Biography of the Judges of Israel

Summary of the Judges of Israel

NAME BIBLE QUOTE TRIBE YEARS OF ENEMIES
DURATION
Otoniel Judges 3:7-11 Judah 40 Arameans
Ehud Judges 3:12-30 Benjamin 80 Moabites
Shamgar Judges 3:31 …………….. ………………… Philistines
Dévora Judges 4-5 Ephraim 40 Canaanites
Barak Judges 4-5 Naphtali 40 Canaanites
Gideon Judges 6-8 Manasseh 40 Midianites
Tola Judges 10:1-2 Issachar 23 …………………..
Jair Judges 10:3-5 …………….. 22 …………………
Jephthah Judges 10:6-12 Ephraim 6 Philistines and
Ammonites
Ibzan Judges 12:8-10 Judah 7 ………………………
Elon Judges 12:11-12 Zebulun 10 ……………………..
Abdon Judges 12:13-15 Ephraim 8 ……………………
Samson Judges 13-16 dan 20 Philistines
Samuel 1 Sam 1:25, 1:8 Efrain Lifetime …………………..

1. Othniel: ( Judges 3:7-11 )

Son of Cenez and younger brother or nephew of Caleb (Jos. 15:17; Thu. 1:13; 1 Cr. 4:13).
He distinguished himself by capturing the town of Debir (or Kiriath-sepher) in Judah from
the Canaanites. As a reward he received Achsa, Caleb's daughter, who had been promised
to whoever conquered that city (Josh. 15:15-17; Judges 1:11-13). His valor was
demonstrated once again when he defeated Cushan-risataim, king of Mesopotamia, who
had oppressed the Israelites for 8 years. His victory produced 40 years of peace in the
country; He was the 1st of the judges (Judge. 3:8-11).

2. Ehud or Ehud : (Judges 3:12-30)

Ehud means strong. After another 18 years oppression of the Israelites by King Eglon of
Moab or the Moabites, they were liberated by Ehud.
Ehud was the second judge of Israel, after Othniel, second son of Gera from the tribe of
Benjamin. He ruled Israel for 80 years.
King Eglon gathered with him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and defeated Israel.
And the children of Israel served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.
The children of Israel sent with Ehud a present to Eglon, who girded himself under his
clothes on his right thigh with a double-edged dagger. He gave the present to Eglon, a very
obese man , and said to him: O king, I have a secret message for you. Then he said: Be
silent! Then all who were with him left his presence. Ehud approached Eglon, who was
sitting, and rose from his chair. Ehud extended his left hand, took the dagger from his right
thigh and plunged it into his belly. The handle entered behind the blade, and the fat
covered the blade, which came out from behind.
Then Ehud went out into the porch, closed the doors of the summer room behind him and
put the bolt on it. When the king's servants saw him leaving, they went and looked. The
doors to the room were locked. They said: He is relieving himself inside the summer room.
They waited until they were bewildered. They took the key and opened it. His master was
fallen on the ground , dead. While they waited Ehud escaped to Seirat.
When He arrived, He blew the bugle in the hill country of Ephraim. Then the children of
Israel came down with him from the mountains, and he went before them.

Then he said to them, Follow me, for Jehovah has delivered our enemies, the Moabites,
into your hands! They went after him, took the fords of the Jordan that lead to Moab, and
let no one pass. They killed about 10,000 men of the Moabites, all strong and brave men.
None escaped.

3. Shamgar : (judges 3:31)

Shamgar means one who flees. He was the son of Anath of the tribe of Benjamin. He killed
600 Philistine men with an ox's jawbone and liberated Israel.
He is not given the title of judge, and there is no indication that the Israelites regarded him
as such, even though he freed them from oppression.

4. Deborah (Judges 4-5)

The only female Judge or ruler and prophetess of Israel. Débora means bee, wasp. She
was the wife of Lapidot.
After the death of Ehud, the children of Israel were subdued by Jabin, king of Canaan, who
reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, and he lived in Harosheth-Goim.
He had 900 iron chariots and had cruelly oppressed the children of Israel for twenty years.
At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lapidot, ruled over Israel. She used to sit
under a palm tree, between Ramá and Bethel, in the hill country of Ephraim. And the
children of Israel came to her for judgments.
He sent for Barak the son of Abinoam, and said to him, Go, take with you 10,000 men of
the children of Naphtali and the children of Zebulun, and gather them at Mount Tabor. I
will draw Sisera to you to the brook Kishon, with his chariots and his squadrons, and I will
hand him over to him.
Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, and 10,000 men followed him. And
Deborah went with him.
When Sisera was told that Barak had gone up to Mount Tabor, he gathered together all his
900 iron chariots, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth-Goim to the
brook Kishon.
Barak came down from Mount Tabor with the 10,000 men behind him and defeated
Sisera with all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword. Sisera himself got
out of the chariot and fled on foot. Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-
Goim. Sisera's entire army fell by the edge of the sword until none were left.

Sisera fled on foot to the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite. Jael came out received
Sisera and said to him: Come, My lord! Come to Me, do not be afraid. He went into the
tent with her, and she covered him with a blanket. And he said to him: Please give me
some water , because I am thirsty. She opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink, and
covered him again. Then he said to him: Stay at the entrance of the tent, and if anyone
comes and asks you: Is there anyone here?, you will answer no.
While Sisera was fast asleep and exhausted, Jael, Eber's wife, took a stake and a mallet in
her hand, went to him silently and drove the stake through his temples, driving it into the
ground.

When Barak came chasing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him: Come, and I
will show you the man you seek. He went in with her, and Sisera lay dead with the stake
driven through his temples.
Thus Yahweh subdued Jabin, king of Canaan, before the children of Israel that day.

5. Barak (Judges 4-5)

Barak the man who followed God. Barak means that he goes on to fight a war against King
Jabin of Canaan.
Barak was from the tribe of Naphtali.
The Son of Abinoam a Midianites. and 5th Judge of Israel along side Deborah 1237-1198
BC

6. Gideon

Judge of Israel from 1191 - 1151 BC, 40 years old. It means faith, miraculous victory. Son
of the great warrior Joash. He had many wives and 70 children.
The angel of the LORD went and sat under the oak in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the
Abyezrite. His son Gideon was shelling wheat in the winepress to hide it from the
Midianites. The angel of Jehovah said to Gideon: --Jehovah is with you, oh brave warrior!
Gideon answered him: Jehovah has forsaken us and delivered us into the hand of the
Midianites.
The angel said to him: Go in the strength of Jehovah and free Israel from the Midianites.
Surely I will be with you, and you will defeat the Midianites.
Gideon was a judge and warrior of Ancient Israel . He was the fifth of the judges of the
Jewish people and is considered one of the most outstanding due to the magnitude of his
"warrior work" against one of the enemy peoples of Israel : the Midianites . Son of Joash
from the tribe of Manasseh . The data we know about its history is reported in the book of
Judges from chapters 6 to 8.
There are two narratives of his vocation, there is no agreement on the number of his
campaigns. But the most validated is that of the Catholic Church . Apparently the
differences are due to the permanence of two strata of writing, the so-called " Elohist "
and the " Yahwist " (see the sources of the Pentateuch which, according to some writers,
can also be found in the narratives of the so-called "historical" books. " of the Bible ),
others affirm that there are three independent fragments that have been united in a
single story, others recognize two didactic narratives and a truly historical text, etc. Biblical
research has failed to arrive at a unified point of view.
In substance, Gideon's life takes place after the settlement of the Jews in the plain of
Ophrah where they had assimilated the idolatrous cults of the surrounding towns. After
this infidelity, Yahveh would have punished them by sending nomadic tribes and groups of
Amalekites and Midianites to wage war on them. In those battles, two of Gideon's
brothers were allegedly killed. The Israelites repented and asked for forgiveness. Yahweh
sent his angel to speak to Gideon to announce that he would be the liberator of his
people. He asked for proof, after a somewhat sarcastic dialogue with the angel. The latter
gave him the proof he asked for by burning a sacrifice with miraculous fire. The next day
Gideon destroyed the altar of Baal and, faced with the indignation of the people, Joash,
his father, defended him, saying that if Baal was a god, he would be in charge of punishing
the sacrilege. From that day on he was known as Gideon Jerobaal. (Heb. Yerubba{al, "Baal
contends against him" or "fighter against Baal," is mentioned in Jud. 6:32; 7:1; 8:29, 35;
9:1-57; 1 S. 12:11; 2S. 11:21). The nomadic groups gathered to make war on Gideon. He
gathered an army that, with various conditions and tests, Yahveh reduced to three
hundred men (not counting auxiliary troops). The Israelites attacked during the night and
caused such confusion that the Midianites murdered each other and had to flee in terror
while being pursued by Gideon's troops. 1 The leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb
themselves, were killed in the battle, and their heads were given as a trophy to Gideon.
After other victorious battles with the Midianites and punishing the towns that did not
want to collaborate in the persecution, the townspeople wanted Gideon to be their king.
To which he did not accept, claiming that only God could reign in Israel.
With the jewels taken from the vanquished, Gideon had an ephod made. There is also no
agreement among experts in relation to the ephod, some say that it was a complete
priestly outfit with its jewels and ornaments, others that it was a table or instruments for
making inquiries to Yahweh. However, this ephod led the Israelites back to idolatry.
Gideon ruled Israel for another 40 years that were of peace and growth. He had seventy
children (he was polygamous) among whom Abimelech stands out.
He is mentioned in Psalm 83, verse 12 for his military victories and in the letter to the
Hebrews , chapter 11, verse 32 for his faith.

7. Abimelech

Son of Gideon with a concubine in Shechem. He reigned for three years 1151-1149 BC. C..
Abimelech means: Father of the King. This Abimelech was not the king of Gerar.
Abimelech son of Jerobaal went to Shechem to his mother's brothers, and he spoke with
them, with all his mother's family and all the lords of Shechem, and asked them, "What is
better for you than all seventy sons?" of Jerubbaal, my brothers, govern you, or may I
alone govern you? Remember that I am one of yours.
Their hearts turned toward Abimelech, and they said, “He is our brother.”
They gave him 70 pieces of silver from the temple of Baal-berit, with them Abimelech
hired hit men who followed him to his father's house in Ophra and killed his 70 male
brothers, sons of Jerobaal, on the same stone. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerobaal,
remained, because he hid.
Then all the lords of Shechem gathered together with all those of Beth-milo and
proclaimed Abimelech king, next to the oak that is next to the ritual stone in Shechem.
Jotham went to the top of Mount Gerizim. And raising his voice he cried out, saying to
them: Listen to me, O lords of Shechem!
The trees of the forest wanted to choose a king and said to the olive tree: Reign over us! .
But the olive tree answered: I will not give up my oil with which God and men are
honored, to go and place myself above the trees!
Then the trees said to the fig tree: Come, and reign over us! But the fig tree responded: I
will not give up the sweetness of my good fruit to go and stand above the trees! Then the
trees said to the vine: Come, and reign over us! But the vine answered: I will not give up
my wine that brings joy to God and men, to go and stand above the trees! Then all the
trees said to the bush: Come, and reign over us!
The bush responded to the trees: If you anoint me as queen, come and take refuge in my
shade so that fire does not come out of it and devour you! Jotham continued:
Have you acted in good faith and with integrity in proclaiming Abimelech as king? Have
you acted correctly with Jerobaal and his sons? Have you rewarded him according to his
merits, since my father fought for you, risking his life, to free you from the oppression of
Midian.
But you have risen up today against my father's house, you have killed his sons, seventy
men on one stone, and you have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over
the lords of Shechem, because he is your brother!
If you have acted in good faith and with integrity towards Jerobaal and his house, then
enjoy Abimelech, and may he also enjoy you! And if not, let fire come out of Abimelech,
and consume the lords of Shechem and Beth-milo! And let fire come out from the lords of
Shechem and Beth-milo, and consume Abimelech!
Jotham fled to Beer, where he continued to live. Abimelech ruled Israel for three years,
Jehovah sent an evil spirit and the lords of Shechem betrayed Abimelech, the lords of
Shechem, without giving notice to Abimelech, placed men on the top of the mountains,
lying in wait, to plunder all those who They passed by them on that road.
Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers went over to the lords of Shechem, who put their trust
in him. They went out to the fields, harvested their vineyards, treaded the grapes and
made wine. Then they entered the temple of their gods, ate and drank, and cursed
Abimelech.
Gaal son of Ebed said to them: Who is Abimelech that we should serve him? Jerobaal's son
and Zebul, his officer, should serve the men of Hamor, father of Shechem! Why then
should we serve him?
If this people came under my command, I would throw out Abimelech! He would tell
Abimelech: Gather your army and get out of here!
When Zebul, the mayor of the city, heard the words of Gaal, he was filled with anger and
cunningly sent messengers to Abimelech to say, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brothers
have come to Shechem, and are revolting the city against you. Therefore, come at night
with the people who are with you, and lay ambushes in the field. In the morning, as the
sun rises, get up and attack the city. When Gaal and the people who are with him come
out against you, you will act according to what they offer you.
Abimelech and all the people who were with him got up during the night and set up an
ambush against Shechem with four squads.
Gaal went out and stopped at the entrance to the city gate. Then Abimelech and all the
people who were with him came out of the ambush. When Gaal saw the people, he said
to Zebul: Behold, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains by Tabur-
Haarets and a company is coming by the way of the oak of the Diviners.
Then Zebul answered him: Where is that saying of yours, when you said: "Who is
Abimelech, that we should serve him?" Aren't those the people you thought little of? So
go out now and fight him! Gaal went out before the lords of Shechem and fought against
Abimelech. But Abimelech defeated him and pursued him to the entrance to the city. And
many fell dead.
Abimelech remained in Aruma, and Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem.
The next day Abimelech divided his people into three squads and set up ambushes in the
field. When he saw that people were leaving the city, he attacked them. Abimelech and
the squad that was with him attacked with impetus and took up positions at the entrance
to the city gate. The other two squads attacked everyone on the field and killed them.
Abimelech fought all that day, took the city and killed the people who were in it. He
demolished the city and covered it with salt.

The lords who were in the tower of Shechem entered the fortress of the temple of the god
Berith.
Then Abimelech went up to Mount Salmon with all his people and ordered each one to
cut a dry branch from the trees and follow him.
They placed them next to the fortress and set them on fire. All those who were in the
tower of Shechem died, about a thousand men and their wives.

Then Abimelech went to Thebez and took it. In the middle of that city there was a fortified
tower in which all the men and women of the city took refuge. They closed the doors
behind them, and went up to the roof of the tower.
Abimelech went to the tower and approached the door to set it on fire, but a woman
dropped a millstone on his head and broke it.
He hastily called his young squire, and said to him: Draw your sword and kill me, so that it
may not be said that a woman killed me. His armor bearer pierced him, and Abimelech
died.
Thus Jehovah punished all the evil that Abimelech had done by killing his seventy
brothers.

8. Tola (Judges 10:1-2)

Tola was from the tribe of Issachar. Reigned 23 years, 1149 - 1129 BC Tola means:
crimson.
After Abimelech there arose Tola, son of Puah, to free Israel. He lived in Samir, in the hill
country of Ephraim. He died and was buried in Samir.

9. Jair (10:3-5)
Jair a Gileadite Judge of Israel for twenty-two years. 1126 - 1104 BC Jair means he who
praises. In this period Boaz married Ruth in 1120 BC He had thirty sons who rode on thirty
donkeys, and they had thirty towns, which were called Havot-Jair in the land of Gilead. He
died and was buried in Camón. Gilead had large forests and meadows where livestock
could be raised and abundant crops could be raised.
10. Jephthah (Judg. 12:7)

Ninth judge of Israel, son of Gilead and a concubine (Judg. 11:1). Rejected by the
legitimate sons of Gilead, Jephthah fled to the land of Tob, where he recruited a band of
mercenaries. Having been attacked by the Ammonites, the Israelites went to ask him to
command them in the fight. Jephthah accepted on the condition that he be kept as
leader if he defeated Ammon (Judges. 11:7-11); the Israelites won the victory.
Jephthah, before marching to the battlefield, had made a vow to sacrifice the first of
his household who came out to greet him upon his return (Judges. 11:30, 31). Great was
his sadness when his only daughter came out to welcome him with tambourines and
dances (Judges. 11:34). There is a difference of opinion as to whether Jephthah actually
kept his vow or not, but the biblical account seems to indicate that he did. Likewise, the
understanding of the nature of the vote is not unanimous. When his daughter returned
after having "mourned her virginity" for two months with her companions, Jephthah
"did with her according to the vow he had made" (Judges. 11:39). However, Scripture
does not say whether or not God approved of such a sacrifice. Because of the
exhortations we have in many places against human sacrifice, we can believe that he
disapproved of it. However, he did not prevent it with a miracle, as happened with
Abraham, since it was not God who had commanded it, and perhaps the daughter
herself offered herself in good faith in honor of the God of whom she had a poor
concept.
The Ephraimites threatened to kill Jephthah. He defeated them, and those who tried to
escape by fleeing through the fords of the Jordan, those of Gilead identified them by
forcing them to pronounce Shibolet, a word whose correct pronunciation was almost
impossible for the Ephraimites (Judg. 12:1-6).
Jephthah was judge of Israel for six years, and was buried "in one of the cities of
Gilead" (Judg. 12:7).

11. Ibzan (Judges 12:8-10)

Ibshan of Bethlehem of the tribe of Zebulun. He reigned seven years- 1081BC-1073BC. He

had 30 sons and 30 daughters. Ibshan in Hebrew means: splendid .
 12. Elon (Judges12:11).

He was a judge of Israel. Ibzan followed and was succeeded by Abdon. Said to have been
of the tribe of Zebulun, he led Israel for ten years, and was buried at Ajalon in Zebulon.

13. Abdon (Judges 12:13-15)

Abdón is a male given name in Spanish . It comes from the Hebrew abd , "servant."
According to the Bible , Abdon was one of the judges of Israel in the time between the
conquest of Canaan by the Israelites and the time of the kings. It appears in the Book of
Judges 12:13-15, where it is mentioned that he was the son of Hillel the Piratonite. He
ruled Israel for eight years.

14. SAMSON
Samson was a Nazirite from birth and received extraordinary strength along with the
Nazirite vow to never cut his hair. His exploits were spectacular; he killed a thousand
Philistines with a donkey's jawbone (Judges 15:16), tore up and dragged away the gates of
Gaza (Judges 16:3), etc. Samson was very fond of women and Delilah, a Philistine, was his
favorite. The Philistine lords hired her to discover where Samson's strength lay. Once the
secret was discovered, they cut Samson's hair while he slept, then took him prisoner,
tortured him and gouged out his eyes.
Samson's hair grew back, and while the Philistines mocked him at a great banquet, he
prayed to God for strength. Regained strength, he tore down the columns that supported
the roof of the feast hall, and everyone, including Samson, perished (Judges 16:29-30).

15. Samuel
Samuel ( Hebrew : ‫ ְׁש מּוֵא ל‬, "He who listens to God") is an Old Testament character. He is a
prophet and last judge of Israel .
According to the data that he himself provides in the First Book of Samuel , he belonged to
the tribe of Levi. There is a common mistake, whereby people think that he belonged to
the tribe of Ephraim ; This misunderstanding comes from the Hebrew word ‫ אפרתי‬, efrat,
that is, coming from Ephrath or Ephrathah, as expressed in the first verse of the First Book
of Samuel: "...Elkaná son of Jeroam... an Ephraite (and not an Ephraimite, as can be seen
in a Hebrew version). Ephrath or Ephrata is Bethlehem , as the Book of Genesis explicitly
states (35:19): Thus Rachel died, and they buried her on the road that goes to Ephrath,
which is Bethlehem.
His mother, Hannah, was barren and miraculously obtained a son whom she named
Samuel and consecrated to the Lord, leaving him in the sanctuary of Shiloh in the care of
the priest Eli (1Sam 1-2).
Very young, he felt the vocation to be judge and prophet of the Jewish people (1Sam 3).
It was he who chose the first king of the Jewish people, Saul , David 's predecessor.
In Jewish tradition it has great weight, to the point that the Talmud goes so far as to say
that this prophet was as good as Moses and Aaron . According to Jewish tradition, upon
the death of Moses and Joshua , there occurred a confusion regarding certain laws,
especially concerning the prohibition of marriage between Ammonites , Moabites and
Israelites. This problem was solved by the prophet Samuel, since he had sufficient
authority, with the following prayer: male Ammonite but not female Ammonite, male
Moabite but not female Ammonite. That is, since the biblical verse that prohibits
intermingling between Moabites, Ammonites and Israelites only mentions men, it
excludes Ammonite and Moabite women from the prohibition, allowing them to marry
Jews.