Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Judges
Judges is a sobering book. Again and again Israel forgets God, falls into bondage, cries out, and is rescued by a deliverer God raises up, only to forget again. It is the story of a downward spiral and of a God whose mercy keeps reaching down. This commentary walks through it verse by verse.
About This Commentary
Judges covers the turbulent years between Joshua and the kings. It runs on a tragic cycle: the people sin and turn to idols, God gives them into the hand of an enemy, they cry out, He raises up a judge to deliver them, there is rest for a time, and then they fall away again, each cycle worse than the last. The book's own summary is haunting: 'everyone did what was right in his own eyes.'
This commentary covers Judges verse by verse, with the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, verified background, and an Apostolic reading. Judges shows both the ruin that follows compromise with sin and the persistent mercy of God, who keeps sending deliverers, pointing to the final Deliverer, Jesus Christ. References are given at the foot of each chapter.
All twenty-one chapters of Judges are now complete, from the failure to drive out the Canaanites, through the cycle of the judges, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson, to the dark closing chapters and the book's haunting final verse: 'every man did that which was right in his own eyes.'
Author
Not named in the book; Jewish tradition associates it with Samuel.
Setting
Canaan, in the generations between Joshua and the rise of the kings.
Key Word
Shophetim, 'judges' or 'deliverers', the leaders God raised up to rescue Israel.
Theme
The cycle of apostasy and deliverance; the mercy of God to a failing people.
Translation
King James Version (KJV) throughout.
The Chapters
Judges Commentary
The chapters below are available now. The rest are being written and will open here as they are finished and verified.
Judges 1:1-36
They Did Not Drive Them Out
After Joshua's death Judah goes up first and the LORD gives victory, but tribe after tribe fails to drive out the Canaanites, planting the seeds of the trouble that fills the book.
Read Chapter 1 →Judges 2:1-23
A Generation That Knew Not the LORD
The theological heart of the book: the Angel of the LORD weeps at Bochim, a new generation arises "which knew not the LORD," and the downward cycle of sin, servitude, supplication, and salvation begins to turn.
Read Chapter 2 →Judges 3:1-31
The First Deliverers
God raises up the first judges: Othniel, on whom the Spirit of the LORD came; Ehud the left-handed, whose secret errand freed Israel from Moab; and Shamgar, who slew six hundred Philistines with an ox goad. God saves by whom He will.
Read Chapter 3 →Judges 4:1-24
Deborah, Barak, and Jael
Deborah the prophetess judges Israel and sends the reluctant Barak against Sisera. At the flooded Kishon the LORD discomfits nine hundred iron chariots, and Sisera falls by the hand of Jael, exactly as God foretold.
Read Chapter 4 →Judges 5:1-31
The Song of Deborah
One of the oldest poems in the Bible: Deborah and Barak sing of the LORD who marched from Seir, the people who willingly offered themselves, the stars that fought against Sisera, and the destiny of those who love God, to shine as the rising sun.
Read Chapter 5 →Judges 6:1-40
The Call of Gideon
Under Midian's oppression the Angel of the LORD calls a frightened Gideon "mighty man of valour," confirms His word with fire, and sends him first to tear down his father's altar of Baal. The Spirit of the LORD clothes Gideon, and God patiently answers the sign of the fleece.
Read Chapter 6 →Judges 7:1-25
The Sword of the LORD, and of Gideon
God whittles Gideon's army from thirty-two thousand to three hundred so no flesh can boast. With trumpets, torches hidden in earthen jars, and a shout, the three hundred surround Midian, and the LORD turns the enemy's swords upon themselves.
Read Chapter 7 →Judges 8:1-35
The LORD Shall Rule Over You
Gideon turns away Ephraim's anger with a soft answer, captures Zebah and Zalmunna "faint, yet pursuing," and nobly refuses the crown, "the LORD shall rule over you." Yet he makes a golden ephod that becomes a snare, and after his death Israel returns to Baal.
Read Chapter 8 →Judges 9:1-57
Abimelech and the Bramble King
Gideon's son Abimelech murders seventy brothers to seize a crown. Jotham cries his parable of the trees and the bramble from Mount Gerizim, and God's justice grinds sure: an evil spirit, a rebellion, and a woman's millstone render the wickedness on every head.
Read Chapter 9 →Judges 10:1-18
His Soul Was Grieved for the Misery of Israel
After the judges Tola and Jair, Israel falls deeper than ever, serving the gods of seven nations. God at first refuses their cry, "I will deliver you no more," but when they put away their idols and truly repent, His soul is grieved for their misery.
Read Chapter 10 →Judges 11:1-40
Jephthah and the Rash Vow
Jephthah, the rejected son of a harlot, is called back to be Israel's head, appeals to "the LORD the Judge," and by the Spirit of the LORD crushes Ammon. But a rash vow made in zeal turns his triumph to grief, a warning to weigh our words before God.
Read Chapter 11 →Judges 12:1-15
Shibboleth at the Fords of Jordan
Proud Ephraim quarrels with Jephthah, and the strife becomes civil war. At the fords of Jordan a single mispronounced word, "Shibboleth," marks forty-two thousand Ephraimites for death. Then the quiet judges Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon keep Israel.
Read Chapter 12 →Judges 13:1-25
We Have Seen God
The Angel of the LORD announces Samson's birth to Manoah's barren wife, a Nazarite from the womb. The Angel's name is "secret," Wonderful; He ascends in the altar flame, and Manoah cries, "We have seen God." The LORD Himself came down to promise a deliverer.
Read Chapter 13 →Judges 14:1-20
Out of the Strong Came Forth Sweetness
Samson demands a Philistine wife, tears a lion by the Spirit, and finds honey in its carcase, the source of his riddle. But his bride is enticed to betray it, and the unequal yoke bears bitter fruit. Strength out of death, and a warning against walking by sight.
Read Chapter 14 →Judges 15:1-20
The Well of Him That Cried
Samson's feud escalates with foxes and firebrands, and his own tribe binds him to hand him over. The Spirit rushes on him, the cords melt, and a thousand fall by a jawbone. Then, fainting with thirst, he cries to God, who opens the well En-hakkore.
Read Chapter 15 →Judges 16:1-31
He Wist Not That the LORD Was Departed
Samson carries off the gates of Gaza, then is worn down by Delilah until he surrenders the secret of his strength. Shorn and blinded, he "wist not that the LORD was departed." But his hair grows again, and his last prayer, "remember me," brings down the temple of Dagon.
Read Chapter 16 →Judges 17:1-13
Every Man Did That Which Was Right in His Own Eyes
The book's dark appendix begins: Micah builds a house of idols, mixes the LORD's name with graven images, and hires a wandering Levite as his priest, sure God will bless him. A portrait of self-made religion in an age when everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Read Chapter 17 →Judges 18:1-31
They Set Up the Graven Image
The Danites get a flattering oracle from Micah's hired priest, seize peaceful Laish, and carry off Micah's idols and Levite to found a shrine of their own, an idolatry planted at Dan that would corrupt Israel "until the day of the captivity of the land."
Read Chapter 18 →Judges 19:1-30
There Was No King in Israel
One of Scripture's darkest chapters: a Levite and his concubine find an Israelite town, Gibeah, that had become as Sodom. The outrage that follows shakes the whole nation, showing the depths to which a people fall when everyone does what is right in his own eyes.
Read Chapter 19 →Judges 20:1-48
Gathered as One Man
Israel gathers "as one man" to punish the crime of Gibeah, but Benjamin shields the guilty and war erupts between brothers. Twice defeated despite a just cause, Israel weeps and fasts before the LORD, who then delivers Benjamin, all but destroying the tribe.
Read Chapter 20 →Judges 21:1-25
Every Man Did That Which Was Right in His Own Eyes
Grieved that Benjamin is nearly lost and bound by a rash oath, Israel devises troubling human remedies to save the tribe. The book closes on its defining verse: "In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes."
Read Chapter 21 →