Hebrew Bible/OT Commentaries: Judges

"Profound changes have occurred in the study of early Israel over the past four decades. In recent years, the pendulum of scholarship has swung toward literary and theological readings that are not significantly informed by the literature of the ancient Near East. Jack M. Sasson’s commentary to the first twelve chapters of the book of Judges is a refreshing corrective to that trend. It aims to expand comprehension of the Hebrew text by explaining its meaning, exploring its contexts, and charting its effect over time. Addressed are issues about the techniques that advance the text’s objectives, the impulses behind its composition, the motivations behind its preservation, the diversity of interpretations during its transmission in several ancient languages, and the learned attention it has gathered over time in faith traditions, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim. In its pages also is a fair sampling from ancient Near Eastern documents to illumine specific biblical passages or to bolster the interpretation of contexts. The result is a Judges that more carefully reflects the culture that produced it. In presenting this fresh translation of the Masoretic text of Judges as received in our days, Sasson does not shy away from citing variant or divergent readings in the few Judges fragments and readily calls on testimonies from diverse Greek, Aramaic, and Latin renderings. The opinions of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim sages are reviewed, as are those of eminent scholars of recent times. With his Introductory Remarks, Notes, and Comments, Sasson addresses specific issues of religious, social, cultural, and historical significance and turns to ancient Near Eastern lore to illustrate how specific actions and events unfolded elsewhere under comparable circumstances. This impressive new appreciation of Judges will be of immense interest to bible specialists, theologians, cultural historians, and students of the ancient world." - Yale University Press

"For over one hundred years, the International Critical Commentary series has held a special place among works on the Bible. It has sought to bring together all the relevant aids to exegesis—linguistic and textual no less than archaeological, historical, literary and theological—with a level of comprehension and quality of scholarship unmatched by any other series." - T & T Clark

"The books of Judges and Ruth have relevance for our lives today. Judges, because it reveals a God who employs very human deliverers but refuses to gloss over their sins and their consequences. And Ruth, because it demonstrates the far-reaching impact of a righteous character. K. Lawson Younger Jr. shares literary perspectives on the books of Judges and Ruth that reveal ageless truths for our contemporary lives." - Logos

"Susan Niditch's commentary on the book of Judges pays careful attention to the literary and narrative techniques of the text and yields fresh readings of the book's difficult passages: stories of violence, ethnic conflict, and gender issues. Niditch aptly and richly conveys the theological impact and enduring significance of these stories." - Westminster Knox Press

"The book of Judges presents Israel's human frailty, the nation's need for both spiritual and political deliverance, and God's use of flawed human leaders to guide and preserve his chosen people through a dark period of their history. The book of Ruth tells a smaller story within this larger narrative, showing God quietly at work in the lives of a few pious individuals, remaining true to his covenant and his people. Arthur Cundall and Leon Morris join forces in this introduction and commentary to the books of Judges and Ruth. Cundall expounds and comments on Judges in a clear, straightforward style, giving a good overall perspective to the book's varied contents. In the introduction he discusses the place of the book in the canon, its composition structure and date, taking into account pertinent archaeological evidence. He also discusses briefly the political, religious and moral questions raised by the book. Morris follows the same pattern for Ruth. His introduction and commentary will appeal to both specialist and general reader as he discusses the problems of the book, showing the light shed on it by recent archaeological research. In particular he forcibly brings out the book's present relevance. The original, unrevised text of this volume has been completely retypeset and printed in a larger, more attractive format with the new cover design for the series." -IVP Academic

"Dr. Trent Butler expounds on the book of Judges as a riddle. The book takes up a dreary theme of failure and disobedience and presents it with irony, satire, and humor. These instances of humor not only enliven the stories, they also provide the keys that he uses to address the scholarly riddles the book so frequently presents. Dr. Butler observes that Judges is a complex work of literature that cannot be easily reduced to a thesis sentence or to one single purpose statement. The central themes, though, are clear enough. Each story deals in one way or another with a crisis in leadership. The problem of disobedience also shadows leaders and people throughout the book. Political judgments color the way the stories are told, foreshadowing the later division of Israel into two warring kingdoms. Finally, despite the absence of any overt theological statements, the stories all point to the sovereignty of God over God's people, and the worship that they owe him. Throughout the commentary, Dr. Butler presents thorough reviews of the latest scholarship and up-to-date bibliographies to guide readers through the research on the fascinating riddles of Judges." - Logos