Providing a study to show certain details of the Judges of Israel. Each has a duration of judging Israel’s people, a particular date to begin their role, actions taken at times resolve a particular oppression, and to correctly rectify the proper and expected worship of the true living God, YHVH.
Joshua passes away at the age of 110 years. but before that Joshua implores the Israelites to serve the true living God who has always been with them from the Exodus on. Joshua deplored the worship of false gods/goddesses/idols that
they had embraced, and to only stay in God’s righteous ways.
Joshua [24:14] “Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.”
Joshua [24:20] “If ye forsake the Lord, and serve strange gods, then He will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that He hath done you go.’ ‘ “
Joshua [24:23] “Now therefore put away,” said he, “the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel.”
Joshua [24:29] “And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old.”
Joshua [24:30] “And they buried him (Joshua) in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash.”
[ed: The Psalmist below makes the statements that show how mankind (Israel in their particular history) has continued to go wrong against our Lord’s ways, and He corrects them by establishing plagues and oppressions that would afflict the Israelites.
Yet, being a God of great and deep mercies, he would take up repentance and forgive them multiple times, usually to only see them once again fall down with their false religious whoredoms with their strange dead gods replacing the true ways of YHVH.]
Psalm [106:43] “Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.”
Psalm [106:44] “Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry:”
Psalm [106:45] “And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.”
Psalm [106:46] “He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives.”
Psalm [106:47] “Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise.”
Psalm [106:48] “Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the LORD.”
Concerning the list of Israelite Judges that would begin with a man named Othniel, and conclude with a man named Samuel.
There were a total of 13 righteous Judging Periods for the Israelite tribes.
A list is provided here, and more detail given inline below:
1. Othniel
2. Ehud
3. Shamgar/Barak/Deborah
4. Gideon
5. Tola
6. Jair
7. Jephthah
8. Izban
9. Elon
10. Abdon
11. Samson
12. Eli
13. Samuel These dates below correlate to the biblical chronology per Arch-Bishop Ussher (Usher), then confirmed by the inclusion into the 1611 King James bible and reviewed upon the publishing of the (reference) KVJ Companion Bible by E. W. Bulllinger/Christian David Ginsburg, all very accomplished Bible scholars.
Judges [11:26] speaks of the 300 years of the Judges.
Judges 11:26 “While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years (300)? why therefore did ye not recover them with that time? “
Acts [13:20] speaks of the 450 years of the Judges.
Acts [13:20] “And after that He gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years (450), until Samuel the Prophet.”
When approaching the topic of summing the total Judge time periods that are documented in the Bible, some “experts” will try to show why the time period amounts may not be correct, or that there is something else amiss. They seem to have good intentions in their explanations, but are just not aware of how the referencing bible scriptures are actually correct.
This topic in particular will be reviewed towards the end of this study of the 13 Judges of Israel.
If you may wonder how these dates (below) could be verified as completely correct, but if you read through the entire article, you should hopefully see just how true and complete the Bible scriptures really are !
It will be vital to understand the difference between the years that the world uses for its calendaring purpose, and the years that God uses that are NOT the same as the world’s way.
“Anno Mundi” – meaning “year of the world/earth”
“Anno Dei” – meaning “year of God” or “God’s year”
God will view the years per Anno Dei when Israel is in compliance to His will, while the world counts the span of years by counting the earth’s orbit around the sun.
- 1431 BC * Oppression Period #1
[ed: 8 years of oppression by king Cushan-Rishathaim of Mesopotamia. ],
[ Judges 3:5 — 3:8 ]
- 1423 BC * Judge Period #1
Othniel was of tribe of Judah,
(Strong’s #H6274 meaning “force of God”),
ruled for 40 years of peace Anno Mundi,
[ Judges 3:9 — 3:11 ]
- 1383 BC * Oppression Period #2
[ed: 18 years of oppression by king Eglon of Moab, Ammonites, Amalekites.],
[ Judges 3:12 — 3:14 ]
- 1365 BC * Judge Period #2
Ehud was of tribe of Benjamin,
(Strong’s #H261 meaning “united”),
ruled for 80 years of peace Anno Mundi, after the fight against the Moabites,
[ Judges 3:15 — 3:30 ]
- 1285 BC * Oppression Period #3
[ed: 20 years of oppression by king Jabin of Hazor-Canaan.],
[ Judges 4:2 — 4:3 ]
- 1265 BC * Judge Period #3
Shamgar was of tribe of Benjamin,
(Strong’s #H8044 meaning “sword”),
ruled for ?unknown? years but simultaneous with Deborah/Barak,
[ Judges 3:31, Judges 5:6 ],
[ed: Deborah (below) was a contemporary of Shamgar.]
Deborah was of tribe of Ephraim (truly a judge/prophetess),
(Strong’s #H1683 meaning “bee”),
with Barak [ Judges 4:6 ] of Naphtali, (Strong’s #H1301 meaning “lightning”),
ruled for 40 years Anno Mundi,
[ Judges 4:4 — 5:31 ],
[ed: Shamgar (above) was a contemporary of Deborah.]
- 1225 BC * Oppression Period #4
[ed: 7 years of oppression by the Midianites, Amalekites.],
[ Judges 6:1 — 6:6 ]
- 1218 BC * Judge Period #4
Gideon (aka Jerubbaal) was of tribe of Manasseh,
(Strong’s #H1439 meaning “feller/cutter”),
ruled for 40 years of peace Anno Mundi,
[ Judges 6:11 — 8:32 ]
- 1178 BC * (Not a Judge period)
[ed: 3 years of oppression [ Judges 9:22 ] by Gideon’s evil son Abimelech.],
[ed: Gideon’s son Abimelech (Strong’s #H40 “king is my father”:)
will not be considered as a true Judge, and his illegitimate 3-year “reign”
will be not accounted for the 450 years of the Judges (Acts [13″20]) .],
[ Judges 8:31, 9:1 — 9:57 ]
- 1178 BC * Judge Period #5
Tola was of tribe of Issachar,
(Strong’s #H8439 meaning “worm”),
ruled for 23 years Anno Mundi,
[ Judges 10:1 — 10:2 ]
- 1155 BC * Judge Period #6
Jair was of tribe of Gilead at Manasseh,
(Strong’s #H2971 meaning “enlightener”),
[ed: ruled for 22 years Anno Mundi, but only 4 years before the Ammonites
were attacking Israel’s tribes on the east side of Jordan river, so 18 years
of oppression into the next Judge’s tenure – that of Jephthah.],
[ Judges 10:3 — 10:5 ]
[ed: Before Jair’s death, 18 years of oppression to the Israelite tribes on the east
side of the Jordan river from Ammonites [Judges 10:6 — 10:9 ].
The first 4 years of Jair’s 22 years as Judge years were without any oppression.
Jair is still Israel’s reigning judge simultaneous with 18 years of oppression.]
[ed: Some time has passed by as God is really tiring of the continuously backsliding apostates of Israel. ]
Judges [ 10:13 ] “Yet ye have forsaken Me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more.”
[ed: War is about to break out during Jephthah’s time, not a time of peace for this new Judge. ]
Judges [11:5] “And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made ware against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob:”
- 1151 BC * Judge Period #7
Jephthah was of tribe of Gilead-Manasseh,
(Strong’s #H3316 meaning “he will open”),
ruled for 6 years Anno Mundi,
[ Judges 11:1 — 12:7 ]
- 1145 BC * Judge Period #8
Ibzan was of tribe of Ephraim at Bethlehem (not Judah’s Bethlehem),
(Strong’s #H78 meaning “splendid”),
ruled for 7 years Anno Mundi,
[ Judges 12:8 — 12:10 ]
- 1138 BC * Judge Period #9
Elon was of tribe of Zebulum,
(Strong’s #H356 meaning “oak grove”),
ruled for 10 years Anno Mundi,
[ Judges 12:11 — 12:12 ]
- 1128 BC * Judge Period #10
Abdon was of tribe of Ephraim,
(Strong’s #H5658 meaning “servitude”),
ruled for 8 years Anno Mundi,
[ Judges 12:13 — 12:15 ]
- 1120 BC * Oppression Period #5
Judges [ 13:1] “And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.”
[ed: Upon the mark of 20 years of this Philistine oppression, Samson’s mother is approached by an “Angel of the Lord” and her previously barren womb became pregnant. She would give birth to the avowed nazarite Samson and he would be raised accordingly to that rite. ]
Judges [13:5] “For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no rasor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”
[ed: After another 20 years of Samson’s youth passing, he as a young man would begin to rule over Israel for the next 20 years.]
Judges [15:20] “And he (Samson) judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.”
[ed: Altogether, 40 years of Philistine oppression for the south and west portion of Israel by Philistines [ Judges 13:1] . ]
[ed: Until Eli and Samuel, the tribes were without a judge or king, and they yet once again began committing transgressions against God.]
Judges [21:25] “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”
- 1100 BC * Judge Period #11
Samson was of tribe of Dan,
(Strong’s #H8123 meaning “sunlight”),
ruled for 20 years Anno Mundi,
[ Judges 13:2 — 16: 31 ],
[ed: Remember, Samson will be the active Judge during the last 20 years of the 40 year Philistine oppression period.]
- 1080 BC * Judge Period #12
Eli was of “tribe” of Levi (truly a priest/judge),
(Strong’s #H5941 meaning “lofty”),
ruled for 40 years Anno Mundi,
1 Samuel [ 1:3, 1:9, 1:12 — 1:17 ]
1 Samuel [ 4:18 ] “And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he (Eli) fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate (where judges sit), and his neck broke, and he died: for he was an old man (98), and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.”
- 1040 BC * Judge Period #13
Samuel was of “tribe” of Levi (truly a priest/prophet/judge),
(Strong’s #H8050 meaning “heard of God”),
ruled for 40 years Anno Mundi,
1 Samuel [ 7:3 — 7:6 ]
1 Samuel [ 7:15 ] “And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.”
1 Samuel [ 7:16 ] “And he went from year to year in circuit to Beth-el, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places.”
[ed: This likely means that Samuel would become a Judge for the remaining days of his life for these places he would not have visited as a temple priest. Before Samuel Judged, he had established the kingship of Saul, then also to David upon Saul’s corruption and God’s repentance of choosing Saul.
Samuel followed God’s instructions to make the 16 year old David the new king of Israel in 974 B.C.]
1 Samuel [ 8:1 ] “And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons (Joel and Abijah) judges over Israel.”
[ed: Samuel was Israel’s very last judge, as well as Israel’s very first prophet in a
series of prophets to appear in the scriptures. Many other prophets would appear over the centuries, culminating with the appearance of the John the Baptist, who was a 1/2 cousin of Jesus, by this relation:
Mary's mother and Elizabeth's mother (John's grandmother) were sisters,
Mary was the mother of Jesus,
Elizabeth was the mother of John (the Baptist),
Mary and Elizabeth were first cousins to each other.
Their sons, Jesus and John respectively, were second cousins to each other.
Jesus himself, being the immaculate Son of God, was a special Prophet indeed.][ed: Towards the end of Samuel’s service, there would be oppression from Samuel’s evil first and second sons:
Joel (Strong’s #H3100 meaning ” Yehovah (is his) God “),
Abijah (Strong’s #H29 meaning ” father of Yah “) .]
I Samuel [8:3] “And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.”
I Samuel [8:4] “Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,”
I Samuel [8:5] “And said unto him, “Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
I Samuel [8:6] “But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed unto the Lord.”
I Samuel [8:7] “And the Lord said unto Samuel, “Hearken unto the voice of the People in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.”
I Samuel [8:8] “According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken Me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.”
I Samuel [8:19] “Nevertheless the People refuse to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “Nay; but we will have a king over us;”
I Samuel [8:20] “That we may be like all the nations and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.”
[ed: How ridiculous this statement is to be said by the people – to say that this never happened before ! Father in Heaven did this for the people, and they repeatedly ignored Him and instead chose a false deity to worship and serve.
For God himself intervened and guaranteed victory in battle after battle from leaving Egypt until this point and still they did not even give proper respect to God for his kind assistances.]
I Samuel [8:22] “And the Lord said to Samuel, “Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king, And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, “Go ye every man unto his city.”
[ed: As pointed out by E.W. Bullinger/Ginsburg and marked within the massorah text margins from Nehemiah’s time, this 480 year span is called to Gods reckoning – “Anno Dei”. The total overall number of earth years
was actually 573 “Anno Mundi” earth years.]
[ed: Using this verified date of the king of Babylon, Nebuchadrezzar/Nebuchadezzar, began his first year of rule, it can be determined that other prior events occurring in Israel and there durations will provide the correct calendar dates. Nebuchadezzar’s first year was recorded in history as 496 B.C. ]
Jeremiah [25:1] “The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king Babylon:”
1 Kings [6:1] “And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth (480) year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he (Solomon) began to build the house of the LORD.”
[ed: From the Exodus to the building of the Temple was 480 years as per
“Anno Dei” – “God’s years”.]
By the typical calendar earth “Anno Mundi” years, there are 573 years as 93 of these years were during the occupation and/ oppression from neighboring nations that afflicted Israel due to Israel’s repeated idolatrous rebellions
and apostasies against God. In those years, there were no judges, and those years were not in the total sum of 480 years.
The Temple of God was begun by king Solomon in 917 B.C. It took 7 years to complete the build, and 3 years to the time of it’s dedication which appears as 490 years (480+10) per the world’s calendar of “Anno Mundi” .
The five periods of time (the Oppressions or Servitudes) during the time of Israel’s judges are excluded since Israel following God’s ways, instead they committed grave sins that inspired God then to send enemies to their land.
During those years of oppressions/servitudes, Israel was not under any Judge.
Once a new Judge came to take command again, then the years would begin to be accounted again towards the 480 year span.
This actual world calendar time period was from 1490 B.C. (1st year of Israelites Exodus out of Egypt) to 917 B.C. (year when the temple was begun), a time period of 573 years.
The five time periods of Oppression that Israel was not considered by God to be a national entity, were recorded in the book of the Judges:
The summation of these five time periods again were the 93 years variance between the “Anno Dei” and the “Anno Mundi” reckoning. These 93 years are required to be taken away (subtracted) from the 573 to make the 480 years from the exiting away from Egypt (1491 BC), to the start of the building of the Temple (917 BC).
How many years of oppression are documented in the scriptures? 93 years ! See below … ]
1st Oppression – lasting 8 years
8 years of oppression by king Cushan-Rishathaim of Mesopotamia,
[ Judges 3:5 — 3:8 ].
2nd Oppression – lasting 18 years
18 years of oppression by king Eglon of Moab, Ammonites, and Amalekites,
[ Judges 3:12 — 3:14 ].
3rd Oppression – lasting 20 years
20 years of oppression by king Jabin of Hazor-Canaan,
[ Judges 4:2 — 4:3].
4th Oppression – lasting 7 years
7 years of oppression by the Midianites, Amalekites,
[ Judges 6:1 — 6:6 ].
5th Oppression – lasting 40 years
40 years of oppression by the Philistines,
[ Judges 13:1 ].
8+18+20+7+40 == 93 years total for the sum of all 5 Oppression Periods during the time of Israel’s Judges.
Yes, 93 years of oppression in total, and subtracting that 93 years from the calendar’s 573 years yields the correct 480 years !
[ed: In the Scriptures, there are a few references back to the span of years of the Judges. In the book of Judges, and also from Paul’s reference in the book of Acts of the Apostles.
It is important to explain how these Bible verses are actually quite correct even though many people can’t seem to make sense of the total years involving the Judges, mistakenly assuming that the years of Israel’s apostasy (93) should be included, when in God’s own mind, they should NOT.]
[ed: The verse at Judges [11:26] is made during the first year (i.e. 1151 BC) of Jephthah’s judgeship .]
Judges [11:26] “While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred (300) years? Why therefore did ye not recover them with that time? “
Concerning the 300 years of Judges [11:26]:
20 years after crossing Jordan river into Canaan land, and
before 1st Judge Othniel.
+ 8 ( 1st Oppression - Cushan )
+40 ( Othniel )
+18 ( 2nd Oppression - Moabites )
+80 ( Ehud )
+20 ( 3rd Oppression - Canaanites)
+40 ( Shamgar/Deborah/Barak )
+ 7 ( 4th Oppression - Midianites )
+40 ( Gideon )
+23 ( Tola )
+ 4 ( Jair ) (* remember that the last 18 years of Jair's 22 years
saw the Israel tribes east of Jordan
losing lands to the Amorites. All of Israel then
only had full residence before this "loss" for
Jair's first 4 years)
--------------------
300 years
*Note:
Jephthah is the succeeding Judge to the preceding Jair.
In Jephthah's 1st year. Jephthah's years during the oppression
would not be accounted, and this was for a total of 1 year duration.
Jephthah would fight against the remnant of Amorites that began
their affliction against Israel during Jair's judging tenure.
Jephthah is going to fight and win against the Amorites during
his 1st year and the remaining 5 years (of non-affliction) of
his 6 total years would be included in the 150 years span (below).
[ed: Also, there is a reference to the total time of actual Judgeship as according to Paul’s witnessing in Acts [13:20].
Acts [13:20] “And after that He gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty (450) years , until Samuel the Prophet.”
Concerning the 450 years of Acts [13:20]:
5 ( Jephthah ) (* Counting only 5 years of Jephthah's
6 years as Judge that Israel's eastern tribes
were returned to their previously allotted
lands after vanquishing the Amorites)
7 ( Ibzan )
10 ( Elon )
8 ( Abdon )
40 ( 5th Oppression - Philistines -- last 20 years overlapping
with Samson's judging tenure)
40 ( Eli )
40 ( Samuel )
-----------------
150 years
150 + 300 = 450 years of Judges- 1000 BC * King Period #1 – Saul, Israel’s first king
[ed: Strong’s #H7586 meaning “asked”]
[ed: No more Judges for Israel, and instead they decided to have a earthly king rather than God himself who really wanted to be their King. So God relents and advises Samuel to pick Saul as their 1st king.]
Acts [13:21] “And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.”
[ed: Kingship was cut short in 973 B.C. due to his personal corruption, his interaction with the Endor witch to seek out familiar spirit (Samuel), his attempt to kill David, his insubordination against God’s orders to eliminate the Amalekites, and his murderous crimes against the innocent priests of Nob. War did break out with the Philistines and Saul became surrounded by the Philistines and was seriously wounded by arrow(s), and then killed himself by his own sword to avoid being captured. [1 Samuel 31:1] ]
[ed: The 450 years cited by Paul in Acts[13:20] ends as Saul begins his tenure as Israel’s first king. His appointment was to last 40 years, until David’s second appointment in 960 B.C. at the age of 30 years.]
- 974 BC * King Period #2 – David, Israel’s 2nd king
[ed: Strong’s #H1732 meaning “loving”]
[ed: David’s first anointing while Saul was still king, through Samuel as directed by God, to become the tentative Israel king at age of 16 in 974 B.C. David was born in 990 BC.]
I Samuel [16:12] “And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of the beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said,” Arise, anoint him: for this is he.”
I Samuel [16:13] “Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.”
[ed: David’s second appointment in 960 B.C. at the age of 30 years. Same age that a man could serve as priest in Israel.
David’s third appointment in 953 B.C. at the age of 37 years.
Solomon begins his own kingship in 920 B.C. for 40 years.
Israel splits into 2 separate nations in 880 B.C., namely Israel for the 10 Northern tribes and Judah for the Southern 2 tribes.]
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