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This “book of meditation,” which is painted in such brilliant colors, is made up of events that left their mark on the destiny and faith of Israel and for this reason could not be forgotten. While the initial conquest of the Promised Land had left glorious memories, other less glorious but no less important ones were kept for later generations.
The chroniclers do not have a unified vision in which to locate these accounts; rather they tell a series of brief stories composed at different periods, then revised, completed, and corrected by later authors. The core of the book is made up of recollections of the “judges.” These personages were evidently not all occupied, like Deborah under the palm tree (4:5), in listening to disputants; they were rather heroes who appeared here and there, now in one tribe, now in another, with the task of restoring unity, rooting out disorders, and defending a single tribe or the entire community of Israel in time of danger. Many of these inspired leaders perhaps played only a limited role. The epic episodes told about them are lights shed on the difficult life of the tribes before the establishment of the monarchy. They are the oldest material in the book.
But in the final redaction, the undertakings of these individuals are set in a framework of the religious thought of the Deuteronomistic school: the brief periods when Israel is oppressed can only be due to its infidelity and especially to its idolatry; then its wretched state causes it to turn to God, who on each occasion sends a savior. At the death of the latter, Israel falls back into sin, and the cycle is repeated (see 1:1-3; 6; 10:6-18).
One of the interesting things in Judges, then, is to see the great difficulties the Hebrews had to meet with as they began their life in Palestine.
They had to battle continually with the inhabitants of the land and with hostile neighbors; split up into tribes as they were, they found it difficult to turn themselves into a nation. Above all, they allowed themselves to be caught in the seductive snare of the pagan worship of Canaan.
These precious memories, the special flavor of which is caught to an exceptional degree in the story, shed light in their own way on the history of the people of God. The authors, moreover, realized this and sought, above all else, to give expression to a meaning that would be of permanent value.
In fact, in this people that had to struggle so hard, we already see the destiny of the Christian people, whose fragile faith is exposed to the threats and allurements of so many forms of idolatry.
In addition, however, the Book of Judges teaches us, by way of ups and downs that are at first sight rather dismaying, that the Lord is present and guiding his people.
Is this not for us a stimulus to hope?
Why? Because Jesus is with the Church, even though his presence is often embodied in weak human natures.
The Book of Judges may be divided as follows:
I: The Israelites Fail to Conquer Canaan (1:1—3:6)
II: The Period of the Judges (3:7—16:31)
III: Appendices: Stories of Dan and Benjamin (17:1—21:25)