Judges, Book of

The Book of Judges records the history of Israel from the death of Joshua to the eve of the monarchy, covering the era of the charismatic deliverers sent by God to rescue Israel from the cycles of apostasy, foreign oppression, repentance, and deliverance that structure the book's theology. Its famous refrain — "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes" — frames the period as one of moral and political chaos arising from covenant unfaithfulness.

The book includes the stories of twelve judges, the greatest being Gideon, Deborah, Jephthah, and Samson, as well as the troubling appendices recounting the Danite migration and the Benjamite civil war. It serves as a theological prelude to the books of Samuel and the establishment of the Davidic monarchy.