Rembrandt van Rijn, The Blinding of Samson, 1636. Public domain.
Judges 2 to 16 · Story · Featured Study
The Judges Cycle
Six judges rise and fall in Judges 3 to 16, each under one repeated pattern.
- Who
- Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, Samson
- When
- the period of the judges, from Othniel to Samson; the years BC are disputed (proposed)
Judges states its own pattern before it runs it, and the note that the land had rest, given four times, never comes again after Gideon.
Summary
Judges 2:11 to 19 sets out a cycle of sin, anger, oppression, a cry, a deliverer and rest, and the accounts of six judges follow it as it wears down. The rest that closed each of the early accounts stops after Gideon, and the book ends by asking for a king who would not fail.
- The rest notice closes the accounts of Othniel, Ehud, Deborah and Gideon, and Jephthah's and Samson's accounts end without it.
- The Spirit of the LORD came upon four of the six major judges, each time for a task.
- Samson's account records no cry from Israel, and his Nazirite vow breaks term by term.
- Hebrews 11:32 still names Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah among those who lived by faith.
The Six-Stage Formula
The pattern stated before a single judge appears
After Joshua's generation died, Judges stops its story to explain what will happen next. In nine verses it describes a pattern, and the next fourteen chapters show it at work.
And the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. Thus they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they followed after various gods of the peoples around them. They bowed down to them and provoked the LORD to anger,The first stage, given before any named enemy or judge.
Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of those who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.The anger of the LORD and the verb sold, which returns in the cycles at 3:8, 4:2 and 10:7.
After Joshua's generation died, Judges stops its story to explain what will happen next. In nine verses it describes a pattern, and the next fourteen chapters show it at work.
Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of those who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.The anger of the LORD and the verb sold, which returns in the cycles at 3:8, 4:2 and 10:7.
The LORD's anger follows covenant unfaithfulness, as Deuteronomy 28 warned it would, and He hands Israel over to real powers with names and armies. Israel's distress then moves Him to pity, and He raises up a judge.
Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for the Israelites, He was with that judge and saved them from the hands of their enemies while the judge was still alive; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning under those who oppressed them and afflicted them.The turn comes from the LORD's pity at their groaning; the verse records no speech of repentance.
But when the judge died, the Israelites became even more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods to serve them and bow down to them. They would not give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.Each generation after a judge's death went further than the one before.
Verse 19 already names the direction. The cycle repeats, and every turn goes lower.
Judges 2:18, Judges 2:19
The Formula Run Six Times
The pattern from Othniel to Samson
Judges 2 names six stages, and the first account, Othniel's, has every one of them in five verses.
- Israel does evilThey forgot the LORD and served the Baals and the Asherahs.Judges 3:7
- The LORD's anger burnsHe sold them to Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram-naharaim.Judges 3:8
- Sold to an oppressorIsrael served him eight years.Judges 3:8
- Israel cries outThe Israelites cried out to the LORD.Judges 3:9
- A deliverer is raisedThe Spirit of the LORD came upon Othniel, and he went out to war.Judges 3:10
- The land has restForty years, until Othniel died.Judges 3:11
A sequence of the six stages of Judges 2, each with the verse of Othniel's account that fills it.
The rest drops out of the last two accounts, and the cry drops out of Samson's.
| Judge | Oppressor, years | The cry | The Spirit | Years of rest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Othniel | Aram, 8 (3:8) | 3:9 | 3:10 | 40 (3:11) |
| Ehud | Moab, 18 (3:14) | 3:15 | None recorded | 80 (3:30) |
| Deborah | Jabin of Hazor, 20 (4:3) | 4:3 | None recorded | 40 (5:31) |
| Gideon | Midian, 7 (6:1) | 6:6 | 6:34 | 40 (8:28) |
| Jephthah | Ammon and the Philistines, 18 (10:8) | 10:10 | 11:29 | None recorded |
| Samson | The Philistines, 40 (13:1) | None recorded | 13:25; 14:6, 19; 15:14 | None recorded |
The oppression in the last cycle lasted forty years, the longest the book records.
The six counts as a table
| Oppressor | Years |
|---|---|
| Aram, before Othniel (3:8) | 8 |
| Moab, before Ehud (3:14) | 18 |
| Jabin, before Deborah (4:3) | 20 |
| Midian, before Gideon (6:1) | 7 |
| Ammon, before Jephthah (10:8) | 18 |
| The Philistines, before Samson (13:1) | 40 |
Each bar is the years Israel served an enemy before the next rising, with its verse, drawn from zero.
Stage six tells the most. After Gideon the rest notice never returns, and the book's last two deliverers leave Israel as unsettled as they found it.
The Spirit of the LORD Came upon Them
Four judges, three Hebrew verbs, and a power given for a task
OTHNIEL, HAYAH AL
The plainest wording: the Spirit was upon him, and he judged Israel and went out to war.
GIDEON, LABASH
The verb means to put on a garment. The Spirit of the LORD clothed itself with Gideon.
JEPHTHAH, HAYAH AL
Othniel's wording returns just before the march on Ammon, and the rash vow follows in the next verse.
SAMSON, TSALACH
The Spirit began to stir him at Mahaneh-dan, then rushed upon him three times: the lion, the thirty men of Ashkelon, the ropes at Lehi.
Jephthah, hayah al, Samson, tsalach
Gustave Doré, Gideon Chooses 300 Soldiers, La Sainte Bible, Tours, 1866, plate 54. Public domain.
Doré drew Judges 7:2 to 7. The army that gathered after the Spirit came upon Gideon is cut at the water to three hundred men.
Six Hebrew words of the cycleSpirit, clothe, rush upon, sell, Nazirite and feast
Three verbs describe the Spirit's coming on the judges, and the store places each in its verses.
| Word | Meaning | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|
| Ruach | Wind; here the Spirit of the LORD | 3:10, 6:34, 11:29, 13:25, 14:6, 14:19 and 15:14 |
| Labash | To put on a garment, to clothe | 6:34, of Gideon |
| Tsalach | To push forward, to rush | 14:6, 14:19 and 15:14, of Samson |
| Makar | To sell | 2:14, 3:8, 4:2 and 10:7 |
| Nazir | Separate, consecrated; a Nazirite | 13:5, 13:7 and 16:17 |
| Mishteh | Drinking; a drinking feast | 14:10, Samson's wedding feast |
“The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon - See the margin. The word contains a striking thought. It is different from that used in the case of Othniel Jdg 3:10, Jephthah Jdg 11:29, and Samson Jdg 13:25; Jdg 14:6, Jdg 14:19.”
Albert Barnes · Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869) · on Judges 6:34Evangelical
“The spirit came - Inspiring him with extraordinary wisdom, and courage, and zeal to vindicate God's honour, and his country's liberty. The Hebrew is, The Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon; clothed him as a robe, to put honour upon him; clothed him as a coat of mail to put a defense upon him. Those are well clad that are thus clothed.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament · on Judges 6:34Evangelical
Each coming is tied to one act of deliverance. The Spirit came upon men whose lives were deeply compromised: Gideon made the ephod that became a snare (Judges 8:27), Jephthah vowed rashly (Judges 11:30 to 31), and Samson's appetites ran his life.
Then she called out, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” When Samson awoke from his sleep, he thought, “I will escape as I did before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.Samson did not know the LORD had left him, and his strength was already gone.
The Nazirite's Slow Unraveling
Samson's vow, and the order in which he broke it
Samson was set apart before birth, and the terms of his vow come from the law of Numbers 6.
For behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. And no razor shall come over his head, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”The razor and the deliverance stand in one sentence.
For the entire period of his vow of separation, no razor shall pass over his head. He must be holy until the time of his separation to the LORD is complete; he must let the hair of his head grow long. Throughout the days of his separation to the LORD, he must not go near a dead body.The law forbids the razor and any approach to a dead body.
Samson broke the three terms of the vow in the order the chapters tell them, and the hair was last.
| Term | Where it breaks | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| No dead body | Judges 14:8 to 9 | He scooped honey from the carcass of the lion he had killed. |
| No wine | Judges 14:10, implied by mishteh | He held a mishteh, a drinking feast, for his wedding. |
| No razor | Judges 16:17 to 19 | He told Delilah his secret, and his head was shaved. |
The deliverer's undoing comes as the slow forfeiture of his own consecration. Judges 14:10 names a feast and does not say Samson drank, so the wine stands as what the word implies.
“A Nazarite - See the marginal reference. and note. The common Nazarite vow was for a limited time, like Paul’s Act 18:18; Act 21:23-26. Others, like Samuel 1Sa 1:11, were Nazarites for life.”
Albert Barnes · Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869) · on Judges 13:5Evangelical
Three Questions the Cycle Leaves Open
The missing cry, the missing rest, and the length of the period
Why does Samson's account record no cry?Judges 13:1
Judges 13:1 moves from Israel's evil straight to forty years under the Philistines, and the Angel comes to Manoah's wife with no cry recorded before him. In the account before it the LORD had answered Israel's cry with a refusal: He would save them no more.
But you have forsaken Me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you in your time of trouble.”Here the LORD refuses to save them again.
Did the judges rule one after another?Judges 10:8 and 1 Kings 6:1
Added end to end with the wilderness years and the reigns of Saul and David, the years Judges gives run past the 480 that 1 Kings 6:1 counts from the Exodus to Solomon's temple. Some oppressions and judgeships were regional, and readers differ on whether they overlapped. At Judges 10:8 John Wesley starts Ammon's eighteen years inside Jair's judgeship, and Matthew Henry starts them at Jair's death.
“And these eighteen years are not to be reckoned from Jair's death, because that would enlarge the time of the Judges beyond the just bounds; but from the fourth year of Jair's reign: so that the greatest part of Jair's reign was contemporary with this affliction.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament · on Judges 10:8Evangelical
“Others make them to commence at the death of Jair, which seems the more probable because that part of Israel which was most infested by the Ammonites was Gilead, Jair's own country, which we cannot suppose to have suffered so much while he was living, but that part at least would be reformed and protected.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible · on Judges 10:8Puritan
What became of the rest?Judges 8:28 to 21:25
The text states that the notice stops and gives no reason. The book's last chapters answer with a refrain instead: in those days Israel had no king.
“The children of Israel cried unto the Lord, saying, We have sinned against thee--The first step of repentance is confession of sin, and the best proof of its sincerity is given by the transgressor, when he mourns not only over the painful consequences which have resulted from his offenses to himself, but over the heinous evil committed against God.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · on Judges 10:10Reformed
“And so he comes to give us a general idea of the series of things in Israel during the time of the judges, the same repeated in the same order. The people of Israel forsook the God of Israel, and gave that worship and honour to the dunghill deities of the Canaanites which was due to him alone.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible · on Judges 2:10Puritan
The Spirit Upon and the Spirit Within
How the judges' empowerment reads after Pentecost
MannaFest's tradition, Wesleyan-Pentecostal, holds that the gifts of the Spirit continue today, and it reads these texts as real encounters with real power. The pattern in Judges is episodic and tied to a task: the Spirit comes upon a judge for one deliverance. Jesus promised a Spirit who would stay, and Paul calls the believer's body His temple. Jesus also promised that the Spirit would come upon His disciples for power (Acts 1:8), and the same tradition teaches that He still comes upon believers for power to witness.
the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you do know Him, for He abides with you and will be in you.With you, and in you: Jesus describes a presence that stays.
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;Paul writes it of every believer at Corinth.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”The Spirit who came upon the judges for a task is promised upon the disciples for power to witness.
The empowerment of the judges keeps its own category, the Spirit upon a person for a task, beside the indwelling given at Pentecost. Hebrews still counts the flawed judges among the faithful.
And what more shall I say? Time will not allow me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets,Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, named for their faith.
“Thus, in all the saints, something reprehensible is ever to be found; yet faith, though halting and imperfect, is still approved by God.”
John Calvin · Commentaries on the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews, on Hebrews 11:32 · on Hebrews 11:32Reformed
Is Samson's death a picture of Christ's?A traditional type with no New Testament warrant
Samson killed more Philistines at his death than in his life (Judges 16:30), and a death that defeats more than the life did is a real shadow. The New Testament never draws the line, and Samson asked for one vengeful blow for his two eyes (Judges 16:28), so the type stays a traditional and imperfect one. Ambrose read Samson's life itself as foreshadowing a mystery.
“And why should i speak of all one by one? Samson, born by the divine promise, had the Spirit accompanying him, for we read: ‘The Lord blessed him, and the Spirit of the Lord began to be with him in the camp.’ And so foreshadowing the future mystery, he demanded a wife of the aliens, which, as it is written, his father and mother knew not of, because it was from the Lord.”
Ambrose of Milan · On the Holy Spirit 2, Introduction, 5 · on Judges 13:25Patristic
Acts 1:8, Hebrews 11:32, John Calvin
How the Cycle Has Been Taught
Fathers and commentators on the pattern and its judges
Augustine of Hippo (died 430)
The City of God, Book 1, chapter 21
The Spirit who wrought wonders by him
The quotation
“Samson, too, who drew down the house on himself and his foes together, is justified only on this ground, that the Spirit who wrought wonders by him had given him secret instructions to do this.”
Augustine of Hippo · The City of God, Book 1, chapter 21 · on Judges 16:30Patristic
John Wesley (1703 to 1791)
Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament
The judge died, and they went back
The quotation
“Returned - To their former, and usual course. Their fathers - In Egypt, or in the wilderness. Their own doings - That is, from their evil practices, which he calls their own, because they were agreeable to their own natures, which in all mankind are deeply and universally corrupted, and because they were familiar and customary to them.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament · on Judges 2:19Evangelical
Adam Clarke (1762 to 1832)
Commentary on the Bible
God was king, and the judge His representative
The quotation
“The Lord was with the judge - God himself was king, and the judge was his representative. It repented the Lord - He changed his purpose towards them: he purposed to destroy them because of their sin; they repented and turned to him, and he changed this purpose. The purpose was to destroy them if they did not repent; when they did repent, his not destroying them was quite consistent with his purpose.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible · on Judges 2:18Evangelical
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1802 to 1910)
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The greatest of Israel's champions
The quotation
“Thus the Israelitish hero rendered by his strength and courage signal services to his country, and was always regarded as the greatest of its champions. But his slavish subjection to the domination of his passions was unworthy of so great a man and lessens our respect for his character. Yet he is ranked among the ancient worthies who maintained a firm faith in God (Heb 11:32).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · on Judges 16:31Reformed
Adam Clarke, Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Books to Read Next
Commentary on the Whole Bible
Matthew Henry · 1710
Henry sets out the series of things in the time of the judges at Judges 2:10 and follows the pattern judge by judge.
Read it free at CCELCommentary on the Bible
Adam Clarke · 1832
Clarke is clear on the judge as God's representative and on the Spirit's part in Samson's strength.
Read it free at Archive.orgCommentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown · 1871
Compact on the paragraph of Judges 2 that states the pattern, which they call of the greatest importance for the period from Joshua to the monarchy.
Read it free at CCELIn Those Days There Was No King
The cycle never resolves inside the book. Each judge saved Israel for a season and then died, and the people went back further than before.
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.The last verse of Judges names what the cycle lacked.
The book ends asking for a king who would not fail, and the rest of Scripture follows that question to David's throne and past it. Luke 1:32 to 33 answers it in Mary's Son, the King of David's line.
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end!”The King Judges lacked is promised in the Son of Mary.
Sources
Scripture is the Berean Standard Bible.
- STEP Bible word index (TAHOT), Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0.
- Judges, the book dossier, sections 2, 4, 6 and 7.
- Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710), on Judges 2:10 and 10:8.
- Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, on Judges 6:34 and 13:5.
- Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible (1832), on Judges 2:18.
- John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765), on Judges 2:19, 6:34 and 10:8.
- Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871), on Judges 10:10 and 16:31.
- Augustine of Hippo, The City of God, Book 1, chapter 21, on Judges 16:30.
- Ambrose of Milan, On the Holy Spirit, Book 2, Introduction 5, on Judges 13:25.
- John Calvin, Commentaries on the Epistle to the Hebrews, on Hebrews 11:32.
- Gustave Doré, Gideon Chooses 300 Soldiers, La Sainte Bible, Tours: Alfred Mame et fils, 1866, plate 54, public domain.
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