Questions tagged [judges]
Judges is the seventh book of the Hebrew Bible and the second book of the Former Prophets.
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Why are there so many unusual weapons used in Judges?
There are a number of unusual or unconventional weapons used in the book of Judges:
Shamgar uses an oxgoad to strike down Philistines (3:31)
Jael uses a tent peg to kill Sisera (4:21)
Gideon's army ...
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In a calling narrative, is the initial demurring to be viewed positively?
The calling narratives of Moses and Gideon both follow a similar pattern that involves the called person initially demurring to the calling. In Exodus 3:10-11 we read:
"So now, go. I am sending you ...
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What does Gideon's new name, Jerub-baal, mean?
In Judges 6:25, Gideon is told to destroy his father's alter to Baal and the Asherah pole next to it. When the people learn the next day that Gideon has broken it down they verbally spar with Gideon's ...
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Judges 21:19-25 Just carrying women away while they are dancing Seems like borderline mistreatment/abuse of women [closed]
Judges 21:19-25 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
19 So they said, “Behold, there is a feast of the Lord from year to
year in Shiloh, which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side
of ...
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Visible and Invisible God - Judges 6:22,23
I’m sorry if this is splitting hairs but this question is about the trinity or not.
Gideon has a visitation from an angel. He proceeds to bring him a sacrifice
“Please do not depart from here ...
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Does the story of Caleb and Aksah in Judges 1 have a pedagogical purpose?
Judges 1 tells how the people after Joshua fought to drive out the people of the land. Initially they are succeeding but by the end of the chapter they are failing at driving the people out, and this ...
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Was Deborah prophesying or judging - Judges 4:4,5
According to the Bible Deborah’s title and hence office/vocation was prophetess
“Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.”
Judges 4:4 ESV
It is ...
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How did Jerome arrive at his Translation of Judges 15:8?
Reading Judges this morning, I came across Judges 15:8:
Judges 15:8 (DRB) And he [Samson] made a great slaughter of them, so that in astonishment they laid the calf of the leg upon the thigh.
(The ...
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Did the Angel leave and return or was it a different event in Judges?
Judges chapter 6
21 Then the Angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat ...
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In Judges 8:18 what suggested royalty to Zebah and Zalmunna?
KJV Judges 8:18 Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king.
...
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In Judges 15:20 what does it mean that Samson “judged” Israel for twenty years?
KJV Judges 15:20 And he [Samson] judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
To read Samson's story is to watch a man of action, always anxious to be in the action. At least in the KJV,...
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In Judges 3:16 what is the length of a “gomed”?
In Judges 3:16, Ehud's sword or dagger was said to be a gomed in length. How long is a gomed? I'm aware some translations have cubit, but if it was a cubit, why wasn't the Hebrew word for cubit used?
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By the end of Judges (Judges 21:25) who comprised the Israelites?
This question is solely about the peoples in the document sets, not archaeological claims. Apologies if this is a bad fit: I checked the site tour; this seems to be an exegesis request in relation to ...
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In Judges 9:8-15, how did the trees talk? [closed]
In Judges 9:8-15, Jotham conveys a message about the trees speaking amongst themselves while seeking a king. Since I understand Jotham to be a prophet, he is presumably relaying a message from God. ...
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Which land were the Ammonites demanding in Judges 11:13?:
After besieging Gilead the Ammonites demanded their land which they claimed the Israelis took from them during their exodus from Egypt to Canaan.
Judges 11:4-13 KJV
4 And it came to pass in ...
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What is the purpose of the minor judges in the narrative?
After Gideon dies in Judges 8, we're given two short stories at the start of Judges 10:
After Abimelech there arose to save Israel Tola the son of Puah, son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, and he lived ...
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Is Psalm 110:6-7 an allusion to Judges 7:4-8?
BSB Psalm 110: 6He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead; He
will crush the leaders far and wide. 7He will drink from the brook
by the road; therefore He will lift up His head.
NIV ...
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Lapping like dogs or using their hands? An inconsistency in Judges 7:5-7
In Judges 7:5-7 God tells Gideon to make a test and to decide based on this who will stay with him and who will leave. This is what what we are told from verse 5 about the test:
And the LORD said ...
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How were the Danites acquainted with the young levite in Judges in 18:3?
Judges 18:2-3 (KJV)
2 And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said ...
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Why did Samson hide from his parents the two incidents in Judges 14?
Judges 14:6 (KJV)
6 And the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he ...
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Is it the fourth or the seventh day in Judges 14?
Judges 14 NASB
[15]Then it came about on the fourth day that they said to Samson's wife, "Entice your husband, so that he will tell us the riddle, or we will burn you and your father's house with ...
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A word ending in “ti”--in archaic Hebrew, who does it refer to?
In Judges 5:7 (in the song of Deborah) we find:
חָדְלוּ פְרָזוֹן בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל, חָדֵלּוּ, עַד שַׁקַּמְתִּי דְּבוֹרָה,
שַׁקַּמְתִּי אֵם בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל
The archaic Hebrew word shakamti is ...
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When Samson refers to his wife as a “heifer”, is he doing so in a derogatory sense?
I am reading in the book of Judges at chapter 14.The passage concerns a riddle given by Samson to thirty of his companions at a feast.Please read here.
The thirty companions put pressure on Samson's ...
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Exodus 23:20-21 A divine Angel?
Exodus 23:20-21(KJV) 20 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee
in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him ...
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How did Deborah (or any of the Judges) get their position?
Judges 4:4:
Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.
The text doesn't directly comment on how she came to be judging Israel. How might she have gotten such a ...
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Did Gideon build two Altars in one night in Judges 6?
(KJV) judges 6:24
24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
It seems in the above text Gideon built an ...
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Why does Luke call the birth of Christ a sign in Luke 2:11-12?
(KJV) Luke 2:11-12
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling
...
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Did the elders of Israel allow the men of Benjamin to rape the daughters of Shiloh in Judges 21?
Judges 21:16,20-21
[16]Then the elders of the congregation said, "What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?"
[20]And they commanded the ...
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Why did God allow the children of Israel to be defeated the first two times by Benjamin in Judges 20?
Judges 20
[18]Now the sons of Israel arose, went up to Bethel, and inquired of God and said, "Who shall go up first for us to battle against the sons of Benjamin?" Then the Lord said, "Judah shall ...
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What is being said about Samson and his hair in Judges 16:22?
Shortly after Samson's hair is cut, the author says that 'it began to grow again'. I assume that the author is saying Samson's hair started to grow back immediately after it was cut. If this is true, ...
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Age of Gideon's son
I know in biblical Hebrew that age of boys and girls was often determinable by the word the author used. In Judges 8:20 we read about Gideon's son Jether being afraid to murder Zebah and Zalmunna ...
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Could Jephthah get back his daughter?
Some hold the view that in Jephthah vow with the lord (Judges 11:30-39), he merely sacrificed his daughter as a servant in the tabernacle instead. However, wouldn't the laws of such things also ...
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Why did the Benjamites (in Gibeon) rape a foreigner?
In Judges 19 we read,
While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the
city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the
old man who owned the house, “Bring ...
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1answer
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Did Gideon doubt the angelic visitation in judges 6?
Judges 6:12 NASB
[12]The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, "The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior."
In the above text Gideon is visited by an angel of Lord then given a sign,but ...
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In what sense is the word זנה used in judges 19:2?
Judges 19:2 (KJV)
And his concubine played the whore (זנה) against him, and went away from him unto her father's house to Beth-lehem-judah, and was there four whole months.
Septuagint
Judges 19:2 ...
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Who was the Gilead of Judges 11?
In Judges 11: 1-3 it reads:
Jephthah [Yiftach] the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. His father was
Gilead; his mother was a prostitute. 2 Gilead’s wife also bore him
sons, and when they were ...
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Ehud, a Left-Handed Man
When Ehud is introduced in Judges 3:15, it is mentioned that he is a left-handed man. "Again the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he gave them a deliverer—Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera ...
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Was Hobab father in-law or brother in-law to Moses?
Judges 4:11 (NKJV)
11 Now Heber the Kenite, of the children of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, had separated himself from the Kenites and pitched his tent near the terebinth tree at Zaanaim, ...
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What is the accurate English translation of Judges 8:18 (Codex Alexandrinus)?
καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς Ζεβεε καὶ Σαλμανα ποῦ οἱ ἄνδρες οὓς ἀπεκτείνατε ἐν
Θαβωρ καὶ εἶπαν ὡσεὶ σύ ὅμοιος σοί ὅμοιος αὐτῶν ὡς εἶδος μορφὴ υἱῶν
βασιλέων Judges 8:18 A
What is the English translation that ...
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Summary of textual variations and history of Judges 6:12-16?
In Judges 6:12,14,16 we have the angel of the LORD appear to Gideon, but then he is just referred to by LORD, that is, just the tetragrammaton.
12 And the angel of the LORD[?] appeared to him and ...
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What are the literary and narrative features Judges 1?
What literary or structural features are within the context of Judges 1? I'm finding this chapter exceedingly difficult to come to grips with in relation to the rest of the book. Are there any books ...
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Why does Judges 18:1 say that Dan had no inheritance?
Judges 18:1 says that Dan had no inheritance but Joshua 19:40-48 indicates otherwise. What am I missing?
Judges 18:1 ESV
In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe
of ...
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Who laps and who kneels? Judges 7:5
In Judges 7:5
So he took the troops down to the water. Then the Lord said to Gideon, “Set apart all those who lap up the water with their tongues like dogs from all those who get down on their ...
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Message of the Sodom/Gibeah parallel
The narrative in Genesis with Lot's guests (19:1-11) and the one at the end of Judges with the concubine at Gibeah (Chapter 19) obviously parallel each other, and (as noted by Daat Mikra) even share ...
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Means of transportation in the case of Jephthah and his daughter [duplicate]
Can we infer from the Bible passage below (or from other sources) that Jephthah was passing the lengths of the territory on his legs or rather there is the possibility for other means of ...
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What is the significance of the honey inside the lion's carcass?
In Judges 14, Samson kills a lion and leaves the body there. When he comes back to it, a swarm of bees has taken over and there is now honey there:
5 Samson went down to Timnah together with his ...
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1answer
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Judges 3:9 and the meaning of זעק
In Judges 3:9 we read:
“When the children of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised
up a deliverer for the children of Israel, who delivered them: Othniel
the son of Kenaz, Caleb's ...
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2answers
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Why was, “for they were Ishmaelites” considered an explanation for why the Midianites had golden earrings in Judges 8:24?
Gideon's Ephod
Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your
son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of
Midian.” Gideon said to them, “I will not ...
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1answer
494 views
Where is Karkor?
From Judges 8:10-11 (ESV):
Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about 15,000
men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the East, for
there had fallen 120,000 men ...
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1answer
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Why did 400,000 men of the Tribes of Israel assemble over one rape in Judges 19:20-30 and Judges 20?
In Judges 19:20-30, a Levite is faced with the rape of his concubine and the tribes of Israel destroy the tribe of Benjamin over it. Why?
