of value within. In general, we see in the book of judges that it is gods power that provides victory. The book of judges is the second book in the deuteronomic history, a history that begins with the farewell address of moses in deuteronomy and ends with the exile of judah in 587 b. Judges 7 commentary matthew henry commentary on the whole. Judges 6 commentary commentary critical and explanatory on. The first test reduced gideons army from 32,000 to 10,000 judges 7. Im not going to tell you that gideon is a stellar example of faith and obedience, a man whose example we should all. A critical and exegetical commentary on judges by moore, george foot, 18511931. Excerpt from ariels bible commentary on the book of judges.
Those who will not attempt or venture any thing in the cause of god, will be the most ready to censure and quarrel with such as are of a more zealous and enterprising spirit. Gideon was familiar with the five books of moses yes, they most certainly existed when samuel wrote the book of judges, and the passage in exodus 33. In this pericope, deborah is presented in a way that is unique in the hebrew bible, and yet both the bible and scholars seem to underrate her importance. Gideon was also familiar with the same teaching judges 6. Just as the book of deuteronomy ends with the death of moses deuteronomy 34 and the book of joshua begins with the commissioning of joshua joshua 1. Skim the book of judges, reading as much as you can, and state the theme of the book.
Gideon said in a way of humble supplication, for the strengthening his own faith, and for the greater encouragement of his soldiers in this great attempt. While some judges were godly deborah, eli, samuel, there were also judges who were guilty of fornication with prostitutes samson, excessive polygamy gideon, and child sacrifice jephthah. The majority of modern commentators view the judges in the worst possible light. Questions tagged bookofjudges christianity stack exchange. May 19, 2012 the book of judges in je seems to have begun with the death of joshua, and to have closed with the great discourse of samuel, 1 s.
The book of judges was probably written after the reforms of josiah in 622 b. There are a number of other helpful commentaries on the book of judges, including those by andrew fausset, victor h. Judges 6 commentary james burton coffman commentaries on. So the lord delivered them into the hand of midian for seven years, a. Personally, i cannot fault gideon for seeking this confirmation of gods identity. Oct 09, 2017 the book of judges is not an allegory, but a book of historical events recorded to show why mans ways are not good, but gods ways are perfect. In view of the rapidly escalating cost of printing it does seem regrettable that the actual text of scripture, which is usually available to the average reader, is incorporated, as this further exposes the limitations of the series. Judges by trent butler is an outstanding addition both to the word biblical commentary series and to scholarly literature on the book of judges, being both very readable and rigorously scholarly. Gideon was the son of joash, from the abiezrite clan in the tribe of manasseh and lived in ephra ophrah. Entering into conversation on the engrossing topic of the times, the grievous oppression of the midianites, he.
The key to interpreting any historical book like judges is to discover the major theme of the book. Judges spans about 350 years from joshuas conquest ca. The translated bible text has been through advanced checking words in boxes are from the bible. Sometimes god shows his displeasure with such requests. Gideon probably didnt understand that he was actually dictating his terms to god. Gideon had the might of the teachable, because he listened to what the angel of the lord said gideon had the might of the weak, and gods strength is perfected in weakness 2 corinthians 12. The remained watchful and prepared for any emergency. In judges, the israelites turn away from god and face the consequences. D, which implies it is more likely a result of eiosgesis than sound exegesis. But the people with their polluted and darkened hearts rebelled over and over against god.
Their power pressed so severely upon the israelites, that before or because of them the latter made them the ravines which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds, sc. Judges 6 bible commentary wesleys explanatory notes. On the contrary, when god is forgotten or ignored, bad things happen. Biblical monarchy and the book of judges the orthodox life. Every man must cry, for the lord, and for gideon, so some think it should be read in v. Jul 20, 2008 wilcocks introductory level commentary on judges is a helpful and practical exposition of the text. It probably contained all the stories in our judges except that of othniel. Judges 8 commentary gideon pacifies the ephraimites. It should seem, he borrowed the word from the midianites dream.
An angel came to him and asked him to take on the task of overthrowing the midianites the story of. Judges 8 then the men of ephraim said to him, what is. Watch our overview video on the book of judges, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. To reduce thirtytwo thousand to three hundred was a strange way of preparing for a fight.
Judges 7 commentary matthew henry commentary on the. Yet verse 30 says, and jephthah made a vow to the lord. Wherever we are, we may speak to god, and worship him. The writer of judges structured this book so the story of gideon would be its focal center. Apr 15, 2009 the ras shamra tablets where later discovered in the early 20th century, even though the stories and acountings of the judges where already known and written. Gideon then built an altar to the lord and called it the lord is peace. Why the commentaries are wrong about the judges knowing. The book of judges belongs to a specific historical tradition which is called the deuteronomic history. In the story of gideon judges 68, near the end it talks about gideon building an ephod out of the gold earrings from the spoils of the battle against the midianites.
Judges 6 commentary commentary critical and explanatory. These have been made possible by the narrators indepth writing styles present in the brief nature of their respective works. Judges 7 matthew henrys concise commentary on the bible. The purpose of the wbc series is to publish exegetical commentaries that remain accessible and useful to those without a strong background in biblical languages. The book of judges is not an allegory, but a book of historical events recorded to show why mans ways are not good, but gods ways are perfect. Examines the storys context in the period of the judges, the conquest of canaan, gideons victory over the midianites and amalakites, and his final setting up of a gold ephod which became a. The number of judges counted in this time period varies from 16, upward to 19 or 20 if others are counted that are not mentioned in judges or 1samuel. One thing we learn in the book of judges is that a people who spend much of their time in disobedience to god make little progress during their lifetime. A word list at the end explains words with a star by them. The signification of the hebrew word is, however, much wider than that of the greek, the latin. These books tell of the israelites reign over the land of canaan and have a heavy focus on divine. Book of judges bible study chapter 6 gideon and the power. Mar 09, 2016 watch our overview video on the book of judges, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought.
G ideon was the fifth judge over israel in the book of judges. Judges 6 commentary james burton coffman commentaries. Examines the storys context in the period of the judges, the conquest of canaan, gideon s victory over the midianites and amalakites, and his final setting up of a gold ephod which became a snare to the israelites and his own family. The book of judges takes its name from the gifted leaders hebrew shopetim, who guided the fortunes of israel from the death of joshua to the days of samuel, israels last judge. Methodology paper using narrative criticism to interpret the book of judges the book of judges as a narrative generations of scholars have admired and studied the high degree of artistic composition in the hebrew bible polzin 11. Book of judges bible study chapter 6 gideon and the power of.
Publication date 1918 topics bible publisher edinburgh. If the angel had told gideon that he would defeat the 5,000 person army of the. Book of judges bible study commentary the message of judges chapter six gideon and the power of weakness part 1 by i gordon. The fear of gideon and his men was great enough that israel lived in peace and worshiped god for the next 40 years until gideons death judges 8. Verse 37 37 behold, i will put a fleece of wool in the floor. Assignments on judges 1 please read the whole book of judges at least once as we study chapter 1. This further volume of the cambridge bible commentary, based on the neb, follows the now familiar pattern of the series. Gideon bible story summary with lesson g ideon was the fifth judge over israel in the book of judges. The judges judges 316 deborah judges 45 the economic effects of war judges 6.