the chronology of the judges

8/7/2019 The Chronology of the Judges

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Adventist International Institute

of Advanced Studies

Theological Seminary

THE CHRONOLOGY OF

THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES

A Paper

Presented in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirement for the Course

OTST 834 Seminar in Biblical History and Backgrounds

By

Patrick Etough A.

April 2010


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THE CHRONOLOGY OFTHE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES

Introduction

For centuries, biblical scholars have widely accepted biblical chronology of

Joshua to Kings as representing an accurate figure. But the new paradigm in Biblical

scholarship is to distance from the old landmark concerning the biblical chronology. Until

recently, to explain the 480 years of 1 Kgs 6:1, for example, Kenneth A Kitchen uses and

appeals to the oft-repeated explanation that this figure is not a total time span, but rather 12

generations made up of an ideal (or full as Kitchen says) generations of 40 years each.1

However, Bryant G. Wood contends that there here is no basis for such an

interpretation, biblical or otherwise. Nowhere in the Bible is it hinted that a full or ideal

generation was 40 years in length. Quite the contrary, in the Hebrew Bible 40 years is often

stipulated as a standard period of elapsed time2. Nevertheless, for Kitchen, Joshua, Moses, the

wilderness years, and the exodus are preceding Merenptah mentions of Israel in Canaan in

his fifth year in ca.1209/1210 B.C. Hence they were contemporary. In this scheme, the

period of the Judges would be placed ca. 1200 B.C. Robert Coote is even more drastic

1

K.A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids:Eerdmans, 2003), 307; William F. Albright, A Revision of Early Hebrew Chronology,JPOS1 (1921) 64 n. 1.

2Bryant G. Wood, The Rise and Fall of the 13th-Century Exodus ConquestTheory,Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society48 no 3 (2005): 484,206-207.


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concerning the era of the exodus, conquest, or judges, when he says that [T]hese periods

never existed1

Besides, scholars have recently suggested that the Chronology in the Book of

Judges is a theological and literary creation. For example, the occurrence of repeated 40

years are said to belong, however to the Deuteronomist historian.2 It appears that the

nonexperts have nothing to say, but, the chronology of the Bible need to assessed in order to

evaluate how frightening the image is.

The aim of this term paper is to see whether the Biblical data can figure out a

normal picture that can confirm or infirm the tradition of the Exodus. The premise of this

paper is that the chronology of the book of Judges is not a fancy one. The problem is of

importance since well-known scholars have embraced the 13th-century; for example, the late

R. K. Harrison, held the 13th-century date as reliable.3

The Assyriologist and scholars of

renown Donald J. Wiseman holds to the 13th-century exodus date.4 To these we can add the

1Ancient Israel: A New Horizon(Minneapolis: Fortress, 1990) 2-3.

2Jeremy Hughes, Secrets of the Times: Myth and History in Biblical Chronology, Journalfor the Study of the Old Testament Sup. 66(JSOT Sup.), (Sheffield: Sheffield AcademicPress, 1990), 71.; nowadays scholarship lends to a pan Deuteuronomist history; howeverwhat do we know about him and what is not even Deuteronomist in the Hebrew Bible?How does it relate to the books of Joshua-king? In fact, voices started to question whetherone should continue to talk about the Deuteronomistic author when there are no clear hintsin how Deuteronomy relate to these books. Is such an unified work ever existed? How dowe explain the uniqueness of each book? See Lindo S. Sharing and Steven L. McKenzie, TheElusive Deuteronomist: The Phenomenon of Pan-Deuteronomism, JSOT Sup. No 268 (1999), 68,116.

3

R. K. Harrison, Introduction to the Old Testament(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1969),115-16.

4Cf. 1 & 2 Kings(TOTC; Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1993), 104.


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names of Alan Millard,1

and, of course, Kitchen, who has been championing the date for

long.2

Models for the Conquest of Canaan

The study of the Chronology of Judges implies an understanding of how

Canaan was conquered. In fact, the disbelief of the Biblical chronology of Joshua-Judge is

usually connected to Israel settlement in Canaan. Theories about Israelite nomadism have

been strongly challenged in recent years and confidence in the conquest model has

disappeared as the matches between biblical accounts of conquest and archaeological

evidences are usually interpreted as if God did not exist.

Four models have been used into scholarship. The conquest model, which is

tied to the arrival of Israel as it found in the Biblical text of Joshua. The infiltration model,

which is based on an existing Israelite league or confederation in a nomadic fashion, the

liberation model suggesting that Israel came from an outside position and by the help of

some Canaanite populations; yet this allow also that this group of Israelite might have come

from Egypt, where they escaped from slavery. This theory is also known as the revolution

model. The other model, called the pioneer settlement model consider that Israel was a

native of Canaan and then they settled from the urban part of the land to the wilds of the

highlands3

1

Picture Archive of the Bible(Tring, Herts.: Lion Books, 1987), 22.2Ancient Orient and the Old Testament(Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1966) 57-69;

Idem., The Bible in Its World(Exeter: Paternoster, 1977) 75-79; Idem., On the Reliability of theOld Testament(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003) 307-9.

3See Susan Niditch, Judges, Oxford Bible Commentary, eds. John Barton andJohn Muddiman (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 176-78.


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Biblical Model

Notwithstanding the new trend in scholarship, the biblical model is still valid.

Chronologically speaking, Judges follows the death of the disciples of Moses, Joshua (Josh

24:29; Jdg 2:8), after the seven years of conquest (Josh 14:6-10). 1 Within the scale of Israel

chronology, the book of Judges is set in a time of turmoil, and before the existing king who

ruled Israel or before any ritual actions and sacred sanctuary whereby worship was

centralized. Leaders, at times, could even be boasting villain whose influence last only

during their lifetimes, for at that times, the twelve tribes were seen as unity. They had to

unite to fight enemies as a member of one family; this could justify why judges were rotating,

geographically speaking.

The pattern of the book is simple, for it is delineated between apostasy, and

punishment by allowing the enemies to have durable dominance on Gods people; then, the

people would distress and repent, and the raising of a deliverer or the Judge who would

deliver them by Gods power, then would follow a time of rest or peace until the death of

the leader; yet also another relapse into apostasy would come (3:7-10;12;15; 4:1; 6:1-10; 10:6-

16; 13:1).

The Biblical Chronology

Nevertheless, Does the Bible provide us with an absolute date for the exodus or

any others events for that matter? Do the books of Joshua-Judges can be used for a serious

1

The Assemblies of Gilgal and Shilo, The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary(SDABC), ed. Francis D. Nichol (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 1977), 2:125,suggest that the campaigns of Jordan lasted six or seven years since Caleb was 40 years in thesecond years of the Exodus, hence his discourse in Josh 14:6-15 would have been in the46th/47th years.


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dating of OT events? James K. Hoffmeir rejects these options.1 He says that Biblical figures

taking back from 1 Kgs 6:1 in a retrograded order to the book of Exodus when he considers

the data of the OT:

3 years Solomons 4th year (1 Kgs 6:1)40 years - the length of Davids reign (1 Kgs 2:10)40 years - the length of Sauls reign (1 Sam 13:1)230 years - estimated length of Samuels leadership340 years - length of Elis judgeship (1 Sam 4:18)20 years - length of Samsons judgeship (Judg 15:20)40 years - length of Philistine oppression (Judg 13:1)8 years - length of Abdons judgeship (Judg 12:14)10 years - length of Elons judgeship (Judg 12:11)

7 years - length of Ibzans judgeship (Judg 12:9)6 years - length of Jephthahs judgeship (Judg 12:7)

18 years - length of Ammonite oppression (Judg 10:8)22 years - length of Jairs judgeship (Judg 10:3)23 years - length of Tolas judgeship (Judg 10:2)3 years - length of Abimelechs rulership (Judg 9:22)40 years - period of Gideons deliverance and peace (Judg 8:22)

7 years - length of Midians oppression (Judg 6:1)40 years - period of peace after Deborah and Barak's victory (Judg 5:31)20 years - length of Jabins oppression (Judg 4:3)3 years - length of Shamgars judgeship (Judg 3:31)80 years - period of Ehuds deliverance and peace (Judg 3:30)18 years - length of Moabite oppression (Judg 3:14)

40 years - period of peace after Othniels victory (Judg 3:11)8 years - length of Mesopotamian oppression (Judg 3:8)

20 years - period from end of conquest to death of Joshua and the elders (Judg 2:6-7)1

7 years - period of Joshuas conquest until the tribal allotments1

1James K. Hoffmeir, What is the Biblical Date for the Exodus? A Response toBryant Wood,Journal of Evangelical Theological Society (JETS) 50 no 2 (2007): 226.

2Ibid., he says, There is a textual problem with 1 Sam 13:1 in the MT. The textliterally reads: Saul was . . . years old when he began to reign; and he reigned . . . and twoyears (RSV). Clearly, the 10 figure did not survive. As a consequence, some LXX witnesses

drop the verse altogether, while others read that he was 31 years when he began to reign andreigned 42 years, and others switch it around. Paul allots Saul 40 years in Acts 13:21.

7According to 1 Sam 7:15, Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. For thepurpose this study, I offer the conservative sum of 30 years. Probably a longer period is inview by the 1 Sam 7:14 reference. Ibid., 226.


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40 years - length of time in the wilderness (Num 14:33)633 years - total number

Hoffmeir listing does not account for any overlapping. Yet, it is difficult to

place consecutively the chronological periods of the events given in the book of Judges. It

seems difficult to harmonize them with the book of 1 Samuel-to 1 Kgs 6:1 and at the same

time do justice to the early date scheme. Various solutions have been proposed. Do the

Judges were overlapping? The text does not help much as to answer that. The writers was

interested to show only that whenever the people forsook the Lord he sold them in the hand

of the enemies and then delivered them after repentance by the effort of the Judges.

Prior to the 1970s, it was a common practice to identify the Patriarchal period,

the route of the Exodus, and the Israelite Conquest of Canaan in direct relation to

archaeological finds. This was a dominant agenda among leading scholars like William F.

Albright and his followers, Roland de Vaux, and the founders of biblical archaeology in

Israel, which included Benjamin Mazar, Yigael Yadin, and others. Modern scholars over the

past three decades, and, today, many scholars have abandoned the biblical model and regard

these stories as late fictional creations with distinct theological and ideological messages and

little or no chronological worth. Others emphasize that these accounts reflect and preserve

certain components that are rooted in second-millennium B.C. material from everyday life,

while conservative scholars still claim that many of these stories reflect true historical events

as they stand in the Hebrew text. Today, almost all the critical scholars have accepted that

1 Here he says, This figure is an estimate, and the figure minimal. If we takeJoshua's lifespan of 110 years literally, and realize that he is called a youth (1?3) in Exod33:11 while the Israelites were at Mt. Sinai, even if we allot him 25 years, plus 40 years forthe remaining time in the wilderness, and 7 years for the conquest, this would make him 72,giving him 38 years until his death and the beginning of the period of the judges. So the 20-year figure suggested here is minimal indeed.


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the stories as they have come down to us are a product of a Deuteronimist Israelite hand

from the time of the monarchy of even later.1

The months were numbered from Abib or Nissan, in the spring, whereas the

years were generally reckoned from the fall. This paper accept the Hebrew dating models of

kings that puts the spring of Solomons 4th year in 966 B.C., in the year 480 from Exodus.

Then the Exodus, in the 1st year of that period, 479 years earlier, was in 1445 B.C., and thus

the conquest of Heshbon and the other Amorite territory late in 1406; the crossing of the

Jordan in the spring of 1405, and the gathering at Gilgal after the war in Canaan, in 1400 or

1399.2

This paper does not regard the book of Judges as an embellished account of

what happened between the period of conquest and the rise of the monarchy. The book is

considered as historical, and his actors are also considered as historical figures that are

arranged in the order of their occurrence as to the events in which they are mentioned, as

well as the numbers within the text would not be imaginary.3

The Theory of Round Numbers

As mentioned in the introduction, mostly scholars who accept the late dating

scheme see the terminus ad quemfor Israel settlement ca. 1212 B.C. based on the stele of the

Egyptian Pharaoh Mer-ne-Ptah in his fifth year mentioning Israel as a people living in

1

Israel Finkelstein And Amihai Mazar, The Quest For The Historical Israel:DebatingArchaeology And The History Of Early Israel(Leiden: Brill, 2007), 68.

2The Assemblies of Gilgal and Shilo, SDABC, 2: 125.

3For the evaluation of Judges in the twentieth century, especially in the last twodecades, see Marc Zvi Brettler, The Book of Judges(London: Routlege, 2002), 3-10.


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Canaan whom he has pacified. This has caused proponents of this model to consider the

number 480 in 1 Kgs 6:1, and the 300 years of Jephtah as merely symbolic numbers or round

numbers.1 It is considered to be intentionally exaggerated numbers in order to strengthen

his dispute with the Ammonites.2

However, the review of biblical usage of the number 40 gives another picture.

The expression occurs 93 times in the Hebrew Bible. Usually, it is used within the frame of

the record of the age, and the chronology of kings. For example, Solomon reigned and

David reigned 40 years (1 Kgs 2:10; 1 Kgs 11:42); Elis judgeship lasted 40 years (1 Sam

4:18); the period of peace after Deborah and Baraks victory was 40 years (Judg 5:31); 40

years of peace followed Gideon's delivery (Judg 8:22); and the Philistines oppressed Israel

for 40 years leading to Samsons exploits (Judg 13:1). next, too, there is the noticeable

division of Moses life into three 40-year periods (Exod 7:7; Deut 34:7) and the 40 years in

the wilderness (Num 14:33-34; 32:13; Deut 2:7; 8:2, 4).

1Kitchen,Ancient Orient, 72-73; H. H. Rowley, From Joseph To Joshua: Biblical

Traditions In The Light Of Archaeology(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1950), 87-88.

2Hoffmeir, 236; However, scholars continue to suggest that, in addition, Judg

11:26 argues for a 15th-century exodus-conquest. In this passage Jephthah stated in aletter to the king of Ammon, for three hundred years Israel occupied Heshbon, Aroer,

the surrounding settlements and all the towns along the Arnon. Although it is not

possible to calculate precise dates for Jephthah, various scholars have estimated the

beginning of his judgeship between 1130 and 1073 BC. SO the implication is that thetribe of Reuben had been occupying the disputed area from the Wadi Hes-ban to the

Arnon River since ca. 1400 BC. See Bimson,Redating103 (1130 BC); John H. Walton,Chronological and Background Charts of the Old Testament(Grand Rapids: Zondervan,

1978) 48 (1086 BC); Leon Wood,Distressing Days of the Judges (Grand Rapids:Zondervan, 1975) 411 (1078 BC); Kitchen,Reliability 207 (1073 BC);Wood, The RiseAnd Fall Of The 13th-Century Exodus-Conquest Theory, 475-89.


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The right question to ask is why the number 40 does occurs so frequently? And

is it just a coincidence that the last judge and the first three kings, Eli, Saul,

David, and

Solomon, ruled for 40 years? Hoffmeir indicates that the phenomenon is not unique to

Israelites historiography. By way of contrast, no Egyptian pharaoh in 3000 years of recorded

history ruled 40 years, and only two early Assyrian kings are allotted approximately 40 years

in recently published eponym lists from Kultepe, Irishum I (c. 1974-1935 BC, Middle

Chronology) and Sharrukin (c. 1920-1881 BC).

Wood suggests that for the Hebrew Bible 40 years are often stipulated as a

standard period of elapsed time.1

However, not only it could mean that, but also, the

number 40 simply seems to shows that God is behind the scene, He is at work in the life

and events of his people. For example, we see also in the New Testament that all the

generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, given that there are from

David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to

1Wood, 484, here is the summary of 40 in the Bible: During the flood it rained

for 40 days and nights (Gen 7:4,12,17); 40 days after the ark landed Noah sent out a raven(Gen 8:6); Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah (Gen 25:20), as was Esau whenhe married Judith (Gen 26:34); the embalming of Jacob took 40 days (Gen 50:3); the spiesspent 40 days in Canaan (Num 13:25; 14:34); Joshua was 40 when he went with the spies toCanaan (Josh 14:7); Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness (Exod 16:35; Num 14:33, 34;32:13; Deut 2:7; 8:2, 4; 29:5; Josh 5:6; Neh 9:21; Ps 95:10; Amos 2:10; 5:25); Moses was onMt. Sinai 40 days and nights the first time he received the law (Exod 24:18; Deut 9:9, 11), ashe was the second time (Exod 34:28; Deut 10:10); Moses fasted 40 days and nights for thesin of the golden calf (Deut 9:18, 25); there were 40 years of peace during the judgeships ofOthniel (Judg 3:11), Deborah (Judg 5:31), and Gideon (Judg 8:28); the Israelites wereoppressed by the Philistines 40 years (Judg 13:1); Eli judged Israel 40 years (1 Sam 4:18); Ish-

Bosheth was 40 when he took the throne following Saul's death (2 Sam 2:10); David reignedfor 40 years (2 Sam 5:4; 1 Kgs 2:11; 1 Chr 29:27), as did Solomon (1 Kgs 11:42; 2 Chr 9:30)and Joash (2 Kgs 12:1; 2 Chr 24:1); Elijah traveled 40 days and nights from the desert ofBeersheba to Mt. Horeb (1 Kgs 19:8); Ezekiel lay on his right side for 40 days for the 40years of the sins of Judah (Ezek 4:6); Ezekiel predicted that Egypt would be uninhabited for40 years (Ezek 29:11-13); and Jonah preached that Nineveh would be overturned in 40 days(Jon 3:4).


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Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations (Matt 1:17). Thus, there are no strong warrants

to doubt biblical numbers when they are not too large and are consequently used within a

narrative and other books.

furthermore, the Study by Umberto Cassuto upon the Hebrew numbers in the

Bible is significant. He posits that whenever a biblical number is written in ascending order

(e.g. thirty and one hundred), the number is intended to be understood as a precise number:

since the tendency to exactness in these instances causes the smaller numbers to be given

precedence and prominence. On the other hands, those written in descending order (two

hundreds and twenty), are too be taken as non-technical numbers within the narrative,

poems, speeches or the like. The number in 1 Kgs 6:1 being written in ascending order, in

the eightieth year and four hundredth year, hence has to be taken as a accurate numeral.1

The Historical and Literary Context of the book of Judges

Obviously establishing a precise chronology for the period of Judges involves

the discussion over debated of the dating of Exodus, which waves between an early date ca.

1440 B.C. and a late date ca. 1290 B.C., as well to what extend the Judges overlapped among

the different periods of their rules in the time of oppression and of their estate of peace and

rest (rule of Judges 9:22; 10:2,3; 12:7,9,14; 15:20; peace: 3:11,30; 5:31; 8:28; oppression

3:8,14; 4:3; 6:1; 10:2,3; 13:1 ).

But, this paper accepts the early dating model. After the death of Joshua at the

age of 110 (1:1; cf. 2:8), Judah helped with Simeon fought for his allotted in the Canaanites

1Umberto Cassuto, The Documentary Hypothesis and the Composition of the Pentateuch(Jerusalem: Magnes, 1961) 52.


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and Perizzites territory unto Debir. By Gods help they subjugated Adoni Bezek, captured

Jerusalem and defeated the Canaanites in the Negev, at Hebron, as far as Hormah. Even,

Judah was able to takeGaza, Askhalon and Ekron and their provinces (1:1-18).

However, though the Lord was with them, they did not drive out the

inhabitants. This was true for Judah, Benjamin, Manasseh, Ephraim, Zabulon, Asher,

Naphtali, and Dan who was retrenched into the hill country by the Amorites (1:19-36). They

forced these autochthones to labor for them.

Chapter 2, starts with the police report of the Angel of the Lord; he then said:

Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, I brought you

up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, 'I

will never break my covenant with you, and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants

of this land; you shall break down their altars. But you have not obeyed my voice. What is

this you have done?So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall

become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you. Then the main narrative

who is covered in the chronological motif of the book is introduced by and it happen,

which signals a past tense narrative (49 x in the book). A reading of the book of Judges

reveals that the book is symmetric and embodies seven narratives. The book of Judges

seems to propose a concentric chiasm:1

A. OTHNIEL (3:7-11): Represents faithfulness compared to others (1:11-15)

B. EHUD and SHAMGAR: Killed the enemies (3:28-30)

C. DEBORAH,BARAK, JAEL (4:1-5:31)

1I am indebted to J. Robert Vannoy, Judges: Theology of,New InternationalDictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis, ed. Willem A. Van Gemeren(Grand Rapids,MI: Zondervan, 1997), 4:830.


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GIDEON: Against Gods enemy (6:-8:32)

C. ABIMELECH,TOLA, and JAIR (8:33-10:5)

B. JEPHTAH, IZDAN,ELON,ABDON (10:6-12:15)

A. SAMSOM (13:1-16:31): Samson unfaithfulness resemble the Israelites in chp 1.

This structure emphasizes the narrative of Gedeon. It takes ten mini narratives

introduces by and it happen (6:7,25,27,38,40; 7:6,9,15; 8:26,27) and close by his

death in 8:33 by the same device. At this narratives starting from his career until death

shows the decline of Israelite society as a whole.

The following chronological table is built upon the background of the people

response to Gods message that came because of the unfaithfulness of Israel to carry Gods

commandment (see 1:28-36-2:1-3). Then it is followed by the death of Joshua and his burial

until the next generation who did not testifies of the powerful deeds of Gods in the life of

Joshua. The book is in fact a story about how Israel reacted in the situation their

unfaithfulness created to Gods obedience. In fact, the book is a vindication of God

faithfulness (2:11-3:4).

Discussion of the Chronology

It is important to know that any chronology is not infallible. For example, the

Egyptian chronology is still hard to be anonymously accepted. To this day, the construction

of a final Egyptian chronology remains an extremely difficult task.1 Herodotus and Scaligers

chronology have chronological contradiction. For example, Herodotus made Rameses II of

the 19th Dynasty (ca. 1345-1200 B.C.) to succeed Cheops in the 4th Dynasty(ca. 2600-2480

1Chantepie de la Saussage, D.P. Illustrated History of Religions(Sposo-Preobrazhenky Staurapigial Monastery of Valaam ; reprint 1992), 1: 95-98.


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B.C.). Herodotus chronology was much shorter than Scanligers version of kings

chronology; and it does not concurs with the list of Kings found in Manethos fragment1

Usually two schemes of Egyptian chronology exist, and they were developed in

the 19th century. The consensual version is the short one, though containing also deep and

unresolved contradictions.2

Therefore, the problem related to chronological studies must always take into

account the possibility of simultaneous and paralleled reigns; this would reduce to a large

extend the excess of years found. For example, a simultaneous reign was a tool that helped

to reduce for 30 years the discrepancies in Manethos chronology.

In term of chronology, the distinction drawn at time between minor and major

Judges is not followed in the following table.3 They were all Judges according to the text,

though they did not have the function of deliverers for they exercised their Judgeship in

time of peace. Concerning the text of chronological data, the Massoretic Text, the Targum

and the LXX all agree, and there are no textual corruptions:

Deliverance to the Oppressors Formula of Repentance Deliverance and Peace

X period of the elders (2:7)

1Anotoly T. Fomenko, History: Fiction or Science?(London: Delamere Ressource,2003), 23.

2Ibid., 24.

3

See for eg., P.E. Satterthawaite, Judge, Dictionary of the Old Testament HistoricalBooks (DOTHB), eds. Bill T. Arnold and H.G.M. Williamson (Downers Grove, IL: 2005),582-84; Kitchen, Reliability, 200,202, he says, The only difference between the major andminor judges is that the former are reported on in some detail, for their role as (in theancient author's eyes) divinely commissioned deliverers for Israel locally and sometimesmore widely.


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Cushan-Rishathaim: 8Years (3:8) ((Qal, v. 9 Othniel 40 years (3:11)

Moab, Eglon 18 years (3:14) ((Qal, v.15 Ehud 80 years (3:30)

Jabin King of Canaan 20 years (4:1-3) ((Hiphil, v. 13 Deborah/Barak40 years (5:31)

Midian 7 years (6:1) (Qal, 6:6) Gideon 40 Years (6:2-8,28)

Family and tribal strive underAbimelech and genocide 3 years (9:22)Tola, son of Puah 23 (10:1-2)

Jair of Galaad 22 years (10:3)

Philistines/Ammonites 18 years (10:8) ((Qal, 10:10 Jephta 6 years (12:7)

Ibzan of Bethlehem 7 years (12:8-9)

Elon, Zebulon10

years (12:11)

Abdon son of Hiller 8 years

Philistines 40 years (13:2-15) Samson 20 years (15:20/16:31)

Total years of persecution =111 years Total years of rest = 299 years

Total years from the death of the elders to the first years of Jephta 301/300 years

Total years 410 years (111+299) from the death of elders to the death of Samson

There is a three units moves that have been notices by L.G. Stone, that the

literary moves is segmented in three units: successful Judges (Ehud and Deborah),

transitional Judges (Gideon and Abimelech), and tragic leaders (Jephthah and Samson).

Added to that is the fact that Othniel, Ehud, Deborah and Gideons time is a multiple of the

oppression years.1

In Judges 2:7 it is said: And the people served the LORD all the days of

Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work

that the LORD had done for Israel. In this chart, it represents the x- period, if we add the

1L.G. Stone, Judges, Book of, DOTHB, 601.


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x years (from oppression and deliverance under Othniel until the Philistines/Ammonites),

until the time Jephtah said, While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and

its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, 300 years, why did you

not deliver them within that time? (11:26), we obtain 301/300 + x (x may stand for 25 or

more). From the Ammonites/Philistines persecution, there are 109 years. Hence, the total

oppression and deliverance, which is 410 years, could be more than this figure, for example

450 years of length if the period of the elders is taken to be 40 years.

The idolatry-deliverance proceeded by the cry for help is lacking during the

period of the Judges of peaceful, and also in the case of Samson. The texts vary in many

occasions, small spaces are reserved with some Judges whereas Gideons family occupied 3

chapters, and Samsons story is not as straightforward as Othniel case is.

A closer look at the geographical repartition of the Judges lends to understand

that they were some overlap between the periods:

North South/West East

Othniel 40 yearsvs

Cushan-Rishathaim: 8Years

Samson 20 yearsvs

Philistines 40 years

Ehud 80 yearsvs

Moab, Eglon 18 yearsDeborah/Barak40 years

vsJabin King of Canaan 20 years

Gideon 40 YearsVs

Midian 7 yearsAbimelech 3 years

Tola, son of Puah 23

Jair of Galaad 22 years

Jephta 6 yearsvs

Philistines/Ammonites 18 yearsIbzan of Bethlehem 7 years

Abdon son of Hiller 8


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The obvious distribution shows that disobedience did not affect the tribes in the

same way. The northern part spent about 28 years of affliction under the Canaanites

monarch and spent eventually 80 years of rest. Samson in the south-west partly covered the

40 years of hardship under the dominion of the Philistines. For he was Judges in the

days of the Philistines according to the text. Gideons episode involves several episodes,

but his legacy brought familys strive, internal fight and genocide for 3 years; the Eastern part

of Israel shows more stability, however. Their Judges have the privilege to be presented

through their posterity in life (eg., Jair, and Abdon).

The persecution under the time of Samson seems to be contemporaneous. The

text asserts that: So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them

into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites (ESV, 10:7), Hence, the

40 years of the Philistines oppression seem to have been partly contemporaneous with the

18 years of servitude to the Ammonites. This means that we have 20 years to take away,

since Samson Judgeship lasted 20 years in the same period.

Then follows the description of the Ammonite oppression and the deliverance

by Jephthah (10:8 to 12:7), and after this an enumeration of the three judges who succeeded

him, evidently unimportant characters of whom little more is recorded than the duration of

their judgeships, totaling 25 years (12:815). Then chapter 13 returns to the 40-years of the

Philistine oppression to recount the life of Samson, and how he began to deliver Israel

from the Philistines. Thus, the Scripture indicates that the Philistine oppression and the

Ammonite oppression were contemporaneous.1

1Some periods overlap, SDABC, 2:127.


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Period of Judges and the elders 410 + x years

Elies Judgeship 40 years (1 Sam 4:18)1

Samuel Judgeship 12 years (7:2?)

Sauls reign 40 years (cf. Acts 13:21; 1 Sam 13:1)

Davids reign 40 years (2 sam 2:11; 5:4,5)

Solomons fourth reign = 480 (3 years) 1 Kgs 6:1 = 543 years to the Exodus + x

Minor Problems Related to Chronology

The Age of Joshua

Another element that needs at this stage to be dealt with is the age of Joshua.

What was the x age of Joshua and the elders?. Caleb could have been older than Joshua,

because he is usually named before him (Num 14:38; 26:65; 32:12); yet Joshua also is named

before him (Num 14:6). In addition, he is named as a young man in Exod 33:11.

However, the term in the context of service could mean also (man) servant (cf. Gen 22:3).

Joshua was already 85 years old during the time of the conquest, but he is never called old,

whereas at the same period, Joshua is called old (Josh 14:13; Judg 1:20 ). Joshua would

have had 102 years (cf. Josh 13:1) and after 7 years of conquest, he had 110 years (Josh 23:1;

24:29). Thus, the elders who survived Joshua would have been in twenty more years, there

Joshua and the elders would take roughly 25 years. Finally, we have the final figure of 568

years from the elders to the fourth years of Solomon.

1Some Greek versions and two Latin version (93,94) have 20, but it ought to be

discarded since the Latin is often a daughter translation of the LXX.


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Problems with the Reign of Saul

Concerning the exact reign of Saul, most commentators consider it to be an

omission by the copyist. MT and Targum have the first impossible reading: MT-13a

/TG13a And Saul was a year old.they were no sins in him (MT lack

the phrase)/when he became king and he reigned two years over Israel. MT13b-

/ TG13b .1 The entire verse is missing in LXXB.

LXXOP partially and the LXXL omit the v.2 Others witnesses of Lucianic origins have

30 years(oe2; bc2 = MT; cf. NIV, NLT), according to Ralph W. Klein, it

seems to be a secondary calculation (cf. 2 sam 5:4).3

Josephus seems to mingle two

different tradition Now Saul, when he had reigned eighteen years while Samuel was alive

( (Ant 6:378 ),

two [and twenty] ( (Ant. 6:378 ), yet elsewhere he says that Saul was in

power for twenty years (Ant. 10.143). The book of Acts of Apostle has the tradition of forty

(13:21) which confirms the figure of Josephus. The Peshitta has 21 years, but omits the 2

years of reign.

It is suggested that: The corresponding formula for David appears in 2 Sam.

5:4 (see also 2 Kings 21:1; 24:8, 18; etc.). If the similar omissions to those that appear to

have occurred in 1 Sam. 13:1 had been made in a comparable text, such as 2 Kings 21:1, it

1 NRSV, NJPST, NET and P.K., McKarter, I Samuel, Anchor Bible, vol. 8(Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1980), Emmanuel Tov, Textual Criticism of the HebrewBible(Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992), 10, 253, give a summary of the unusual aspect of thetext which has been altered during the transmission of the text.

2And have (Simmachus has ).

3Ralph W. Klein, 1 Samuel, Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 10, ed. David A.Hubbard (Word: Texas, 1983), 122 no 1a.


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would read: Manasseh was years old when he began to reign, and reigned and five

years in Jerusalem. In basic construction the two passages are identical.1

Juluis Wellhausen suggests to correct two as it is a corrupt duplication of

the following years, hence it would be like this: Saul wasyears old when he began

to reign, and he reignedyears over Israel2 However, the first clause is clearly corrupt,

whereas, the second part is not at all, two years is textually what stands. The fact that the

Peshitta omits two years of reign seems to show that two is the original figure. According to

the note of NET bible:

The statement in v. 1 is intended to be a comprehensive report on the length of Saulsreign, the number is too small. According to Acts 13:21 Saul reigned for forty years.Some English versions (e.g., NIV, NCV, NLT), taking this forty to be a roundnumber, add it to the two years of the MT and translate the number in 2 Sam 13:1as forty-two years. While this is an acceptable option, the present translation insteadreplaces the MTs two with the figure forty. Admittedly the textual evidence forthis decision is weak, but the same can be said of any attempt to restore sense to thisdifficult text (note the ellipsis marks at this point in NAB, NRSV).

The important question is whether two years allows enough time for the various

events that are reported about Saul life in the Bible to probably having taken place. The

phrase seems faulty, for it is not the Hebrew formula of two years (see 2 sam

2:10, , or the dual in 1 Kg 15:25, 16:8, 22:52, 2 Kgs 15:23, 21:19, ). S.R.Drivers understands that the text is possibly a late insertion into the MT, conceivably, it was

11Saul Reigned one year, SDABC, 2:505.

2Julius Wellhausen, Der Text der Bcher samuelis untersucht(Gttingen:

Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1871), cited in McCarter, 222; Paul Dhorme, Les livres de Samuel(Paris Gabalda and Cie., 1910), 108, says, le verset, inintelligible dans lhbreu actuel,nexiste pas dans G (B,A). La formule est celle de II Sam. X,4; I Reg. XIV,21, etc SelonHitzig, suivi par Wellhausen, le rdacteur avait laiss un espace blanc devant et .Lespace aurait t combl devant par une double lecture des premires lettres du mot.Selon Peters, un manuscrit aurait eu en marge deuxime anne, do un rdacteuraurait tir la formule courante, dbutant par .


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a marginal reading that found is way into the main text.1 In addition, he says, in view of the

age at which Jonathan, almost immediately after Sauls accession, appears, a higher figure

seems to be required.2

Josephus Reckoning

After the Judgeship of Elie, Samuel reigned 12 years and with the king Saul, he

judged for 18 years; hence 30 years, though we consider only 12 for our chronological

computation (Ant. 6.294). Concerning the death of Saul, Josephus said: Now Saul, when he

had reigned eighteen years while Samuel was alive, and after his death two [and twenty],

ended his life in this manner. (Ant 6:378). Seems to mean that Saul had reigned 18 years

while Samuel was alive, and 2 after his death; hence Saul reign 22 more after Samuel death,

therefore it agrees with the forty years of Acts his total reign.

This figure gives more than five-century between Joshua and the third years of

Solomon (if we consider one years of Co-regency). It is exactly 529 years to the Exodus,

thus 49 years of excess need to be explained.

Attempts of Synchronization

If we accept the fourth year of Solomon to be in the spring 966B.C., then a

sketch of the chronology of Judges may be undergone. In addition, if we take from the

480th year after the Exodus will make the Exodus commences in the year ca.1445 B.C., and

the crossing of the Jordan at ca. 1405 B.C. Now in working forward until the time of

1S.R. Driver,Notes on the Hebrew Text and Topography of the Book of Samuel of Samuel,2d ed. rev. and enl. (Oxford: Clarendon, 1913), 97 no 1.

2Ibid.; see also Alden Thompson,A Prcatical Guide to Abundant Christian Living inthe Book of Samuel, The Abundant Life Bible Amplifier, ed. George Knight (Boise, ID:PacificPress, 1995), 103-104.


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Solomon we find interesting complementally chronological data as the following table will

show:1

ISRAEL UNDER THEJUDGES B.C. EGYPTIAN KINGS

The Exodus 1446Eighteenth Dynasty Wandering period in the Wilderness (40 years) 1446-1406

Invasion of Canaan (6/7 years) 1406-1399 Amenhotep III

Israel under Joshua and the elders (25 years) 1399-1374 Ikhnaton, Smenkhkare

Tutankhamen, EyeOthniels liberation from Chushan rishathaims8year oppression and period of rest of 40years (= 48 years) 1374-1326

Harmhab

Nineteenth Dynasty

Ramses I

Seti I

Seti in Palestine

Ramses II

Ehuds liberation from 18 years of Moabiteoppression and 80 years rest of southern andeastern tribes (= 98 years) 1326-1228 Battle at Kadesh

Deborah and Baraks liberation after Jabins 20years of oppression in the north and 20 Rest inthe north (40 years) 1228-1118

Merneptah and other weak kings

Twentieth Dynasty

Gideons liberation from 7year Midianiteoppression and 40 years of Gideons rule(47 years) 1118-1141 Ramses III

Abimelechs kingship over Shechem for 3 years 1141-1138 War against Peoples of the Sea

Jephta and the Philistines/Ammonites

oppression (24 years)

1138-1114

Tola, Jair, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon peacefulsyears(63)

1144-1044 Ramses IV-XI

Twentyfirst Dynasty

Beginning of Philistine oppression anddeliverance from Samson (40 20 = 20 years)

1044-1024

Elie Judges in Israel (40 years) 1024-984 (High priests of Amen as kings ofEgypt)

Samuel judge in Israel (12 years) 984-972

Sauls reign (40 Years) 972-932

Davids reign (40 years) 932-892

Solomon beginning reign (3 years) 892-889

1Chronology of the Period, SDBC, 2:35; cf. 1:191.


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There is a gap of 77 years from the 4th year of Solomon (is the 3th year, since

they had 1 year of co-regency, cf. 1 Chr 28-29) to the years of the Exodus 1446 B.C. As fair

as possible, it is not really possible to present a complete an exact scheme of chronology

based on the date given in Joshua-Judges. What has been done is a tentative chronology

that, possibly, may fit within the frame of the Exodus-monarchic period in the 480th year or

fourth year of Solomon reign.

Thus, if the 1st year of the Exodus has to be placed earlier in 1446 B.C. and the

conquest in 1406 after the crossing of the Jordan in the spring 1405, there is this uncertain

77 years that need to be play off. The chronology suffers from the fact that the book of

Judges lack of important details of the history during the period. What was evident for the

writer of Judges is not for our modern time. But whether many of these events happened in

succession or had some contemporaneity in other tribes, the writer is all inclusive.

Kitchen sees the Judges as a series of local leaders who partly covered the same

period in their leadership with other Judges in other geographical area. He telescopes the

period of the Judges drastically. For example, Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar delivered their

population around 1195-1170 B.C. whereas, Deborak and Baraks deliverance and the forty

years of peace that came after overlapped with the eighty years of peace following Ehuds

victory (Judg 3:30; 5:31); Jephtah and Samson are considered by him to be contemporary in

the time of Elis Judgeship.1 While it is true that, this paper agrees with the fact that

different parts of the land knew peace and conflict at the same time, but to fit these events

within 160 years only, from ca. 1200-1042 B.C. is incompatible with the Biblical account.

1Kitchen, On theReliability, 204-10.


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Kitchens approach has the merit to accommodate almost all given in Judges,

however, it does fail to interpret the figure given in Judg 11:26, the 300 years and 1 Kgs 6:1,

the 480 years symbolically. Yet, in 1 Kgs 6: 37, in conclusion says, In the fourth year the

foundation of the house of the LORD was laid, in the month of Ziv, hence this can be

hardly be considered as figurative in essence.

P.E. Satterthwaite, says that a corollary of Kitchens approach is that Israel had

more local leaders than mentioned in the book. Then there are matters to inquire, what was

their achievement? Why the text of Judges did not include them?1

As suggested earlier, we agree with Kitchen when he indicates certain that many

periods partly cover the same time. However, Kitchen radical 160 years seems too high.

The 63 years of what of the peaceful Judges (Tola = 22 years, Jair = 22 years, Ibzan = 7

years, Elon =10 years, Abdon = 8 years = 70) would have as well overlap geographically and

chronologically.

Despite the image of negativistic interpretations of the archaeological data, there

are in some cases the archeological data do not contradict at all the Conquest stories.

Though Archeology, in the hands of skeptical excavators, cannot confirm that Israelite tribes

were responsible for the destruction of the Canaanites cities, the Israelites Conquest remains

an historical event, because they would have been more difficult to create of all pieces such a

story. How can we imagine, as many do, that all these were a melting pot of invented

memories? 2

1Judges, Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books, eds. Bill T. Arnold andH.G.M. Williamson (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2005), 591.

2See for these Amihai Mazar, The Patriarchs, Exodus, and Conquest Narrativesin Light of Archaeology, in Israel Finkelstein And Amihai Mazar, The Quest For The HistoricalIsrael:Debating Archaeology And The History Of Early Israel(Leiden: Brill, 2007), 78.


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Given an Exodus toward ca. 1446 B.C. and a defeat of Sihon ca. 1406 B.C., then

Jephthah statement would be placed ca. 1106 B.C., eighteen years after the

Philistine/Ammonites oppression (10:7-8) began, ca. 1124 B.C. (Howard, 118).1

Conclusion

Clearly, much of what we have suggested is not speculative. The Biblical data

can figure out a normal picture that can confirm the Early date scheme as 1 Kings 6:1 holds

and it may as well infirm the tradition of an late model for the Exodus.

It has been seen that the disbelief of Biblical chronology of Joshua-Judges has

followed four avenues: the conquest model, the infiltration model, the liberation model, and

the pioneer settlement model. Yet, the paper has suggested that the biblical model is still

valid based on the context of the book of Judges itself. Hence the book of Judges is not an

embellished account of the period before the monarchy, it is historical in nature. For the use

of round number, in fact, the expression of the years in 40 years is unique to Israel and it

may imply that God is behind the scene of the life of his people.

The result of this present study fall short of about 7 years when we consider the

geographical distributions of Israel settlement and the time of peace that could have been

distributed consecutively. The results of this study, however, have only begun to illuminate

the dynamics and the difficulties tied to biblical chronology. The taking into account of

some overlaps between date and the ignorance of the ancient reckoning may probably bring

a variably of uncertainty. The date of 1446 B.C. for the Exodus agrees with Thieles scheme

1The years of peace in the book of Judges have been considered as the work ofan editor who widened the chronological date of the book extending it as far as 480 years inthe fourth years of King Solomon. See the Bibliography in Barry G. Webb, The Book ofJudges: An Integrated Reading, JSOT Sup. 46 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1990), 243.


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except for those who presuppose at first that Judges is not reliable source for any dating

scheme. Further investigations need to be done, to first confirm what have been done and to

look for others possible explanations.

These investigations must also examine the presuppositions behind the school

of datingwhat drive them? How is that most critics will adopt the late scheme dating?

And conservative scholars tend to accept the early scheme dating? The 15th-century model,

on the other hand needs to be given adequate consideration even though there is a perceived

disparity between archaeological discoveries and the biblical narrative at Jericho and Ai.


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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Albright, William F. A Revision of Early Hebrew Chronology. JPOS1 (1921) 64-80.

Brettler, Marc Zvi. The Book of Judges. London: Routlege, 2002.

Cassuto, Umberto. The Documentary Hypothesis and the Composition of the Pentateuch. Jerusalem:Magnes, 1961.

Coote, Robert. Ancient Israel: A NewHorizon. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1990.

Chronology of the Period. The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary. Edited by

Francis D. Nichol. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 1977. 2:35.

Dhorme, Paul. Les livres de Samuel. Paris Gabalda and Cie., 1910.

Driver, S.R. Notes on the Hebrew Text and Topography of the Book of Samuel of Samuel. 2nd ed.Rev. and enl. Oxford: Clarendon, 1913.

Finkelstein, Israel And Amihai Mazar. The Quest For The Historical Israel:Debating ArchaeologyAnd The History Of Early Israel. Leiden: Brill, 2007.

Fomenko, Anotoly T. History: Fiction or Science? London: Delamere Ressource, 2003.

Harrison, R. K. Introduction to the OldTestament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1969.

Hoffmeir, James K. What is the Biblical Date for the Exodus? A Response to BryantWood. Journal of Evangelical Theological Society50 no 2 (2007): 226.

Hughes, Jeremy. Secrets of the Times: Myth and History in Biblical Chronology, Journal for theStudy of the Old Testament Supplement 66. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press,1990.

Kitchen, K.A Ancient Orient and the OldTestament. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1966

Kitchen, K.A On the Reliability of the OldTestament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003.

Kitchen, K.A The Bible in Its World. Exeter: Paternoster, 1977

Kitchen, K.A. On the Reliability of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003.


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Klein,Ralph W. 1 Samuel. Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 10. Edited by David A.Hubbard. Word: Texas, 1983.

Mazar, Amihai. The Patriarchs, Exodus, and Conquest Narratives in Light ofArchaeology. In Israel Finkelstein And Amihai Mazar, The Quest For The Historical

Israel:Debating Archaeology And The History Of Early Israel. Leiden: Brill, 2007.

McKarter, P.K.. I Samuel. Anchor Bible, vol. 8. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1980.

Millard, Alan. Picture Archive of the Bible. Tring, Herts.: Lion Books, 1987).

Niditch, Susan. Judges. Oxford Bible Commentary. Edited by John Barton and JohnMuddiman. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Rowley, H. H. From Joseph To Joshua: Biblical Traditions In The Light Of Archaeology. Oxford:Oxford University Press, 1950.

Satterthawaite, P.E. Judge, Dictionary of the Old Testament Historical Books. Edited by. Bill T.Arnold and H.G.M. Williamson. Downers Grove, IL: 2005. 590-600.

Saussage, Chantepie de la D.P. Illustrated History of Religions. Sposo-PreobrazhenkyStaurapigial Monastery of Valaam ; reprint 1992.

Sharing, Lindo S. and Steven L. McKenzie. The Elusive Deuteronomist: The Phenomenon of Pan-Deuteronomism, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement 268.Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999.

Saul Reigned one year. The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary. Edited by

Francis D. Nichol. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 1977. 2:505.

Some periods overlap. The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary. Edited by Francis D.Nichol. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 1977.2:127-28.

Stone, L.G. Judges, Book of. Dictionary of the Old Testament Historical Books. Edited by. BillT. Arnold and H.G.M. Williamson. Downers Grove, IL: 2005 601-08.

The Assemblies of Gilgal and Shilo. The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary. Edited byFrancis D. Nichol. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 1977. 2:125-30.

Thompson, Alden. A Prcatical Guide to Abundant Christian Living in the Book of Samuel. TheAbundant Life Bible Amplifier. Edited by George Knight. Boise, ID:Pacific Press,1995.

Tov, Emmanuel. Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992.


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Vannoy, J. Robert. Judges: Theology of. New International Dictionary of Old TestamentTheology and Exegesis. Edited by Willem A. Van Gemeren. Grand Rapids, MI:Zondervan, 1997. 4:830-40.

Walton, John H. Chronological and Background Charts of the OldTestament. Grand

Rapids: Zondervan, 1978.Webb, Barry G. The Book of Judges: An Integrated Reading. Journal for the Study of

the Old Testament Supplement 46. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1990Wellhausen, Julius. Der Text der Bcher samuelis untersucht. Gttingen: Vandenhoeck und

Ruprecht, 1871.

Wiseman, Donald J. 1 & 2 Kings. TOTC; Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1993.

Wood, Bryant G. The Rise and Fall of the 13th-Century Exodus Conquest Theory.Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society48 no 3 (2005): 484,206-207.

Wood, Leon. Distressing Days of the Judges. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975.

the chronology of the judges

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