The Book of Judges

Excerpt from The Book of JudgesThe Book of Judges gives the history of the people of God from the time that they had been settled by Joshua in the land of Canaan until the increasing disorders in the Hebrew commonwealth called for changes in the constitution, whose introduction is narrated in the Books of Samuel. The recent critical speculations which at present excite controversy are less intimately or directly concerned with this book than with most others; though the study of it must exert an influence on one's mind, and, as I think, must contribute to their decision.The materials are scanty indeed out of which to construct a reply to the questions, At what time was the book written? And, Who was its author? The mention of 'the captivity of the land,' ch. Xviii. 30, is held by some to prove that it was not composed before the Babylonian exile, or at all events before the fall of the kingdom of the Ten Tribes my own opinion is that this refers to the catastrophe in the time Of Eli, 1 Sam. Iv. 21, 22, the date being the same in the two verses, 30 and 31, viz., the end of the time that the house of God was in Shiloh. Apart from this, there is nothing said which hints at any time later than the rise of the kingdom; yet there is emphasis put on the fact of there being no king in Israel at the time that certain disorders appeared, ch. Xvii. 6, xviii. I, xix. I, xxi. 2 5 - 21 circumstance which might indicate that the hopeful feelings associated with the great revolution which introduced the kingdom were shared by the writer.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.