READ IT! - Introduction to Judges 11-17

Readings for this week

Monday: Judges 11

Tuesday: Judges 12

Wednesday: Judges 13

Thursday: Judges 14

Friday: Judges 15

Saturday: Judges 16

Sunday: Judges 17

Introduction to Judges 11-17

Chapters 11-12

After first rejecting Jephthah, the people then try to bring him back so that he might lead them in victory over their enemies and save everybody. Now, Jephthah is the son of a prostitute. He is referred to as the son of Gilead, which is a territory. So In other words, nobody knew who his father was.

The oppression present at this time was by the Philistines and the Ammonites. And Jephthah promises a child-sacrifice to God in exchange for victory, and he ends up killing his own daughter, showing that Israel has mixed the sacred with the perverted.

Next, we get Three Minor Judges.

We have Ibzan, who was from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. He had thirty sons and thirty daughters, and led Israel for seven years.

Then comes Elon, who  was from Aijalon in the land of Zebulun. He led Israel for ten years.

Then Abdon, who  was from Pirathon in the land of Ephraim. He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy donkeys. He led Israel for eight years.

Chapter 13

And so this downward spiral of judges finally comes to the story of Samson. A strange man appears to a woman and says she will have a son. He tells her that her son will be a Nazirite from birth and gives her specific instructions. She tells her husband Manoah about the strange man. Manoah comes to see the strange man later on and offers him a meal. The man does not need food and tells them to use it to make a sacrifice to God. Manaoh asks what the man’s name is and the man says, “Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding.” As they make their sacrifice the man ascends in the flames. Manoah freaks out and says they are going to die because they just had an encounter with God and didn’t know it. His wife reassures him that God wouldn’t have given them such good news if He had wanted to kill them. She gives birth to a son and names him “Samson.”

Chapters 14-16

At this point, the Philistines have become prominent in the narrative. Samson is a Nazirite from birth, but he is constantly breaking his covenant. He does so secretly by eating honey out of a dead lion’s carcass... and then taking some of it with him to give to his parents. Kind of like when I shared my donuts with my roommate, but didn’t tell him that I found them in the dumpster. He also gets drunk for seven days and marries a Philistine woman, saying “she is right in my eyes.”

Samson is weak towards women and loses a bet/riddle/game with the Philistines because he gives in to the nagging of his wife. He leaves his wedding in a rage and the Philistines give his wife to another man. Later he comes back to patch things up with his bride by bringing her a goat, only to hear from his father-in-law "I gave her to the best man because I thought you hated her." In revenge, Samson sets 300 foxes on fire and sets them loose in the Philistines’ crops, and they retaliate by burning his wife.

The people of Judah hand Samson over to the Philistines because he is out of control. However, Samson breaks the ropes that bind him and slaughters 1,000 men with a donkey’s jawbone. He's quite pleased with himself and makes up a little ditty, singing, "With an ass's jawbone I've made asses out of them."

We also learn that Samson sleeps with prostitutes. Once, he only spends half the night with a prostitute because he knows people are coming to arrest him. He gets up in the night and walks off with the city gates on his shoulders.

Later, he meets and falls in love with Delilah. Delilah’s name literally means “of the night.” Samson’s name, in contrast, means “sunshine.” What does light have in common with darkness?

The Philistines pay Delilah 1,100 pieces of silver to betray Samson. Samson is so stupid that he falls for Delilah’s trick and lets her cut his hair. He is humiliated before Dagon, the god of the Philistines. Samson falls further into darkness when the Philistines poke out his eyes. However, Samson’s final act of suicidal terrorism brings about a partial deliverance to the people.

Chapter 17

The character of Micah is introduced. Micah’s mother may have been Delilah. Micah returns 1,100 pieces of silver (the price for Samson’s life) to her which had been stolen. She uses 200 of these 1,100 pieces of silver to build an idol in order to honor Yahweh. This is very twisted in nature and shows the backwardness of the time-period. Micah makes an ephod and appoints his own son as priest of his illegitimate shrine. He hires a Levite as a priest, but everything about the arrangement is illegitimate.