15 Jehovah tells Gideon that his army of 32,000 is too large and that the size may give cause for human bragging about victory. The ninth Judge after Deborah, the thirteenth Judge overall, was Samson, who is arguably the most difficult one to characterize and understand. The dating of this inscription is disputed, but it may date as early as Thutmose III or as late as Rameses II. In the New Chronology, the Exodus occurs under the Pharoah Dudimose (Manethos Tutimaeus) of the late Thirteenth Dynasty. The Shasu of YHWH Name Ring. The judges continued until Saul was made king, which ended the line of judges. Here are the options: I am going to dismiss Option 1 at this point as we still have 354 years[6] to fit in the 315 years between the entry into Canaan and Jephthah so we are still looking for some compression. However, we still have some missing pieces. A true scholar in his own right, he headed an institution of higher learning which trained the next generation of scholars. First, no duration is given for the time from the beginning of the conquest of Canaan by Joshua until the first oppression recorded in Judges. The next oppression of 18 years is under Eglon, king of Moab. Even though the oppression would in fact continue for another twenty years under Samuel. At this point, we have a choice of how to interpret this. According to the biblical narrative these judges led Israel from the end of the conquest of Canaan until the beginning of the monarchy. Judges 3:31 - "After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an ox goad. ELON the Zebulunite in Hebrew means: oak, strong Tribe of Zebulun 10 years 1075BC-1063BC Judges 12:9-10. The 12 judges in the Bible were the following: Othniel (1373-1334 B.C. 15. Putting these pieces together, Samson was born, grew to adulthood, judged for 20 years, and died within the 40-year period of Philistine oppression. Judges 10:3-5 Judges 10:6-12:7 Hebrews 11:32 Judges 12:11-12 Joshua 19:15 Judges 12:8-10 Judges 12:13-15 Judges 13:1-16:31 Hebrews 11:32 Judge Description Reference The 12 Judges of Israel 1 SAMUEL Studying the history and culture of the time PAGE 2 TERESASWANSTROMANDERSON.COM G Wisdom BIBLE STUDIES Indicates individuals listed in Another occasion where Shamgar was mentioned was in the Song of Deborah. 9, Sala 89, Brusque, SC, 88355-20. And we cant forget that we still need a number for Samuel or to convince ourselves that his term as a judge completely overlaps that of Eli and the reign of Saul. ), Gideon (1191-1151 B.C. But Shamgar was one man, one man upon whom the Holy Spirit fell so he could accomplish Gods will for him (and for Gods people). What is not immediately clear is where to place Samson relative to Samuel and Eli. We know that his death occurred at the time of the loss of the ark to the Philistines and immediately preceded the judgeship of Samuel. He too saved Israel". He also destroyed a great idol of Baal and expanded Torah study among the masses. Scripture records a series of four judges prior to Samson. Notice Shamgar used what was at hand, an oxgoad, as he had no sword, and with God he got the victory over the enemy of God and his people, the Philistines. We don't find any reference to the Spirit of God in the story of Shamgar, (barely a story). This gives a total of only 26 years. [ NB: The 450 years of Acts 13:20 is often discussed . (8 years)(Judg 12:13-15) The first number given in Judges is the 8-year oppression by Cushan-Rishathaim recorded in Judges 3:8. The Book of Judges itself suggests the solution; it implies that certain periods overlapped in time.- For instance, Judges 3:30-4:1 implies that Shamgar judged during the 80 years of peace following Ehud's deliverance from the Moabites. Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. How did Shamgar kill 600 Philistines? 12. (22 years)(Judg 10:3-5) (1 Samuel 8:1-7). Table 1 below shows the full set of references from both the Old Testament books of Joshua, Judges, and I Samuel as well as the corresponding information given by Josephus. One of the Judges; son of Anath. Paul said the time of the judges was 450 years untilRead more , Ill post this for people to get a different viewpoint, but I am sticking with the years that I found when studying this at the time. 8. Therefore, his activity was similar to that of the judges. Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. Before we can begin to figure out how to compress everything into the available time, we first need to get a complete picture of what it is that we have to compress. Hannover Turismo Eli died when he heard news of the capture of the Ark. (NKJV). Jerusalem, Israel. However, given the apparently more complete records for the Late Period, I believe it will be more valuable to start at the end the death of Saul and work backward to Abimilech. (Deborah came alongside Barak and 10,000 men of Israel.) Options 2 and 3 give very similar results, however Option 2 is more consistent with our approach for this period. Son of Anath Judges 3:31. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the 8 Adar 5783 - About. Based on where we have placed Jephthah, the campaigns of Thutmose III align exactly with the 18-year oppression by the Philistines and Ammon that is recorded in Judges 10. Jesus crosses the Kidron Valley Jesus is arrested Jesus is taken to the Praetorium Jesus is tried by Pilate The death of Judas Jesus is executed by crucifixion The Pharisees mount a guard on the tomb Jesus rises from the tomb Jesus appears to his followers Jesus is taken into God's presence Jesus appears to Peter, James & Paul 7. Finally, Option 4 gives us maximum compression. One of the 70 children of Gideon (the son of a concubine). It had a demoralizing effect. The inclusion of the name of YHWH (Yahweh) makes this a clear reference to Israel. A series of defeats at the hands of other nations caused them to repeatedly cry out to the Lord for a deliverer. spokesmen, and their desire for a human ruler whom The general chaos in the reign of Ramesses III with the invasion of the Sea Peoples would likely permit the raids by the Midianites prior to Gideon. Both options are identical from Moses through to the beginning of Othniels judgeship. Deborah mobilized an army led by Barak, who like her was from the tribe of Naftali. As a result, Israel enjoyed peace for about 80 years. He lived at Shamir in Mount Ephraim, where he was also buried. Therefore, he was not the leader for at least forty-two of his fifty-two years. 17. She also is a member of BRRC. Gideon subdued the Midianites with a small band of 300 men. This puts the right bookend at 1010 BC at the death of Saul. Married Calebs daughter Achsa (Achsah), which in Hebrew means: serpent-charmer, because of a promise Caleb made to his troops. "And he also delivered Israel." Shamgar slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel. Thus, it appears that we have a 20-year period where Samuel is the sole judge before Saul is anointed as king. Employing a new secret weapon torches inside glass: the first Molotov Cocktails he took a small army of 300 men and destroyed a Midian army of thousands. At this point, we have a choice. Ant 5.84-85 18 years from death of Joshua to first judge. IBZAN of Bethlehem in Hebrew means: splendid Tribe of Zebulun, ruled for 7 years 1081BC-1073BC Judges 12:8-10 30 sons 30 daughters. Thought to be an Ephramite because she resided in Ephraim (4:5), Deborah judged and led Israel for 60 years in the 12th century B.C. This solution achieves the necessary compression. Ive already mentioned Flavius Josephus, but perhaps its time to give him a more formal introduction. On the surface, it seems straightforward enough, recording the acts of each judge and the time between events from the time of Joshua until just before the events of I Samuel. 31 After Ehud, Anaths son Shamgar attacked 600 Philistines with a cattle prod. Judges 3.31 The inspired storyteller obviously viewed this mass killing to be a glorious, noble, and wonderful thing. What Shamgar taught me was unreal. This seems to fit our requirements. After Deborah, eight different Judges ruled Israel over approximately the next 120 years. It is not unusual for the husbands of powerful and famous women to remain relatively anonymous. 1. Most importantly, Josephus was in possession of the Hebrew scrolls recovered from Herods temple before its destruction, and so likely had access to information that is now lost to us. The best we can tell from the fragment is that the length of Sauls reign likely ended in a 2, but thats it. ABDON in Hebrew means: service, servile Tribe of Ephraim 8 years 1063BC-1058BC Judges 12:13-15 son of Hillel the Pirathanite 40 sons and 30 grandsons on 70 asses or colts. [5] Some manuscripts of Josephus have a 40-year reign for Saul in Ant 6.378. your ways. ), but the Bible does not say; it may have been a cultural influence on his parents. MUSCLE SHOALS On Sunday, February 19, 2023, Deborah Ann Barry Montgomery of Muscle Shoals, AL, loving wife and mother of three children and seven grandchildren, passed away peacefully at her home surrounded by her loved ones, at the age . He also delivered Israel. Seeking the Gospel in Malachi, the Last Book of the Old Testament. However, we have managed to create a timeline that reconciles the information in Judges with the writings of Josephus and leaves only a few options to choose from. and this cycle of idolatry - bondage - deliverance repeated itself for 450 Consequently, Ussher has Jephthah following immediately after Jair and the continuation of his chronology is shown in grey. Shamgar was the son of Anath and from the tribe of Benjamite. Jephthah is after the 300-year mark, but not too far after. However, the sum total of the years given from Jephthah to Saul is 163 and so we are looking for at least a 66-year reduction. Attractive design ideal for your home, office, church . Their pretext was the corruption of Samuel's sons, but their real reason was Jerub-Baal in Hebrew means: let baal contend. JUDGE SHAMGAR BY A. Shamgar is described immediately following the accounts of the first two judges of Israel, Othniel and Ehud. They moved the Ark to a different city and a horrible plague broke out there. Arriving at a correct chronology for the Judges period will require us to build a complete chronology from the Exodus to King Solomon in order to reconcile to I Kings 6:1. Considering that Benjamin appears to have recovered by the time of Saul and the type of military action described here is consistent with that in Joshua and inconsistent with the later period of the judges, I believe that these events also took place early in the period covered by Judges. Their triumphs, losses, errors, and choices cause us to learn more about who we are at the core, and more about God and His infinite mercy and grace. As Paul and Josephus were contemporaries its interesting that Pauls number, which must reflect the Jewish tradition at that time, differs from that of Josephus. Based on the details in this story and the parallelism with Joshua 19, I believe that these events took place very early in the period of the judges, either during the life of Joshua or shortly thereafter. In my article on Saul I found, based on the details of the narrative in I Samuel, that the minimum length of Sauls reign is about 12 years. It also allows for a more direct reading of scripture in the early part of the chronology. After seven months the Philistines sent the Ark back on wagons led by rider-less oxen. While Egypt was the primary foreign power for much of this period, no direct interaction with Egypt is recorded. Shamgar is not as compelling a character as, say, Gideon, or even Jephthah. Fortunately, we have another witness to consult to try and fill in these gaps. (80 years)(Judg 3:15-30) We have 22 extra years and so a reduction of 11% (22/200) gets us what we need. But when placed next to the New Chronology for Egypt, the alignment is excellent and contributes some new insights as to the causes of the later oppressions. In Gods Word, we are witness to a panorama of the many people He used for His divine and perfect purposes. It opens on a very high note. Then, some of these people, places, and events are given paragraphs of attention and others? They moved it from one city to another and wherever it went the inhabitants suffered terrible plagues and died. Add 40 years for the time in the wilderness, 40 years for David, and 4 for Solomon and the total is 534 54 years greater than the total given in I Kings. In this timeline, the correspondence between the Pharaoh and his Canaanite vassals regarding the troubles being created by Labaya and the Habiru fit very well with what we know from I Samuel, including Sauls ultimate defeat and the rise of Ishbosheth and David. This is just not enough time in my opinion as there would still be a majority of people alive who had witnessed the miracles of the conquest. Jericho as a city was destroyed by Joshua and not rebuilt until the reign of Ahab (I Kings 16:34), so how was it that Eglon had his palace there? Much of this is simply because, In those days there was no king in Israel (Judges 21:25), and consequently no central government to fight wars, build monuments, keep records, or (perhaps most important to the Egyptians) levy taxes and pay tribute. In the late period, and on through the reign of David, the primary villain is the Philistines[7] who need no introduction. Copyright JewishHistory.com & The Destiny Foundation. 2.Use what you have The power of the Hyksos kings remains in the Egyptian delta, extending up the coast to the southern Levant, but not into the hill country of Israel. Not much was recorded about the life and reign of Tola. However, in this period Egypt is again weak as we are now into the Third Intermediate Period, a time where the national government has collapsed, and multiple Pharaohs are ruling in different parts of the country. Instead of one Jewish people there were twelve tribes who had a loose allegiance to each other. Why should I do such and such? In addition to ignoring Jephthahs 300 year anchor point, Ussher also has a short period of only nine years allotted to Gideons judgeship which doesnt seem to fit with the account in Judges 8:28-32 as it doesnt allow for him to have seventy sons or die, at a good old age. See Jeremiah 47:4. Thus, I will use 32 years as the correct number for this period. *** Bonus Trivia: The Spirit of the Lord is said to have come upon 4 of these judges: Othniel (Judg 3:10), Gideon (Judg 6:34), Jephthah (Judg 11:29), and Samson (Judg 13:25)(Judg 14:6,19)(Judg 15:14). ), Elon (1075-1065 B.C. He slaughtered 600 invading Philistines with an oxgoad, a formidable weapon about 3 meters long with a sharp metal point. a. 11. Under Ehud, Israel had rest for 80 years (Judges 3:30). Have you ever felt overlooked? ).Read more , Copyright JesusAlive.cc All rights reserved. Ivo Silveira 8877, km. A metal tip encased one end to nudge or direct oxen. For a more scholarly discussion see Newgrosh, Bernard, Rohl, David M., and Van der Veen, Peter G., The el-Amarna Letters and Israelite History, Journal of the Ancient Chronology Forum (JACF), Vol 6, 1993. https://patternsofevidence.com/2019/06/01/artifacts-show-biblical-exodus/, https://patternsofevidence.com/2021/09/24/inscription-provides-bible-archaeology-link/, Joshua 14:10. ), and Samson (1069-1049 B.C. What is often overlooked however is that the next judge, Deborah, mentions him in the Song of Deborah in Judges 5. Option 2 gives us the timeline shown in Figure 4, and we can now move on to the early period. Shamgar, son of Anath, is mentioned in just two verses in the BibleJudges 3:31 and Judges 5:6but we remember him because (1) he is named in the Scriptures and (2) he did mighty acts according to Gods command. was not the Leader even the majority of his life: He lived fifty-two years. Somos un canal de Estudios Bblicos, y estudios teolgicos. With 10,000 onlookers packing the temple, he mustered his last ounce of strength, collapsed the pillars and literally brought down the house, bringing many of Israels enemies to their deaths along with him. Deborah and Barak also knew that and prepared their strategy accordingly. 4. For Shamgar, God kept him from death as he slew the 600 Philistines. While his teacher was alive, Samuel was not allowed to render legal decisions. This would not preclude an oppression by the Philistines, it would just mean that they were acting on their own accord. Samson He ruled for an unknown number of years. The period of the judges is 1350 - 1014 BC for a total of 336 years. The issues with the orthodox, or generally accepted chronology were first raised by Peter James in his 1991 book Centuries of Darkness. EHUD in Hebrew means: strong. The conquest of Laish by Dan is recorded in Joshua 19:47 where the city is called Leshem. When we get into the detailed chronology of this period we will look at potential ways to handle this. There were 15 Judges or leaders during the period of the Judges, which lasted more than three centuries. 16. The verse says: And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life (7:15). These minor judges were: Shamgar 3:31, Tola 10:1-2, Jair 10:3-5, Ibzan 12:8-10, Elon 12:11-12, and. For those not familiar with it, the New Chronology was proposed as a solution to the many dark ages in ancient history and specifically to internal inconsistencies in the chronology of the Third Intermediate Period. The first two years his mother nursed him. Joshua Gods warrior and the fall of Jericho, The two scouts or spies were Joshuas eyes, Barak the commander of the army, under Deborah the fourth Judge of Israel, Gideon, the fifth Judge of Israel, with Gods help gets 300 men, Ruth, the great-grandmother of King David, Eli the high priest and 9th Judge of Israel, Jephthah the Gileadite the 10th Judge of Israel, The only daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, the 10th Judge of Israel, Delilah New Ropes, Samson the 14th Judge of Israel, Delilah seeks, Samson the 14th Judge of Israel, Samson sleeps, Samson the 14th Judge of Israel, Death of Samson, the 14th Judge of Israel, Samuel the fifteenth Judge of Israel anoints two kings, Samuel the 15th Judge of Israel and also a Prophet, Background Information Joshua and Judges of Israel, Next Module Three Kings Saul, David & Solomon . Othniel (Caleb's nephew), Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah (the lone woman), Gideon, Abimelech, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, Samson, Eli and Samuel. c. Deborah tells Barak to assemble his army for a battle that will take place at Mt. In Joshua 3, the "man of the hour" was a farmer named, Shamgar. One day an angel appeared to his mother and informed her that she was going to have this son destined for greatness (Judges 13:3-5). This might be expected given that the people of Israel at this time were largely farmers and herdsmen. Shamgar, son of Anath ( Hebrew: amgar ), is the name of one or possibly two individuals named in the Book of Judges. After Joshuas death, there was a slow re-infiltration of the enemies whom he had driven from the land. But, to me, you do a lot of twisting and turning to get to your numbers (like not counting Samson, when the Bible says He judged Israel twenty years: Judg 16:31. The total of the years given in the book of Judges is 410. You are probably expecting me to start with Joshua and work forward in time. Although this article won't dive into everything, it'll highlight two major portions of . Judge Shamgar, in the Book of Judges, was a great man who was able to drive away the Philistines and prevent them from invading the Israelite regions. This article is part of our People from the Bible Series featuring the most well-known historical names and figures from Scripture. [8], The Bible also indicates that he was the "son" of Anath (the name of a Canaanite deity). If you include the 40 years given for Eli in I Samuel, this increases to 450 years. Samson's life's purpose was to wreak havoc on the Philistines. To get some idea of how the Judges fit into the period between the Exodus and the coronation of David we will need to look at the whole of scripture and what scant archaeological evidence we have and try to find a solution that makes sense in the larger context. Saul, Hebrew Shaul, (flourished 11th century bc, Israel), first king of Israel (c. 1021-1000 bc). The main enemy was Midian, east of the Jordan. This article will dive into the person of Gideon, what God does to make him an even more unlikely candidate to save Israel, and why it matters for us today. So here goes. Rohl and others have subsequently proposed an alternative chronology going all the way back to the time of the flood. Figure 2: Dates from I Samuel and Josephus. Josephus has already addressed the overlap between Samuel and Saul, and no further overlaps are possible in the context of the events of I Samuel. Table 1: References in the Old Testament and Josephus. Your email address will not be published. Samuel also anointed the first king of Israel, Saul, and his successor David. Probably no later than the judgeship of Othniel. It was used for driving ox and other animals. This gives a total of 44 years, Place Tola, Jair, and the oppression in parallel. The next oppression begins with Thutmose IIIs first campaign into Canaan. The book of Judges ends with two stories (and the book of Ruth might be considered a third) that take place in this period; but, on the surface, we are not given any specifics that allow us to tie these events to the time of a specific judge. Only four of the 12 judges are listed in what we call the hall of faith in Hebrews 11Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah. However, the reader should understand that the best we can be expected to do with the available information is to get to an approximate solution, particularly for the early part of the book. (NKJV). Anointed both Saul and David as kings. By: Steve Shirley A: Judges ruled Israel for a period of time that most scholars say was about 325 to 350 years (beginning in app. Judges 10:1-2. The majority would put it at the early end of that range, making it older than the Merneptah Stele by about 100 years. And so, before I dive into the timeline, I think it would be worthwhile to review each of these briefly. When she brought him to the Tabernacle at the age of two Eli was the Judge/Leader and he judged Israel for forty years ( Samuel 4:18). The Midianites were, according to modern scholarship, a loose confederation of tribes that lived southeast of Israel on the eastern side of the Gulf of Aqaba. Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.. Visit Stack Exchange Shamgar Abimelech is not numbered as a judge but as a son of a Judge and as a usurper who ruled unjustly. After a period of obedience as recorded in Joshua, the nation turned insubordinate, rebellious, and idolatrous. Thus, the fourth year of his reign would be 966 BC.