The Old Testament
A Historical, Theological, and Critical Introduction
Chapter
7. Judges
Bible Reading Guide
- What part of Benjamin did the Benjaminites not conquer?
- When did the people begin to serve the Baals?
- Who was Othniel?
- Who was Jael?
- Which tribe stayed among the sheep pens rather than help Deborah?
- What was the incident regarding Gideon and the altar of Baal?
- By what means were Gideon’s three hundred fighting men chosen?
- What did Gideon make from the rings that the Israelites had taken?
- What was the point of the fable about the thornbush?
- What did Israel do to persuade God to help them in the Ammonite oppression?
- How did Jephthah respond to the charge of the Ammonite king?
- How did Jephthah respond to the charge of the Ephraimites?
- What did the angel require from Manoah’s wife for the birth of a child?
- Whence came Samson’s riddle?
- Why did Samson allow other Israelites to bind him?
- Before cutting his hair, what did Samson tell Delilah would weaken him?
- What did Micah’s mother purchase?
- What did the five Danites take from Micah’s house?
- What caused the rape of the concubine?
- What caused all Israel to unite for the first time in Judges?
- From what two cities did Israel obtain wives for the Benjaminites?
Study Questions
- Which recension of the Septuagint probably preserves the original Greek Judges?
- Who killed Jabin?
- What was “Shibboleth” in the Judges story?
- Who did Micah hire for a priest?
- In early Christian allegory, what do the two pillars of Samson represent?
- In the opinion of most, how much of Judges is Deuteronomistic?
- What does the literary pattern in Judges suggest about its historical worth?
- What do Deborah and Barak and Tukuliti-Ninurta I share?
- What other biblical character resembles Samson?
- What corresponds to the worsening fortunes of Israel in Judges?
- As propaganda, how is Judges sometimes understood?
- When do the number of villages in the central hill country increase dramatically?
- Discoveries of abecedaries at Izbet Sartah and Tel Zayit suggest what?
- Who was Cushan-Rishathaim?
- The Jabin who fought Deborah is king of Hazor, but more often he is what?
- By the end of Judges, who is the enemy?
- Overall, what does the cycle of the judges prefigure?