Thread by @JamesBejon

THREAD: Tonight I plan to have a bash at Judges 2 and possibly a bit of ch. 3 for those who are interested.

Ch. 2 describes a ‘change of guard’ in Israel: Joshua and his contemporaries pass away, and a new generation arises in their place.

2.1. At the outset of ch. 2, the Angel/Messenger of YHWH appears to the Israelites and confronts them with their sin. He speaks in the first person on YHWH’s behalf (“I brought you up out of Egypt...”).

The Angel is said to have travelled up from Gilgal to Bochim, which may refer to the movement of the Tabernacle. (I cannot think what else it would refer to.)

If ch. 1 has overtones of Eden, then ch. 2 has overtones of the fall. As soon as they enter the land, the Israelites compromise themselves. They intermingle with the nations roundabout (cp. 3.5-6) and suffer as a result. (“Their gods will be a snare to you.”)

In light of what had happened at the time of the exodus, it was absurd for the Israelites to play around with pagan gods, but then all sin is ultimately absurd, and none of us are immune to fits of absurdity.

2.8. Joshua dies at the age of 110, which is noteworthy since multiples of 11 are more common in Judges than would be expected.

Joshua lives for 110 years. Jair reigns for 22 years. 22,000 people depart from Gideon as part of his selection process. Delilah is given 1,100 pieces of silver for her betrayal of Samson.

Micah’s mother also ends up in possession of 1,100 pieces of silver (16.5, 17.2), apparently as a result of a similar act of betrayal. And 22,000 Benjaminites fall in a single day at the close of the Book (20.21).

These numbers are significant (as are all of the numbers involved in Judges, though I do not claim to have deciphered their significance in every case).

Perhaps 11 is significant insofar as it is not quite 12 and hence denotes incompleteness, which is a major feature of the Book’s narrative. (If anyone has any better ideas, please let me know.)

2.10. In the aftermath of Joshua’s death, a new generation of Israelites arise. These Israelites, however, do not ‘know’ YHWH in the same way as their fathers did. Ch. 2 therefore stresses the importance of experience in our knowledge of YHWH.

A knowledge of YHWH is not acquired in life simply by the absorption of certain propositions. It requires us to ‘see’ how God works in our lives (2.7, 10) and to learn from our experiences, which YHWH employs to ‘test’ us and to teach us how to fight for and obey him (3.2, 4).

Note: The next generation’s lack of knowledge of YHWH may not merely have been a result of the passage of time. The Israelites were meant to ‘remember’--i.e., to remind themselves of--the Passover and its attendant events...

...and were to teach their children about these events’ significance and reality (Exod. 12.23ff.). In many cases, however, they seem to have failed to do so (though not in all cases: 6.13), which destined their sons and daughters for failure.

(The text of 2.21 provides a nice example of a vayyiqtol form which has a ‘narrative present’ sense. The word וַיָּמֹת in the phrase הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר־עָזַב יְהוֹשֻׁעַ וַיָּמֹת does not introduce a new timeframe; rather, it inherits the environment defined by אֲשֶׁר.)

2.11. The remainder of ch. 2 provides a summary of the general shape of the book of Judges. It portrays the events of the next few hundred years as a tale of compromise and disobedience (2.11-15) punctuated by the rise of various judges (שופטים)--

--a period of inevitable decline, occasionally relieved by God’s gracious ‘intervention’. As such, the text of 2.11ff. tells us a number of things about Israel’s judges.

First, Israel’s judges do not represent an unbroken line of rulers. They come from a various different tribes, and, at many junctures, the Israelites are without any judge at all, at which point they invariably backslide.

Second, Israel’s judges do not simply arise (לקום) in Israel at fortuitous moments; they are *caused* to arise (להקים) by YHWH, just as YHWH causes other rulers to rise and fall in world history (Dan. 2.21).

And, third, the role of Israel’s judges is not to promote law and order, but to ‘save’ (ישע cp. 2.16, 28, 3.31, etc.), which is why they can be referred to as ‘saviours’ (מוֹשִׁיעִים).

These facts have theological implications. First, aside from God’s salvation, man invariably tends towards decline and deterioration, and the work of merely human saviours is insufficient to reverse this decline.

Second, salvation is God’s divine initiative. And, third, salvation is a process which takes place in time and over time.

Before we close, two further observations. First, in the OT, nations are frequently spoken of as if they are possessions and are involved in financial transactions.

YHWH ‘redeemed’ (גאל) the Israelites from Egypt (Exod. 15.13) at the expense of other nations (Isa. 43.4), the Israelites became his unique possession (Lev. 25.42), which makes him able to ‘sell’ (מכר) them back into slavery in ch. 2, i.e., into the hands of another nation.

Second, the order of events described in 2.11ff. is noteworthy. Initially Israel assimilated aspects of the nations’ culture--that is to say, they assimilated the nations’ gods into their worship--, and then they came under the nations’ power.

Such, it seems, is often the way of things in the present age. When we buy into non-Christian practices, we buy into a whole mindset and system of thought, and ultimately (unless we address the problem) we come under its power.

Next, the latter half of ch. 3.