Judges

After Joshua’s death Judah—assisted by Simeon—leads the fight, captures Bezek and maims King Adoni-bez ek, seizes Jerusalem, Hebron, Debir, and the Negev. Caleb’s nephew Othniel wins Achsah and her springs. Yet iron chariots stop full coastal conquest and most tribes leave Canaanites in the land, merely subjecting them to forced labor.

The Angel of the LORD at Bochim rebukes Israel for covenanting with pagans; God vows the nations will become thorns. A new generation forgets God, repeatedly turns to Baal, is sold to enemies, then delivered by judges—a cycle that will mark the entire era.

To test Israel God leaves Philistines and other peoples. Oppression cycles begin: Othniel frees Israel from Mesopotamia (40 years peace); Ehud assass­inates obese King Eglon and routs Moab (80 years peace); Shamgar slays 600 Philistines with an ox-goad.

Under prophetess Deborah and general Barak, 10 000 Israelites defeat Jabin’s commander Sisera and his 900 iron chariots; Sisera flees and is killed when Jael drives a tent-peg through his skull, fulfilling Deborah’s prophecy that a woman would gain the glory.

The Song of Deborah and Barak praises God’s victory, lauds willing tribes, rebukes those who stayed home, extols Jael, and ends with a blessing on lovers of God and forty years of rest.

Midianite raids devastate Israel for seven years. The Angel of the LORD calls timid Gideon to deliver Israel, confirms with fire-consumed offering. Gideon destroys his father’s Baal altar, earns the name Jerubbaal, and asks God for fleece signs before battle.

God pares Gideon’s army from 32 000 to 300 so victory will be clearly divine. Encouraged by a Midianite dream, Gideon’s men blow trumpets, break pitchers, and brandish torches at night; the Midianites panic and slaughter one another while fleeing.

Gideon placates Ephraim, pursues and captures kings Zebah and Zalmunna, punishes Succoth and Penuel for withholding aid, and refuses kingship saying, “The LORD will rule.” He fashions a golden ephod from plunder that becomes an idol. Midian is subdued and the land rests forty years.

Abimelech, Gideon’s son by a concubine, murders 70 brothers to seize power in Shechem. Jotham’s fable of the bramble curses him. After three turbulent years Abimelech razes Shechem and burns its tower, but at Thebez a woman drops a millstone on his head and his armorbearer finishes him, fulfilling Jotham’s curse.

Minor judges Tola (23 yrs) and Jair (22 yrs) lead peacefully. Israel again serves Baal and foreign gods; Philistines and Ammonites oppress for 18 years. When Israel repents, God relents but first reminds them of past deliverances, leaving them to await a champion.

Outcast warrior Jephthah is summoned to fight Ammon; he negotiates, cites Israel’s lawful possession, and vows to offer whatever first exits his house if God grants victory. Ammon is crushed, but his only daughter greets him, and he fulfills the tragic vow, commemorated annually by Israel’s maidens.

Ephraim attacks Jephthah for excluding them; Gilead wins and uses the password “Shibboleth,” killing 42 000 Ephraimites. Jephthah judges six years. Minor judges follow: Ibzan (7 yrs), Elon (10 yrs), and Abdon (8 yrs).

For forty years the Philistines dominate. The Angel of the LORD tells barren Manoah’s wife she will bear a Nazirite son who will begin Israel’s deliverance. Samson is born, dedicated from the womb, and God’s Spirit starts to stir him in Mahaneh-dan.

Samson demands a Philistine bride from Timnah; on the way he kills a lion bare-handed and later eats honey from its carcass. At the wedding he poses a riddle; when the bride coaxes the answer, Samson kills 30 Ashkelon men for the wager garments and storms off, and the bride is given to his best man.

Discovering his wife remarried, Samson burns Philistine grain with 300 foxes. Philistines retaliate by burning her and her father, so Samson slaughters many. Judah hands him bound to Philistines, but he breaks free and kills 1 000 with a donkey’s jawbone. God miraculously provides water; Samson judges 20 years.

Samson removes Gaza’s gates, then is ensnared by Delilah, who extracts the secret of his uncut hair. Shorn, blinded, and imprisoned, he grinds grain until his hair regrows. Brought to Dagon’s temple, Samson pushes the pillars, collapsing the building and killing himself and thousands of Philistines—more in death than life.

Micah in Ephraim sets up a private shrine with a silver idol and hires a wandering Levite as personal priest, believing this will secure divine favor—illustrating religious chaos in Israel.

Danite spies recruit Micah’s Levite and steal his idols. Six hundred Danites capture the peaceful city of Laish, rename it Dan, and install the idol with Jonathan, Moses’ grandson, as priest—entrenching idolatry until the exile.

A Levite’s concubine is raped to death by Benjamites in Gibeah. He dismembers her body into twelve pieces and sends them throughout Israel, shocking the nation and summoning the tribes to action.

Israel unites to punish Gibeah; Benjamin refuses to surrender the guilty, fielding 26 700 warriors. After two bloody setbacks Israel prays and prevails on the third day, annihilating Benjamin except 600 survivors who flee to Rimmon.

Bound by an oath not to give daughters to Benjamin, Israel provides wives by slaughtering Jabesh-gilead and capturing virgins, then allowing Benjamites to seize dancers at Shiloh—preserving the tribe but highlighting national moral collapse: “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”