Judges
Judges [1]
Judges, Book of, derives its title from the fact that it gives us the history of the Israelites under the administration of 15 Judges, viz., from 18 or 20 years after the death of Joshua to the time of Saul. The chronology is uncertain. This book has been well styled a commentary upon the text: "Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people." Proverbs 14:34. It may be divided into two parts: 1. Chaps. 3-16, an account of God's successive deliverances; 2. Chaps. 17-21, an account, detached from the preceding and out of chronological order, of the invasion of Laish by the Danites, in connection with the story of Micah and his priest, Jonathan, chaps. 17-18; and an account of the revenge of the insult to the Levite, chaps. 19-21, the whole prefaced with an introduction, chaps. 1-3. The book is quite evidently a compilation from existent and trustworthy materials. Its date is uncertain.
