Chapter 12

(G. Mi.)

1Other forms make him a Danite, and consider the passage in Genesis (xlix. 17) a prophecy of the traitor.

JUDAS-TREE,theCercis siliquastrumof botanists, belonging to the sectionCaesalpineaeof the natural order Leguminosae. It is a native of the south of France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Asia Minor, and forms a handsome low tree with a flat spreading head. In Spring it is covered with a profusion of purplish-pink flowers, which appear before the leaves. The flowers have an agreeable acid taste, and are eaten mixed with salad or made into fritters. The tree was frequently figured by the older herbalists. One woodcut by Castor Durante has the figure of Judas Iscariot suspended from one of the branches, illustrating the popular tradition regarding this tree. A second species,C. canadensis, is common in North America from Canada to Alabama and eastern Texas, and differs from the European species in its smaller size and pointed leaves. The flowers are also used in salads and for making pickles, while the branches are used to dye wool a nankeen colour.

JUDD, SYLVESTER(1813-1853) American Unitarian clergyman and author, was born in Westhampton, Massachusetts, on the 23rd of July 1813. He bore the same name as his father and grandfather; the former (1789-1860) made an especial study of local history of the towns of the Connecticut valley, and wrote aHistory of Hadley(1863). The son lived in Northampton after his tenth year, was converted in a revival there in 1826, graduated from Yale in 1836, and taught in 1836 at Templeton, Mass., where he first met Unitarians and soon found the solution of his theological difficulties in their views. He entered the Harvard divinity school, from which he graduated in 1840. In the same year he was ordained pastor of the Unitarian church of Augusta, Maine, where he died on the 26th of January 1853. His widest reputation was as the author ofMargaret, a Tale of the Real and the Ideal, including Sketches of a place not before described, called Mons Christi(1845; revised 1851), written to exhibit the errors of Calvinistic and all trinitarian theology, and the evils of war, intemperance, capital punishment, the prison system of the time, and the national treatment of the Indians. This story, published anonymously, attracted much attention by its true descriptions of New England life and scenery as well as by its author’s earnest purpose.Richard Edney and the Governor’s Family(1850) is in much the same vein asMargaret. A poem entitledPhilo, an Evangeliad(1850) is a versified defence of Unitarianism. He published, besides,The Church, in a Series of Discourses(1854). As a preacher and pastor he urged the desirability of infant baptism. He lectured frequently on international peace and opposed slavery.

See Arethusa Hall,Life and Character of the Rev. Sylvester Judd(Boston, 1857) published anonymously.

JUDE, THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF,a book of the New Testament. As with the epistle of James, the problems of the writing centre upon the superscription, which addresses in Pauline phraseology (1 Thess. i. 4; 2 Thess. ii. 13; Rom. i. 7; 1 Cor. 1. 2) the Christian world in general in the name of “Jude, the brother of James” (Matt. xiii. 55; Mark vi. 3). The historical situation depicted must then fall within the lifetime of this Judas, whose two grandchildren Zoker and James (Hegesippusap.Phil. Sidetes) by their testimony before the authorities brought to an end the (Palestinian) persecution of Domitian (Hegesippusap.Eus.H. E.iii. 20, 7). These two grandsons of Judas thereafter “lived until the time of Trajan,” ruling the churches “because they had (thus) been witnesses (martyrs) and were also relatives of the Lord.” But in that case we must either reject the testimony of the same Hegesippus that up to their death, and that of Symeon son of Clopas, successor in the Jerusalem see of James the Lord’s brother, “who suffered martyrdom at the age of one hundred and twenty years while Trajan was emperor and Atticus governor,” “the church (universal) had remained a pure and uncorrupted virgin” free from “the folly of heretical teachers”; or else we must reject the superscription, which presents the grandfather in vehement conflict with the very heresies in question. For the testimony of Hegesippus is explicit that at the time of the arrest of Zoker and James they were all who survived of the kindred of the Lord. True, there is confusion in the narrative of Hegesippus, and even a probability that the martyrdom of Symeon dated under Trajan really took place in the persecution of Domitian, before the arrest of the grandsons of Jude, for apart from the alleged age of Symeon (the traditional Jewish limit of human life, Gen. vi. 3, Deut. xxxiv. 7), the cause of his apprehension “on the ground that he wasa descendant of Davidand a Christian” (Hegesippusap.Eus.H. E.iii. 32, 3) is inconsistent with both the previous statements regarding the “martyrdom” of Zoker and James, that they were cited as the only surviving Christian Davididae, and that the persecution on this ground collapsed through the manifest absurdity of the accusation. But even if we date the rise of heresies in the reign of Domitian instead of Trajan,1the attributing of this epistle againstcorrupting heresy to “Jude the brother of James” will still be incompatible with the statements of Hegesippus, our only informant regarding his later history.

The Greek of Jude is also such as to exclude the idea of authorship in Palestine by an unschooled Galilean, at an early date in church history. As F. H. Chase has pointed out: (1) the termsκλητοί, σωτηρία, πίστις, have attained their later technical sense; (2) “the writer is steeped in the language of the LXX.,” employing its phraseology independently of other N.T. writers, and not that of the canonical books alone, but of the broader non-Palestinian canon; (3) “he has at his command a large stock of stately, sonorous, sometimes poetical words,” proving him a “man of some culture, and, as it would seem, not without acquaintance with Greek writers.”

If the superscription be not from the hand of the actual brother of Jesus, the question may well be asked why some apostolic name was not chosen which might convey greater authority? The answer is to be found in the direction toward which the principal defenders of orthodoxy in 100-150 turned for “the deposit of the faith” (Jude 3) in its purity. The Pastoral Epistles point to “the pattern of sound words, even the sayings of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Tim. vi. 3, &c.), as the arsenal of orthodoxy against the same foe (with 1 Tim. vi. 3-10; cf. Jude 4, 11, 16, 18 seq.). Ignatius’s motto is to “be inseparable from Jesus Christ and from your bishop” (ad Trall.vii.), Polycarp’s, to “turn unto the word delivered unto us from the beginning” (cf. Jude 3; 1 John ii. 7, iii. 23, iv. 21), “the oracles of the Lord,” which the false teachers “pervert to their own lusts.” Papias, hisἑταῖρος(Irenaeus), turns in fact from “the vain talk of the many,” and from the “alien commandments” to such as were “delivered by the Lord to the faith,” offering to the Christian world hisInterpretation of the Lord’s Oraclesbased upon personal inquiry from those who “came his way,” who could testify as to apostolic tradition. Hegesippus, after a journey to all the principal seats of Christian tradition, testifies that all are holding to the true doctrine as transmitted at the original seat, where it was witnessed first by the apostles and afterwards by the kindred of the Lord and “witnesses” of the first generation. All these writers in one form or other revert to the historic tradition against the licence of innovators. Hegesippus indicates plainly the seat of its authority. For the period before the adoption of a written standard the resort was not so much to “apostles” as to “disciples” and “witnesses.” The appeal was to “those who from the beginning had been eyewitnesses and ministers of the word” (Luke i. 2); and these were to be found primarily (until the complete destruction of that church during the revolt of Barcochebas and its suppression by Hadrian) in the mother community in Jerusalem (cf. Acts xv. 2). Its life is the measure of the period of oral tradition, whose requiem is sung by Papias. Hegesippus (ap.Eus.H. E.iii. 32, 7 seq.) looks back to it as the safe guardian of the deposit “of the faith” against all the depredations of heresy which “when the sacred college of apostles had suffered death in various forms, and the generation of those that had been deemed worthy to hear the inspired wisdom with their own ears had passed away ... attempted thenceforth with a bold face, to proclaim, in opposition to the preaching of the truth, ‘the knowledge which is falsely so-called (ψευδώνυμος γνῶσις).’” For an appeal like that of our epistle to the authority of the past against the moral laxity and antinomian teaching of degenerate Pauline churches in the Greek world, the natural resort after Paul himself (Pastoral Epp.) would be the “kindred of the Lord” who were the “leaders and witnesses in every church” in Palestine. Doubtless the framer of Jude 1 would have preferred the aegis of “James the Lord’s brother,” if this, like that of Paul, had not been already appropriated. Failing this, the next most imposing was “Judas, the brother of James.”

The superscription in the case of Jude, unlike that of James, takes hold of the substance of the book. Verse 3 and the farewell (v. 24 seq.) show that Jude was composed from the start as an “epistle.” If this appearance be not fallacious, the obvious relation between the two superscriptions will be best explained by the supposition that the author of Jude gave currency to the existing homily (James) before composing under the pseudonym of Jude. On the interconnexion of the two see Sieffert,s.v.“Judasbrief” in Hauck,Realencykl.vol. ix.

Judas is conceived as cherishing the intention of discussing for the benefit of the Christian world (for no mere local church is addressed) the subject of “our common salvation” (the much desiderated authoritative definition of the orthodox faith), but diverted from this purpose by the growth of heresy.

Few writings of this compass afford more copious evidence of date in their literary affinities. The references to Enoch (principally ver. 14 seq. =Eth. En.i. 9, but cf. F. H. Chase,s.v.“Jude” in Hastings’sDict. Bible) and theAssumption of Moses(v.9) have more a geographical than a chronological bearing, the stricter canon of Palestine excluding these apocryphal books of 90B.C.toA.D.40; but the Pauline writings are freely employed, especially 1 Cor. x. 1-13, Rom. xvi. 25 seq., and probably Eph. and Col. Moreover, the author explicitly refers to the apostolic age as already past, and to the fulfilment of the Pauline prediction (1 Tim. iv. 1 sqq.) of the advent of heresy (v.17 seq.). The Pauline doctrine of “grace” has been perverted to lasciviousness, as by the heretics whom Polycarp opposes (Ep. Polyc.vii.), and this doctrine is taught for “hire” (vv.11, 12, 16; cf. 1 Tim. vi. 5). The unworthy “shepherds” (v.12; cf. Ezek. xxxiv. 8; John x. 12 seq.) live at the expense of their flocks, polluting the “love-feasts,” corrupting the true disciples. According to Clement of Alexandria this was written prophetically to apply to the Carpocratians, an antinomian Gnostic sect ofc.150; but hyper-Paulinists had given occasion to similar complaints already in Rev. ii. 14, 20 (95). Thus Paulinism and its perversion alike are in the past. As regards the undeniable contact ofDidacheii. 7 with Jude 22 seq. (cf.Didache, iv. 1, Jude 8) priority cannot be determined; and the use of 1 John iii. 12 in Jude 11 is doubtful.

On the other hand, practically the whole of Jude is taken up into 2 Pet., the author merely avoiding, so far as he discovers them, the quotations from apocryphal writings, and prefixing and affixing sections of his own to refute the heretical eschatology. On the priority of Jude see especially against SpittaZur Gesch. u. Litt. d. Urchristenthums, ii. 409-411, F. H. Chase,loc. cit.p. 803. (On 2 Pet. seePeter Epistles of.) Unfortunately, the date of 2 Pet. cannot be determined as earlier than late in the second century, so that we are thrown back upon internal evidence for the inferior limit.

The treatment of the heresy as the anti-Christ who precedes “the last hour” (v.18), reminds us of 1 John ii. 18, but it is indicative of conditions somewhat less advanced that the heretics have not yet “gone out from” the church. The treatment of the apostolic age as past, and the deposit of the faith as aregula fidei(cf. Ign.ad Trall.ix.), the presence of antinomian Gnosticism, denying the doctrine of lordship and “glories” (v.8), with “discriminations” between “psychic” and “pneumatic” (v.19), strongly oppose a date earlier than 100.

Sieffert, on account of the superscription, would date as early as 70-80, but acknowledges the hyper-Pauline affinity of the heresy, its propagation as a doctrine, and close relation to the Nicolaitan of Rev. ii. 14. To these phenomena he gives accordingly a correspondingly early date. The nature of the heresy, opposed, however, and the resort to the authority of Jude “the brother of James” against it, favour rather the period of Polycarp and Papias (117-150).

The history of the reception of the epistle into church canons is similar to that of James, beginning with a quotation of it as the work of Jude by Clement of Alexandria (Paed.iii. 8), a reference by Tertullian (De cult. fem.i. 3), and a more or less hesitant endorsement by Origen (“if one might adduce the epistle of Jude,”In Matt.tom. xvii. 30) and by theMuratorianum(c.200), which excepts Jude and 2 and 3 John from its condemnation of apocryphal literature, placing it on a par with the Wisdom of Solomon “which was written by friends of his in his honour.” The use of apocryphal literature in Jude itselfmay account for much of the critical disposition toward it of many subsequent writers. Eusebius classed it among the “disputed” books, declaring that as with James “not many of the ancients have mentioned it” (H. E.ii. 23, 25).

TheIntrod. to the New Test.by Holtzmann, Jülicher, Weiss, Zahn, Davidson, Salmon, Bacon and the standardCommentariesof Meyer and Holtzmann, theInternational(Bigg) and other series, contain discussions of authorship and date. The articles s.v. in Hastings’sDict. Bible(Chase) and theEncy. Bib.(Cone) are full and scholarly. In addition theHistories of the Apostolic Age, by Hausrath, Weizsäcker, McGiffert, Bartlet, Ropes and others, and the kindred works of Baur, Schwegler and Pfleiderer should be consulted. Moffat’sHistorical New Testament, 2nd ed., p. 589, contains a convenient summary of the evidence with copious bibliography. One of the most thorough of conservative treatments is theCommentary on Jude and Second Peterby J. B. Mayor (1907).

(B. W. B.)

1On this point (date of the outbreak of heresy) there is some inconsistency in the reported fragments of Hegesippus. In that quoted below from Eus.H. E.iii. 32. 7 seq., it is expressly dated after the martyrdom of Symeon and death of the grandsons of Jude under Trajan. In iii. 19 the “ancient tradition” attributing the denunciation of these to “some of the heretics” is perhaps not from Hegesippus; but in iv. 22 the beginning of heresy is traced to a certain Thebuthis, a candidate for the bishopric after the death of James, as rival to Symeon. The same figure of the church as a pure virgin is also used as in iii. 32. But as it is only the envious feeling of Thebuthis which is traced to this early date, Hegesippus doubtless means to place the outbreak later.

JUDGE(Lat.judex, Fr.juge), in the widest legal sense an officer appointed by the sovereign power in a state to administer the law; in English practice, however, justices of the peace and magistrates are not usually regarded as “judges” in the titular sense. The duties of the judge, whether in a civil or a criminal matter, are to hear the statements on both sides in open court, to arrive at a conclusion as to the truth of the facts submitted to him or, when a jury is engaged, to direct the jury to find such a conclusion, to apply to the facts so found the appropriate rules of law, and to certify by his judgment the relief to which the parties are entitled or the obligations or penalties which they have incurred. With the judgment the office of the judge is at an end, but the judgment sets in motion the executive forces of the state, whose duty it is to carry it into execution.

Such is the type of a judicial officer recognized by mature systems of law, but it is not to be accepted as the universal type, and the following qualifying circumstances should be noticed: (1) in primitive systems of law the judicial is not separated from the legislative and other governing functions; (2) although the judge is assumed to take the law from the legislative authority, yet, as the existing law never at any time contains provision for all cases, the judge may be obliged to invent or create principles applicable to the case—this is called by Bentham and the English jurists judge-made and judiciary law; (3) the separation of the function of judge and jury, and the exclusive charge of questions of law given to the judge, are more particularly characteristic of the English judicial system. During a considerable period in the history of Roman law an entirely different distribution of parts was observed. The adjudication of a case was divided between themagistratusand thejudex, neither of whom corresponds to the English judge. The former was a public officer charged with the execution of the law; the latter was an arbitrator whom the magistrates commissioned to hear and report upon a particular case.

The following are points more specially characteristic of the English system and its kindred judicial systems: (1) Judges are absolutely protected from action for anything that they may do in the discharge of their judicial duties. This is true in the fullest sense of judges of the supreme courts. “It is a principle of English law that no action will lie against a judge of one of the superior courts for a judicial act, though it be alleged to have been done maliciously and corruptly.” Other judicial officers are also protected, though not to the same extent, against actions. (2) The highest class of judges are irremovable except by what is in effect a special act of parliament, viz. a resolution passed by both houses and assented to by the sovereign. The inferior judges and magistrates are removable for misconduct by the lord chancellor. (3) The judiciary in England is not a separate profession. The judges are chosen from the class of advocates, and almost entirely according to their eminence at the bar. (4) Judges are in England appointed for the most part by the crown. In a few cases municipal corporations may appoint their own judicial officer.

See alsoLord High Chancellor;Lord Chief Justice;Master of the Rolls, &c., &c., and the accounts of judicial systems under country headings.

JUDGE-ADVOCATE-GENERAL,an officer appointed in England to assist the Crown with advice in matters relating to military law, and more particularly as to courts-martial. In the army the administration of justice as pertaining to discipline is carried out in accordance with the provisions of military law, and it is the function of the judge-advocate-general to ensure that these disciplinary powers are exercised in strict conformity with that law. Down to 1793 the judge-advocate-general acted as secretary and legal adviser to the board of general officers, but on the reconstitution of the office of commander-in-chief in that year he ceased to perform secretarial duties, but remained chief legal adviser. He retained his seat in parliament and in 1806 he was made a member of the government and a privy councillor. The office ceased to be political in 1892, on the recommendation of the select committee of 1888 on army estimates, and was conferred on Sir F. Jeune (afterwards Lord St Helier). There was no salary attached to the office when held by Lord St Helier, and the duties were for the most part performed by deputy. On his death in 1905, Thomas Milvain, K.C., was appointed, and the terms and conditions of the post were rearranged as follows: (1) A salary of £2000 a year; (2) the holder to devote his whole time to the duties of the post; (3) the retention of the post until the age of seventy, subject to continued efficiency—but with claim to gratuity or pension on retirement. The holder was to be subordinate to the secretary of state for war, without direct access to the sovereign. The appointment is conferred by letters-patent, which define the exact functions attaching to the office, which practically are the reviewing of the proceedings of all field-general, general and district courts-martial held in the United Kingdom, and advising the sovereign as to the confirmation of the finding and sentence. The deputy judge-advocate is a salaried official in the department of the judge-advocate-general and acts under his letters-patent. A separate judge-advocate-general’s department is maintained in India, where at one time deputy judge-advocates were attached to every important command. All general courts-martial held in the United Kingdom are sent to the judge-advocate-general, to be by him submitted to the sovereign for confirmation; and all district courts-martial, after having been confirmed and promulgated, are sent to his office for examination and custody. The judge-advocate-general and his deputy, being judges in the last resort of the validity of the proceedings of courts-martial, take no part in their conduct; but the deputy judge-advocates frame and revise charges and attend at courts-martial, swear the court, advise both sides on law, look after the interests of the prisoner and record the proceedings. In the English navy there is an official whose functions are somewhat similar to those of the judge-advocate-general. He is called counsel and judge-advocate of the fleet.

In the United States there is also a judge-advocate-general’s department. In addition to being a bureau of military justice, and keeping the records of courts-martial, courts of inquiry and military commissions, it has the custody of all papers relating to the title of lands under the control of the war department. The officers of the department, in addition to acting as prosecutors in all military trials, sometimes represent the government when cases affecting the army come up in civil courts.

See furtherMilitary Law, and consult C. M. Clode,Administration of Justice under Military and Martial Law(1872);Military Forces of the Crown(2 vols., 1869).

JUDGES, THE BOOK OF,in the Bible. This book of the Old Testament, which, as we now read it, constitutes a sequel to the book of Joshua, covering the period of history between the death of this conqueror and the birth of Samuel, is so called because it contains the history of the Israelites before the establishment of the monarchy, when the government was in the hands of certain leaders who appear to have formed a continuous succession, although the office was not hereditary. The only other biblical source ascribed to this period is Ruth, whose present position as an appendix to Judges is not original (seeBibleandRuth).

Structure.—It is now generally agreed that the present adjustment of the older historical books of the Old Testament to form a continuous record of events from the creation to the Babylonianexile is due to an editor, or rather to successive redactors, who pieced together and reduced to a certain unity older memoirs of very different dates; and closer examination shows that the continuity of many parts of the narrative is more apparent than real. This is very clearly the case in the book of Judges. It consists of three main portions: (1) an introduction, presenting one view of the occupation of Palestine by the Israelites (i. 1-ii. 5); (2) the history of the several judges (ii. 6-xvi.); and (3) an appendix containing two narratives of the period.

1. The first section relates events which are said to have taken place after the death of Joshua, but in reality it covers the same ground with the book of Joshua, giving a brief account of the occupation of Canaan, which in some particulars repeats the statements of the previous book, while in others it is quite independent (seeJoshua). It is impossible to regard the warlike expeditions described in this section as supplementary campaigns undertaken after Joshua’s death; they are plainly represented as the first efforts of the Israelites to gain a firm footing in the land (at Hebron, Debir, Bethel), in the very cities which Joshua is related to have subdued (Josh. x. 39).1Here then we have an account of the settlement of Israel west of the Jordan which is parallel to the book of Joshua, but makes no mention of Joshua himself, and places the tribe of Judah in the front. The author of the chapter cannot have had Joshua or his history in his eye at all, and the words “and it came to pass after the death of Joshua” in Judg. i. 1 are from the hand of the last editor, who desired to make the whole book of Judges, including ch. i., read continuously with that which now precedes it in the canon of the earlier prophets.2

2. The second and main section (ii. 6-xvi.) stands on quite another footing. According to Josh. xxiv. 31 the people “served Yahweh” during the lifetime of the great conqueror and his contemporaries. In Judg. ii. 7 this statement is repeated, and the writer proceeds to explain that subsequent generations fell away from the faith, and served the gods of the nations among which they dwelt (ii. 6-iii. 6). The worship of other gods is represented, not as something which went on side by side with Yahweh-worship (cf. x. 6), but as a revolt against Yahweh, periodically repeated and regularly chastised by foreign invasion. The history, therefore, falls into recurring cycles, each of which begins with religious corruption, followed by chastisement, which continues until Yahweh, in answer to the groans of his oppressed people, raises up a “judge” to deliver Israel, and recall them to the true faith. On the death of the “judge,” if not sooner, the corruption spreads anew and the same vicissitudes follow. This religious explanation of the course of the history, formally expounded at the outset and repeated in more or less detail from chapter to chapter (especially vi. 1-10, x. 6-18), determines the form of the whole narrative. It is in general agreement with the spirit as also with the language of Deuteronomy, and on this account this section may be conveniently called “the Deuteronomic Book of Judges.” But the main religious ideas are not so late and are rather akin to those of Josh. xxiv; in particular the worship of the high places is not condemned, nor is it excused as in 1 Kings iii. 2. The sources of the narrative are obviously older than the theological exposition of its lessons, and herein lies the value and interest of Judges. The importance of such documents for the scientific historian lies not so much in the events they record as in the unconscious witness they bear to the state of society in which the narrator or poet lived. From this point of view the parts of the book are by no means all of equal value; critical analysis shows that often parallel or distinct narratives have been fused together, and that, whilst the older stories gave more prominence to ordinary human motives and combinations, the later are coloured by religious reflection and show the characteristic tendency of the Old Testament to re-tell the fortunes of Israel in a form that lays ever-increasing weight on the work of Yahweh for his people. That the pre-Deuteronomic sources are to be identified with the Judaean (J, or Yahwist) and Ephraimite (E, or Elohist) strands of the Hexateuch is, however, not certain.

To the unity of religious pragmatism in the main stock of the book of Judges corresponds a unity of chronological scheme. The “judges,” in spite of the fact that most of them had clearly no more than a local influence, are all represented as successive rulers in Israel, and the history is dated by the years of each judgeship and those of the intervening periods of oppression. But it is impossible to reconcile the numbers with the statement elsewhere that the fourth year of Solomon was the 480th from the exodus (1 Kings vi. 1). SeeBible:Chronology.

The general introduction (ii. 6-iii. 6) is a blend of Deuteronomic and other sources. The intimate relation between it and the separate narratives (Josh. xxiv. 1-27, a late [Ephraimite] record inserted by a second Deuteronomic hand, and xxiii., D) appears both from their contents and from the fact that Judg. ii. 6-10 is almost identical with the narrative appended to Joshua’s address (Joshua xxiv. 28-31). Judg. i.-ii. 5, however, is not touched by D, and hence was probably inserted in its present position at a later date. According to the highly intricate introduction the Hebrews were oppressed: (a) to familiarize them with warfare—it is assumed that they had intermarried with the Canaanites and worshipped their gods (iii. 2, 6); (b) to test their loyalty to Yahweh (ii. 22; iii. 1); or (c) to punish them for their marriage with the heathen and their apostasy (D in ii. 12; cf. Josh. xxiii., and ibid.v.12).To this succeeds a noteworthy example of the Deuteronomic treatment of tradition in the achievement of Othniel (q.v.) the only Judaean “judge.” The bareness of detail, not to speak of the improbability of the situation, renders its genuineness doubtful, and the passage is one of the indications of a secondary Deuteronomic redaction. The case, however, is exceptional; the stories of the other great “judges” were not rewritten or to any great extent revised by the Deuteronomic redactor, and his hand appears chiefly in the framework.3Thus, in the story of Ehud and the defeat of Moab only iii. 12-15, 29-30 are Deuteronomic. But the rest is not homogeneous,vv.19 and 20 appear to be variants, and the mention of Israel (v.27b) is characteristic of the tendency to treat local troubles as national oppressions, whereas other records represent little national unity at this period (i., v.). See furtherEhud.According to the Septuagint addition to Josh. xxiv. 33, Moab was the first of Israel’s oppressors. The brief notice of Shamgar, who delivered Israel from the Philistines (iii. 31), is one of the later insertions, and in some MSS. of the LXX. it stands after xvi. 31. The story of the defeat of Sisera appears in two distinct forms, an earlier, in poetical form (v.), and a later, in prose (iv.). D’s framework is to be recognized in iv. 1-4, 23 seq., v. 1 (probably), 31 (last clause); see furtherDeborah. The Midianite oppression (vi.-viii.) is contained in the usual frame (vi. 1-6; viii. 27 seq.), but is not homogeneous, since viii. 4, the pursuit of the kings, cannot be the sequel of viii. 3 (where they have been slain), and viii. 33-35 ignores ix. The structure of vi. 1-viii. 3 is particularly intricate: vi. 25-32 does not continue vi. 11-24 (there are two accounts of Gideon’s introduction and divergent representations of Yahweh-worship); vi. 34 forms the sequel of the latter, and vi. 36-40 (with “God”) is strange after the description of the miracle invv.21 seq. (with “Yahweh”). Further, there are difficulties in vi. 34, vii. 23 seq., viii. 1, when compared with vii. 2-8, and in vii. 16-22 two stratagems are combined. There are two sequels: vii. 23 seq. and viii. 4; with the former contrast vi. 35; with viii. 1-3 cf. xii. 1-6, and see below. Chapter viii. 22 seq. comes unexpectedly, and the refusal of the offer of the kingship reflects later ideas (cf. 1 Sam. viii. 7; x. 19; xii. 12, 17). The conclusion, however, shows that Jerubbaal had only a local reputation. Finally, the condemnation of the ephod as part of the worship of Yahweh (viii. 27) agrees with the thought in vi. 25-32 as against that in vi. 11-24. (SeeEphod;Gideon.) Chapter ix. (seeAbimelech) appears to have been wanting in the Deuteronomic book of Judges, but inserted later perhaps by means of the introduction, viii. 30-32 (post-exilic). It has two accounts of the attack upon Shechem (lx. 26-41 and 42-49).After a brief notice of two “minor judges” (see below), follows the story of Jephthah. It concludes with the usual Deuteronomicformula (xii. 7), but is prefaced by a detailed introduction to the oppression of Israel (x. 6 sqq.). By the inclusion of the Philistines among the oppressors, and of Judah, Benjamin and Ephraim among the oppressed (x. 7, 9), it appears to have in view not merely the story of Samson, a hero of local interest, but the early chapters in 1 Samuel. This introduction is of composite origin (as also ii. 6-21; Josh. xxiii.-xxiv. 25), but a satisfactory analysis seems impossible. As it stands, it has literary connexions with the late narrative in 1 Sam. (vii. seq., xii.), and appears to form the preface to that period of history which ended with Samuel’s great victory and the institution of the monarchy. But this belongs to a later scheme (seeSamuel), and the introduction in its earlier form must have been the prelude to earlier narratives.4The story of Jephthah’s fight with Ammon is linked to the preceding introduction by x. 17 seq.; for the framework see x. 6 (above), xii. 7. Chapter xi. 12-28 (cf. Num. xx. seq.) is applicable only to Moab,vv.29 and 32 are variants, and Jephthah’s home is placed variously in Tob. (xi. 3) and Mizpeh (v. 34). In xi. 1-10 the outlaw stipulates that he shall be chief of Gilead if successful, but invv.12-28 a ruler speaks on behalf of Israel. Both Moab and Ammon had good reason to be hostile to Gilead (Num. xxi.), but the scene of the victory points rather to the former (v.33, possibly conflate). There is a general resemblance between the victories of Gideon and Jephthah, which is emphasized by the close relation between viii. 1-3 and xii. 1-6, the explanation of which in its present context is difficult. See furtherJephthah.The old stories of Samson the Danite have been scarcely touched by the redaction (xiii. 1; xv. 20; xvi. 31b, where he is a “judge”); only xiii. appears to be rather later (v.5 represents him as a forerunner of Samuel and Saul), and gives a rather different impression of the hero of the folk-tales. The cycle illustrates some interesting customs and is in every way valuable as a specimen of popular narrative. SeeSamson.Grouped among these narratives are the five so-called “minor judges” (x. 1-5; xii. 8-15). By the addition of Shamgar (iii. 31) the number is made to agree with the six more important names. They are not represented as having any immediate religious importance; they really lie outside of the chronological scheme, and their history is plainly not related from such lively and detailed reminiscence as gives charm to the longer episodes of the book. The notices are drawn up in set phraseology, and some of the names, in harmony with a characteristic feature of early Hebrew history, are those of personified families of communities rather than of families.5

To this succeeds a noteworthy example of the Deuteronomic treatment of tradition in the achievement of Othniel (q.v.) the only Judaean “judge.” The bareness of detail, not to speak of the improbability of the situation, renders its genuineness doubtful, and the passage is one of the indications of a secondary Deuteronomic redaction. The case, however, is exceptional; the stories of the other great “judges” were not rewritten or to any great extent revised by the Deuteronomic redactor, and his hand appears chiefly in the framework.3Thus, in the story of Ehud and the defeat of Moab only iii. 12-15, 29-30 are Deuteronomic. But the rest is not homogeneous,vv.19 and 20 appear to be variants, and the mention of Israel (v.27b) is characteristic of the tendency to treat local troubles as national oppressions, whereas other records represent little national unity at this period (i., v.). See furtherEhud.

According to the Septuagint addition to Josh. xxiv. 33, Moab was the first of Israel’s oppressors. The brief notice of Shamgar, who delivered Israel from the Philistines (iii. 31), is one of the later insertions, and in some MSS. of the LXX. it stands after xvi. 31. The story of the defeat of Sisera appears in two distinct forms, an earlier, in poetical form (v.), and a later, in prose (iv.). D’s framework is to be recognized in iv. 1-4, 23 seq., v. 1 (probably), 31 (last clause); see furtherDeborah. The Midianite oppression (vi.-viii.) is contained in the usual frame (vi. 1-6; viii. 27 seq.), but is not homogeneous, since viii. 4, the pursuit of the kings, cannot be the sequel of viii. 3 (where they have been slain), and viii. 33-35 ignores ix. The structure of vi. 1-viii. 3 is particularly intricate: vi. 25-32 does not continue vi. 11-24 (there are two accounts of Gideon’s introduction and divergent representations of Yahweh-worship); vi. 34 forms the sequel of the latter, and vi. 36-40 (with “God”) is strange after the description of the miracle invv.21 seq. (with “Yahweh”). Further, there are difficulties in vi. 34, vii. 23 seq., viii. 1, when compared with vii. 2-8, and in vii. 16-22 two stratagems are combined. There are two sequels: vii. 23 seq. and viii. 4; with the former contrast vi. 35; with viii. 1-3 cf. xii. 1-6, and see below. Chapter viii. 22 seq. comes unexpectedly, and the refusal of the offer of the kingship reflects later ideas (cf. 1 Sam. viii. 7; x. 19; xii. 12, 17). The conclusion, however, shows that Jerubbaal had only a local reputation. Finally, the condemnation of the ephod as part of the worship of Yahweh (viii. 27) agrees with the thought in vi. 25-32 as against that in vi. 11-24. (SeeEphod;Gideon.) Chapter ix. (seeAbimelech) appears to have been wanting in the Deuteronomic book of Judges, but inserted later perhaps by means of the introduction, viii. 30-32 (post-exilic). It has two accounts of the attack upon Shechem (lx. 26-41 and 42-49).

After a brief notice of two “minor judges” (see below), follows the story of Jephthah. It concludes with the usual Deuteronomicformula (xii. 7), but is prefaced by a detailed introduction to the oppression of Israel (x. 6 sqq.). By the inclusion of the Philistines among the oppressors, and of Judah, Benjamin and Ephraim among the oppressed (x. 7, 9), it appears to have in view not merely the story of Samson, a hero of local interest, but the early chapters in 1 Samuel. This introduction is of composite origin (as also ii. 6-21; Josh. xxiii.-xxiv. 25), but a satisfactory analysis seems impossible. As it stands, it has literary connexions with the late narrative in 1 Sam. (vii. seq., xii.), and appears to form the preface to that period of history which ended with Samuel’s great victory and the institution of the monarchy. But this belongs to a later scheme (seeSamuel), and the introduction in its earlier form must have been the prelude to earlier narratives.4The story of Jephthah’s fight with Ammon is linked to the preceding introduction by x. 17 seq.; for the framework see x. 6 (above), xii. 7. Chapter xi. 12-28 (cf. Num. xx. seq.) is applicable only to Moab,vv.29 and 32 are variants, and Jephthah’s home is placed variously in Tob. (xi. 3) and Mizpeh (v. 34). In xi. 1-10 the outlaw stipulates that he shall be chief of Gilead if successful, but invv.12-28 a ruler speaks on behalf of Israel. Both Moab and Ammon had good reason to be hostile to Gilead (Num. xxi.), but the scene of the victory points rather to the former (v.33, possibly conflate). There is a general resemblance between the victories of Gideon and Jephthah, which is emphasized by the close relation between viii. 1-3 and xii. 1-6, the explanation of which in its present context is difficult. See furtherJephthah.

The old stories of Samson the Danite have been scarcely touched by the redaction (xiii. 1; xv. 20; xvi. 31b, where he is a “judge”); only xiii. appears to be rather later (v.5 represents him as a forerunner of Samuel and Saul), and gives a rather different impression of the hero of the folk-tales. The cycle illustrates some interesting customs and is in every way valuable as a specimen of popular narrative. SeeSamson.

Grouped among these narratives are the five so-called “minor judges” (x. 1-5; xii. 8-15). By the addition of Shamgar (iii. 31) the number is made to agree with the six more important names. They are not represented as having any immediate religious importance; they really lie outside of the chronological scheme, and their history is plainly not related from such lively and detailed reminiscence as gives charm to the longer episodes of the book. The notices are drawn up in set phraseology, and some of the names, in harmony with a characteristic feature of early Hebrew history, are those of personified families of communities rather than of families.5

3. The third and last section of the book embraces chapters xvii.-xxi., and consists of two narratives independent of one another and of the main stock of the book, with which they are not brought into any chronological connexion. They appear to owe their position to the latest redactor (akin to the latest stratum in the Hexateuch) who has heavily worked over xix-xxi., and put the book into its present form by the addition of i.-ii. 5, ix. and possibly of v.6

The first narrative, that of Micah and the Danites, is of the highest interest both as a record of the state of religion and for the picture it gives of the way in which one clan passed from the condition of an invading band into settled possession of land and city. Its interest (xvii. seq.) lies in the foundation of the Ephraimite sanctuary by Micah as also in that of Dan. There are some repetitions in the account, but there is not enough evidence to restore two complete stories. The history of the Levite and the Benjamites is of quite another character, and presupposes a degree of unity of feeling and action among the tribes of Israel which it is not easy to reconcile with the rest of the book. In its present form this episode appears to be not very ancient; it resembles Ruth in giving a good deal of curious archaeological detail (the feast at Shiloh) in a form which suggests that the usages referred to were already obsolete when the narrative was composed. It appears to consist of an old story which has been heavily revised to form an edifying piece of exposition. The older parts are preserved in xix.: the account of the Levite of Mt Ephraim whose concubine from Bethlehem in Judah was outraged, not by the non-Israelite Jebusites of Jerusalem, but by the Benjamites of Gibeah; there are traces of another source invv.6-8, 10, 13, 15. The older portions of xx. seq. include: the vengeance taken by Israel (e.g.xx. 3-8, 14, 19, 29, 36-41, 47), and the reconstruction of the tribe by intermarriage with the women of Shiloh (xxi. 1, 15, 17-19, 21-23). The post-exilic expansions (found chiefly in xx., xxi. 2-14, 16, 24 seq.) describe the punishment of Benjamin by the religious assembly and the massacre of Jabesh-Gilead for its refusal to join Israel, four hundred virgins of the Gileadites being saved for Benjamin. How much old tradition underlies these stories is questionable. It is very doubtful whether Hosea’s allusion to the depravity of Gibeah (ix. 9; x. 9) is to be referred hither, but it is noteworthy that whilst Gibeah and Jabesh-Gilead, which appear here in a bad light, are known to be associated with Saul, the sufferer is a Levite of Bethlehem, the traditional home of David. The account of the great fight in xx. is reminiscent of Joshua’s battle at Ai (Josh. vii.-viii.).

Historical Value.—The book of Judges consists of a number of narratives collected by Deuteronomic editors; to the same circles are due accounts of the invasions of Palestine and settlement in Joshua, and of the foundation of the monarchy in 1 Samuel. The connexion has been broken by the later insertion of matter (not necessarily of late date itself), and the whole was finally formed into a distinct book by a post-exilic hand. The dates of the older stories preserved in ii. 6-xvi. 6 are quite unknown. If they are trustworthy for the period to which they are relegated (approximately 14th-12th cent.B.C.) they are presumably of very great antiquity, but if they belong to the sources J and E of the Hexateuch (at least some four or five centuries later) their value is seriously weakened. On the other hand, the belief that the monarchy had been preceded by national “judges” may have led to the formation of the collection. It is evident that there was more than one period in Israelite history in which one or other of these stories of local heroes would be equally suitable. They reflect tribal rivalry and jealousy (cf. Isa. ix. 21, and the successors of Jeroboam 2), attacks by nomads and wars with Ammon and Moab; conflicts between newly settled Israelites and indigenous Canaanites have been suspected in the story of Abimelech, and it is not impossible that the post-Deuteronomic writer who inserted ch. ix. so understood the record. A striking exception to the lack of unity among the tribes is afforded by the account of the defeat of Sisera, and here the old poem represents a combined effort to throw off the yoke of a foreign oppressor, while the later prose version approximates the standpoint of Josh. xi. 1-15, with its defeat of the Canaanites. The general standpoint of the stories (esp. Judg. v.) is that of central Palestine; the exceptions are Othniel and Samson—the latter interrupting the introduction in x., and its sequel, the former now entirely due to the Deuteronomic editor. Of the narratives which precede and follow, ch. i. represents central Palestine separated by Canaanite cities from tribes to the south and north; it is the situation recognized in Judg. xix. 10-12, as well as in passages imbedded in the latest portions of the book of Joshua, though it is in contradiction to the older traditions of Joshua himself. Chapters xvii. seq. (like the preceding story of Samson) deal with Danites, but the migration can hardly be earlier than David’s time; and xix.-xxi., by describing the extermination of Benjamin, form a link between the presence of the tribe in the late narratives of the exodus and its new prominence in the traditions of Saul (q.v.). As an historical source, therefore, the value of Judges will depend largely upon the question whether the Deuteronomic editor (about 600B.C.at the earliest) would have access to trustworthy documents relating to a period some six or seven centuries previously. See furtherJews, §§ 6, 8; andSamuel, Books of.

Literature.—Biblical scholars are in agreement regarding the preliminary literary questions of the book, but there is divergence of opinion on points of detail, and on the precise growth of the book (e.g.the twofold Deuteronomic redaction). See further W. R. Smith,Ency. Brit.9th ed. (upon which the present article is based); G. F. Moore,International Critical Comm.(1895);Ency. Bib., art. “Judges”; K. Budde,Kurzer Handcommentar(1897); Lagrange,Livres des juges(1903); G. W. Thatcher (Century Bible); also S. R. Driver,Lit. of Old Testament(1909); Moore, in theSacred Books of Old Testament(1898); C. F. Kent,The Student’s Old Testament, vol. i. (1904).

(S. A. C.)

1This is confirmed by the circumstance that in Judg. ii. 1 the “angel of Yahweh,” who, according to Exod. xiv. 24, xxiii. 20, xxxii. 34, xxxiii. 2, 7 seq., must be viewed as having his local manifestation at the headquarters of the host of Israel, is still found at Gilgal and not at Shiloh.2The chapter was written after Israel had become strong enough to make the Canaanite cities tributary (v. 28), that is, after the establishment of the monarchy (see 1 Kings ix. 20-21).3Hence, it is to be inferred that the reviser had olderwrittenrecords before him. Had these been in the oral stage he would scarcely incorporate traditions which did not agree with his views; at all events they would hardly have been written down by him in the form in which they have survived. The narratives of the monarchy which are preserved only in Chronicles, on the other hand, illustrate the manner in which tradition was reshaped and rewritten under the influence of a later religious standpoint.4It may be conjectured that the introduction originally formed the prelude to the rise of Saul: the intervening narratives, though not necessarily of late origin themselves, having been subsequently inserted. See S. A. Cook,Crit. Notes O. T. Hist., p. 127 seq.5Tola and Puah (x. 1) are clans of Issachar (Gen. xlvi. 13), for Jair (v.3), see Num. xxxii. 41, and for Elon (xii. 11), see Gen. xlvi. 14. SeeGenealogy:Biblical.6To the same post-exilic hand may also be ascribed the introduction of the “minor judges” (so several critics), and smaller additions here and there (ch. i. 1 opening words,vv.4, 8 seq. [contrast 21] 18; viii. 30-32: xi. 2, &c.).

2The chapter was written after Israel had become strong enough to make the Canaanite cities tributary (v. 28), that is, after the establishment of the monarchy (see 1 Kings ix. 20-21).

3Hence, it is to be inferred that the reviser had olderwrittenrecords before him. Had these been in the oral stage he would scarcely incorporate traditions which did not agree with his views; at all events they would hardly have been written down by him in the form in which they have survived. The narratives of the monarchy which are preserved only in Chronicles, on the other hand, illustrate the manner in which tradition was reshaped and rewritten under the influence of a later religious standpoint.

4It may be conjectured that the introduction originally formed the prelude to the rise of Saul: the intervening narratives, though not necessarily of late origin themselves, having been subsequently inserted. See S. A. Cook,Crit. Notes O. T. Hist., p. 127 seq.

5Tola and Puah (x. 1) are clans of Issachar (Gen. xlvi. 13), for Jair (v.3), see Num. xxxii. 41, and for Elon (xii. 11), see Gen. xlvi. 14. SeeGenealogy:Biblical.

6To the same post-exilic hand may also be ascribed the introduction of the “minor judges” (so several critics), and smaller additions here and there (ch. i. 1 opening words,vv.4, 8 seq. [contrast 21] 18; viii. 30-32: xi. 2, &c.).

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