Judges, Volume 8
636
Judges, Volume 8
636eBook
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Overview
The Word Biblical Commentary delivers the best in biblical scholarship, from the leading scholars of our day who share a commitment to Scripture as divine revelation. This series emphasizes a thorough analysis of textual, linguistic, structural, and theological evidence. The result is judicious and balanced insight into the meanings of the text in the framework of biblical theology. These widely acclaimed commentaries serve as exceptional resources for the professional theologian and instructor, the seminary or university student, the working minister, and everyone concerned with building theological understanding from a solid base of biblical scholarship.
Overview of Commentary Organization
- Introduction—covers issues pertaining to the whole book, including context, date, authorship, composition, interpretive issues, purpose, and theology.
- Each section of the commentary includes:
- Pericope Bibliography—a helpful resource containing the most important works that pertain to each particular pericope.
- Translation—the author’s own translation of the biblical text, reflecting the end result of exegesis and attending to Hebrew and Greek idiomatic usage of words, phrases, and tenses, yet in reasonably good English.
- Notes—the author’s notes to the translation that address any textual variants, grammatical forms, syntactical constructions, basic meanings of words, and problems of translation.
- Form/Structure/Setting—a discussion of redaction, genre, sources, and tradition as they concern the origin of the pericope, its canonical form, and its relation to the biblical and extra-biblical contexts in order to illuminate the structure and character of the pericope. Rhetorical or compositional features important to understanding the passage are also introduced here.
- Comment—verse-by-verse interpretation of the text and dialogue with other interpreters, engaging with current opinion and scholarly research.
- Explanation—brings together all the results of the discussion in previous sections to expose the meaning and intention of the text at several levels: (1) within the context of the book itself; (2) its meaning in the OT or NT; (3) its place in the entire canon; (4) theological relevance to broader OT or NT issues.
General Bibliography—occurring at the end of each volume, this extensive bibliography contains all sources used anywhere in the commentary.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780310586364 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Zondervan Academic |
| Publication date: | 12/12/2017 |
| Series: | Word Biblical Commentary |
| Sold by: | HarperCollins Publishing |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 636 |
| Sales rank: | 966,456 |
| File size: | 26 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
About the Author
Trent C. Butler is a freelance author and editor. He served ten years on the faculty of the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Rüschilkon, Switzerland, and for twenty-two years as editor and editorial director for Holman Bible Publishers and LifeWay. He wrote the Word Biblical Commentary volume on Joshua, the Layman’s Bible Book Commentary on Isaiah, the Holman Old Testament Commentaries on Isaiah and Hosea through Micah, and the Holman New Testament Commentary on Luke. He served on the editorial Board of the Holman Christian Standard Bible, and edited the Holman Bible Dictionary. Dr. Butler has a Ph.D. in biblical studies and linguistics from Vanderbilt University, has done further study at Heidelberg and Zurich, and has participated in the excavation of Beersheba.
Bruce M. Metzger (1914 – 2007) was a biblical scholar, textual critic, and a longtime professor at Princeton Theological Seminary. Metzger is widely considered one of the most influential New Testament scholars of the 20th century. He was a general editor of the Word Biblical Commentary (1997 - 2007).
David Allan Hubbard (1928 – 1996), former president and professor of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, was a recognized biblical scholar. In addition to over 30 books, he has written numerous articles for journals, periodicals, reference works. He was a general editor of the Word Biblical Commentary (1977 - 1996).
Glenn W. Barker (d. 1984) was a general editor of the Word Biblical Commentary (1977 - 1984).
John D. W. Watts (1921 – 2013) was President of the Baptist Theological Seminary, Ruschlikon, Switzerland, and served as Professor of Old Testament at that institution, at Fuller Theological Seminary, and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. His numerous publications include commentaries on Isaiah (2 volumes), Amos, and Obadiah. He was Old Testament editor of the Word Biblical Commentary (1977 - 2011).
James W. Watts is a professor and chair of the Department of Religion at Syracuse University. His teaching and research interests include biblical studies, especially the Torah/Pentateuch, ritual theories, rhetorical analysis, and comparative scriptures studies. He is a co-founder of the Iconic Books Project. He had served as the associate Old Testament editor of the Word Biblical Commentary (1997 - 2011).
Ralph P. Martin (1925-2013) was Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Fuller Theological Seminary and a New Testament Editor for the Word Biblical Commentary series. He earned the BA and MA from the University of Manchester, England, and the PhD from King's College, University of London. He was the author of numerous studies and commentaries on the New Testament, including Worship in the Early Church, the volume on Philippians in The Tyndale New Testament Commentary series. He also wrote 2 Corinthians and James in the WBC series.
Lynn Allan Losie is Associate Professor of New Testament at Azusa Pacific University. A generalist in New Testament studies, Dr. Losie teaches courses in the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Pauline Epistles, as well as in the background areas of Greek, early Judaism, and the greater Hellenistic World. He has published articles on the New Testament and had served as the associate New Testament editor of the Word Biblical Commentary (1997 - 2013). Ordained as a Baptist minister, he has also served in pastoral ministry in Southern California and Oregon.
Read an Excerpt
Judges, Volume 8
Word Biblical Commentary
By Trent C. Butler, Bruce M. Metzger, David A. Hubbard, Glenn W. Barker, John D. W. Watts, James W. Watts, Ralph P. Martin, Lynn Allan Losie
ZONDERVAN
Copyright © 2009 Thomas Nelson, Inc.All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-310-52175-4
CHAPTER 1
I. The Situation after Joshua (1:1–2:23)
A. The Territorial Situation (1:1–36)
Form/Structure/Setting
The extent of the introductory section of Judges. Judg 1–2 opens the book to summarize briefly the history of Israel between the death of Joshua and the onset of kingship. Israel is presented as a loose federation of tribes. The body of the narrative will then give more details, backing up this summary report.
Current German scholarship has moved from documentary/source theories to highly involved redaction studies dividing the biblical structures into an almost infinite series of the work of editors, redactors, glossators, and later inserters. The supreme examples of this come from Kratz (Composition)and Rake. The latter reduces the primary narrative of chap. 1 to vv 1, 2a, 4a, 5, 6, 8b, 10a, 11, 19a, 21, 22, 23a, 24,25,26, 27, 29,34a, 35, placing it in the Persian period ('Juda wird aufsteigen!' 156–57). The basic narrative of 2:1–5 from another hand involves only part of v 1 and 2a, the rest added by two subsequent editors. Space does not allow arguments against the several varieties of such work in each chapter. Rather, I simply do not see the presuppositions behind such work as valid. The process ignores the literary unity of biblical reports as displayed by modern literary critics and generally results in isolated sectors that do not represent complete narrative units or genres and that come from supposed dates far too long after the events reported to be anything but figments of an anonymous Hebrew scholar's imagination.
Other scholarly discussion centers on isolating the narrative breaks in this opening section. Does the first main narrative extend through 2:5, or does it end with the chapter break in 1:36? Does the parallel introduction beginning at 2:1 (or 2:6) extend through 3:6 or conclude at the end of chap. 2? The Hebrew syntax appears to help us answer these questions. As so often, conversation dominates much of the narrative, yet the major syntactical thread remains easy to follow. See table 1.1 in the appendix for an examination of the syntactical breaks Judg 1.
Chap. 1 forms a complete narrative unit without 2:1–5. The major actor is Israel (1:1, 28). In 1:1 Judah leads Israel. In 1:28–33 syntax may tie Israel together with northern tribes. Mention of Joseph in 1:22 and 1:35 sandwiches all the northern action within the "house of Joseph" designation. Yahweh appears only in 1:1, 2, 4, 19, commissioning and bringing victory to Judah, and in 1:22, being present with Joseph, who then sends out spies to see how to win the battle with Bethel. Ironically, the military summary yields only three anecdotes: (1) The lord of Bezek confesses God's justice. (2) Caleb gains a wife for his daughter, who subtly takes center stage and gains from him an addition to her dowry. (3) Spies of the house of Joseph deal in covenant faithfulness with the informant from Bethel by letting him retreat to a foreign country and build a city rather than letting him become a part of their people as Joshua had with Rahab. The greatest irony comes at the end as the Amorites take center stage and the narrator lists their territory rather than that of Judah or Joseph, foreshadowing the stories to come when enemies continue to make inroads on Israelite territory. With this, the military story is complete.
Scholarly debate rages over the relationship of Judg 2:1–5 to what precedes and follows it. Noth saw this as a secondary Deuteronomistic addition (Überlieferungsgeschichtliche Studien,9). Smend ("Gesetz und die Völker," 506–7, followed by Becker, Richterzeit und Königtum,6) attributed its insertion along with chap. 1 to his DtrN, who did no editing on it. For Boling (30), Judg 2:1–5 serves as the introduction to the seventh-century Deuteronomistic framework, as opposed to those who identify chap. 1 as the introduction to the sixth-century edition. Auld ("Review of Boling's Judges: The Framework of Judges and the Deuteronomists," JSOT1 [1976] 45) sees the entire outer framework of 1:1–2:5 and chaps. 17–21 as belonging to a post-Deuteronomistic Judean editor.
Webb ([1987] 102–3), followed by Younger (62,73; 'Judges 1," 215; and Dorsey, 105–6), argues that 2:1–5 is tied to chap. 1 by the appearance of the Hebrew verb [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "to go up"; by the parallel structure with 1:1–2; and by the reviewing of the going up in 1:3, 22. This structural assessment ignores the "going up" of the sons of the Kenite (v 16). Dorsey (105–6, n. 2) admits 2:1–5 could be seen as an independent unit or as part of the following. Webb (104) notes that the divine speech here "anticipates the divine speech in 2:20–22" and that the lapse into apostasy (2:11–19) "is foreshadowed" in 2:3d. Webb thus unintentionally offers as much if not more evidence to tie 2:1–5 to the following verses than he does to tie the passage to the preceding chapter. Blum ("Kompositionelle Knoten," 192–93; compare Kratz, Composition, 208, 321) argues that 2:1–5 cannot be the conclusion to chap. 1, which separates Judges from the Hexateuch and belongs to a post-Deuteronomistic and postexilic editor. Van Seters (In Search of History, 341–42) joins 2:1–5 with chap. 1 but makes the verses part of the Priestly work.
Lindars sees Judg 1:1–2:5 as a "prelude" smoothing the transition from Joshua's conquest and land allocation tojudges' war stories. This prelude has three purposes: (1) 1:3–21 presents the story of Judah's conquests since Judah is the "first tribe to claim its territory in accordance with the list in Joshua 15"; (2) 1:22–36 prepares for the subsequent wars in Judges by showing the limits of Joshua's conquest; and (3) 2:1–5 prepares the reader for what happened after Joshua's time. This prelude is a literary "pastiche" (Lindars, 4–5) presupposing the lists of tribal territories in Josh 13–19. Vv 1–3 are modeled on the conquest of land by an imperial conqueror such as Cyrus, who then distributes the land to his lieutenants. Vv 4–7 reflect an underlying Judah tradition, while v 8 is an editorial insertion of another tradition taking Judah's campaign further south. V 9 then serves as a heading for the tradition of vv 10–16 (Lindars, 15–16). For Lindars, many archaic-appearing anecdotes actually are inserted by a "second hand of DtrN" that is "concerned to preserve these scraps of information by inserting them into appropriate parts of the tribal lists" (sojosh 15:13–19, 63; 16:10; 17:11–13; 19:47 and parallels in Judges). DtrN is responsible for links between the prelude and Judg 20. But this literary "pastiche" "has been carefully composed to achieve the two main purposes of bringing Judah into the history and preparing the reader for the situation presupposed in the following stories" (5–6). This Judahite bias comes from its setting in the exilic or early postexilic period. This prelude is intended "to give a fuller account of the circumstances of the period between the tribal assembly under Joshua and the end of the generation which outlived him" (6).
Guillaume (Waiting for Josiah, 113) separates the developmental history of Joshua and Judges, refusing to accept Noth's Deuteronomistic History. Thus Judg 2:1–5, along with the oldest parts of Joshua and Kings, belongs to the Josianic period and interprets the list of unconquered cities in chap. 1 in a negative light. This represents the third of Guillaume's (255) seven-stage history of the book reaching from 720 to 150 B.C.E.
Amit admits that 2:1–5 differs from chap. 1 in both content and form, but still connects the two, seeing the two connected by cause and effect so that 2:1–5 becomes a "summary of the results of non-possession and its conclusions" (Book of Judges, 152–53). Campbell connects 2:1–5 with chap. 1 but as "a somewhat disassociated explanation" (Joshua to Chronicles,73). Somehow he sees two statements of Joshua's death bracketing 2:1–5, but the second statement occurs only in 2:8. Thus Campbell and O'Brien see 2:1–5 as a late independent insertion "to account for the situation portrayed in the traditions of 1:1–3:6" (Unfolding the Deuteronomistic History, 171).
Schneider (26–27) sees 2:1–5 as beginning a new unit, providing the background material for chap. 1, which set the stage for the major issues of the book, and introducing the characters and the new situation. McCann (27) thinks T. 1–2:5 presents a military introduction from Israel's perspective, while 2:6–3:6 introduces God's perspective on religious failure. The problem here is that 2:1–5 deals with blatantly religious issues, particularly the covenant and altars and pagan gods. On the basis of Mullen (HTR 77 [1984] 33–54) and Stone ("From Tribal Confederation to Monarchic State," 190–259), Olson (732) portrays 1:1–2:5 as a new introduction drawing material from Joshua. Block (76) summarizes reasons for tying 2:1–5 to chap. 1 but then shows conclusively why 2:1–5 belongs with chap. 2: it uses theological language; the verses of Judg 2:1–23 are joined by a sequence of waw-consecutive clauses; Judg 2:6–10 gives an exposition of 1:1a; and the speech in 2:20–22 is linked theologically and linguistically with 2:1–3.
Thus the first basic unit encompasses only chap. 1. Chap. 1 is closely tied, however, to the so-called second introduction of chap. 2 or 2:1–3:6.
This leads to the question of where this second introduction ends. Answering that question lets us determine how the two introductions are parallel and how they function individually and together. A complex syntax and narrative structure ties chap. 2 together. The narrative features first the messenger of Yahweh (vv 1–3), then the sons of Israel (vv 4–9), and then a new generation of sons of Israel (vv 10–23) .Joshua, Yahweh, ancestors, and judges all appear in the narrative, but the focus remains on Israel.
Chap. 2 thus presents a contrast. First Yahweh appears as a messenger and promises to keep the covenant with Israel as he did with the first faithful generation. Then Israel is portrayed as an unfaithful nation who passed over or transgressed the covenant. The nations are set up as God's ploy to provide Israel an opportunity to keep or transgress covenant. Only chap. 2 in Judges mentions Cod's covenant. Chap. 2 plays on the work of Joshua, even ending the chapter with Joshua as an inclusio to 1:1. The divine speech in 2:20b–22 parallels similar vocabulary in the divine messenger's speech in 2:1–3.
Syntax separates 3:1 from chap. 2, using a disjunctive clause to introduce the exposition to a new narrative and a traditional opening formula to begin the new unit. Chap. 3 ignores Joshua. The transition in 3:7 is parallel to 2:11, requiring in both cases an expository introduction to set the stage. Finally, chap. 2 focuses on nations surrounding Israel, the residents of the land, plunderers, enemies, or nations Joshua left. Chap. 3 centers on specific nations and geographical regions: Canaan, Philistines, Sidonians, Hivites, Mount Lebanon, Mount Baal Hermon, Lebo-hamath, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites. Judg 3:1–6 functions in chap. 3 as 2:1–10 does in chap. 2, setting the stage for the action to follow, action that involves the geographical and national names. The structure of Judges then deals with 1:1–2:23 as a military and then religious introduction with 3:1–16:31 as the body of the narrative. (See the conclusive discussion by Block, 76–77, who argues for following the current chapter division and then in his commentary works with 1:1–3:6.)
I conclude then that the first segment of Judges comprises only the first two chapters. Chap. 3 begins the body of the narrative proper. Chap. 1 gives the military situation of Israel immediately after Joshua's death as a prologue to the military expeditions of the judges to follow. Chap. 2 gives the religious situation of Israel during the time of the judges and prepares for the divine punishment to come when the summary description becomes reality.
Supposed patterns in Judg 1. provides a most unusual narrative introduction to the entire book of Judges. Van Seters ("Deuteronomist from Joshua to Samuel," 220) decides that "the fundamental problem of the Hexateuch is, perhaps, how to view Judg 1:1–2:5 and its relationship to what comes before and after it." Describing a "rather advanced historiography" here, Van Seters notes the ongoing difficulty of source attribution in light of the unity of the material, the impossibility of removing redactional frame material, and the lack of any clear historical genres. Van Seters (222) thus attributes both Josh 13–19 and Judg 1:1–2:5 to the same Priestly writer who intentionally repeated his account to emphasize that the land promise was not entirely kept. Comments about Jerusalem, Gezer, and forced labor come from the later Deuteronomistic Historian based on 1 Kgs 9:20–21.
Younger shows that genre analysis is not impossible, comparing Judg 1 with Assyrian summary inscriptions in contrast to Assyrian annalistic texts. Summary inscriptions are arranged geographically, not chronologically, and are shorter than the royal annals. Inscribed on a commemorative stele or a slab, these summaries contained four parts: "(a) a prologue, consisting of invocation to the gods and the king's titulature; (b) a geographically arranged summary of events; (c) the main section explaining the circumstances leading to the composition of the inscription, introduced by the formula ina umeshuma = 'at that time'; (d) an epilogue with maledictions" ("Judges 1," 211). Younger, however, does not, and probably cannot, show how Judg 1 relates to this form, as Niditch (36) also notes, pointing to the first-person form of the Assyrian materials. Rather, Younger is interested in parallel content items. He points to the tendency to summarize time in nonspecific and non concrete terms. Similarly Younger sees that Judg 1 "neutralizes and reshapes our very sense of time and distance," bringing together "under one umbrella events that are remote chronologically" and clothing "simultaneity in the guise of sequence" (219). He also describes how Assyrian materials show that certain battles are conquest battles whereas others simply soften the enemy up for later conquest. Judg 1 is thus presented as a second series of battles intended to subjugate or destroy an enemy Joshua previously softened up. Lindars sees this from another direction. He reads the material from a postexilic viewpoint and sees that 'Joshua has acted like an imperial conqueror, Cyrus perhaps, who breaks the resistance of a whole nation and then divides the land among his lieutenants as their areas of rule" (10).
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Judges, Volume 8 by Trent C. Butler, Bruce M. Metzger, David A. Hubbard, Glenn W. Barker, John D. W. Watts, James W. Watts, Ralph P. Martin, Lynn Allan Losie. Copyright © 2009 Thomas Nelson, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of ZONDERVAN.
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Table of Contents
Contents
List of Tables, vii,Editorial Preface, viii,
Author's Preface, ix,
Abbreviations, x,
Main Bibliography,
Commentary Bibliography, xviii,
General Bibliography, xxi,
Introduction,
Introduction to the Riddle of Judges, xxxvi,
Introduction to the Text of Judges, xxxix,
Introduction to the Narrative Composition of Judges, xliii,
The Larger Context: The Deuteronomistic History, xliii,
The Immediate Context: The Structure of the Book of Judges, li,
Introduction to the Historical Context: The Setting and Nature of the Judges Narratives, lxiv,
Introduction to the Chronology of Judges, lxiv,
Introduction to the History behind Judges, lxvi,
Introduction to Dating the Book of Judges, lxxii,
Introduction to the Purpose of Judges, lxxiv,
Outline of the Book of Judges, lxxxiv,
Commentary,
I. The Situation after Joshua (1:1–2:23), 1,
A. The Territorial Situation (1:1–36), 1,
B. The Religious Situation (2:1–23), 34,
II. Israel's Sagging Fortunes under the Judges (3:1–16:31), 50,
A. Bright Beginning in the South (3:1–31), 50,
B. Foreboding Failures in the North (4:1–16:31), 75,
1. Barak: Surrendering Glory to a Woman (4:1–5:31), 75,
a. The Prose Version (4:1–24), 75,
b. The Poetic Version (5:1–31), 110,
Excursus: Unique Attributes of the Two Deborah Stories, 159,
Excursus: The Nature of Old Testament Historical Narrative, 172,
2. Gideon and Abimelech: Struggling to Be King (6:1–9:57), 178,
a. Gideon Overcomes the Midianites (6:1–8:35), 178,
b. Abimelech: Illegitimate, Self-seeking Rogue Warrior (9:1–57), 225,
3. Jephthah with Minor Judges (10:1–12:15), 252,
a. Interim Report (10:1–18), 252,
b. Jephthah: Sacrificing Family and a Tribe for Victory (11:1–12:15), 268,
4. Samson's Self-centered Fight with Philistines and Women (13:1–16:31), 301,
III. Epilogue: "Who is king when all is right in my eyes?" (17:1–21:25), 361,
A. Saving Dan, the Cult Thief (17:1–18:31), 361,
B. Saving Benjaminites, the Guest Rapers (19:1–21:25), 402,
1. Uniquely Evil Benjamin Violates Law of Hospitality (19:1–30), 402,
2. All Israel Gains Revenge on Benjamin (20:1–48), 430,
3. Israelites Work around Vow (21:1–25), 451,
Appendix of Tables, 478,
Map: Judges of Israel, 531,
Indexes, 532,