Although Judah was bold and victorious (vv. 1-19, 20), his victory was not absolute, for there was a shortage in that he did not dispossess the inhabitants of the valley (v. 19b) and the Jebusites (v. 21). Likewise, Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan did not dispossess all the inhabitants of their lands (vv. 27, 29-36). As a result of Israel’s disobedience in not utterly driving out the tribes that inhabited Canaan (Exo. 23:23-33; Num. 33:50-56), Israel dwelt among them, took their daughters as their wives, gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods, thus doing evil in the sight of the Lord (Judg. 3:5-6). See note Exo. 23:23^1a and note Num. 33:52^1a.

See Num. 13:33 and note Num. 13:33^1a.

Meaning devoted.

Lit., devoted it (i.e., to destruction).

Israel’s inquiring of Jehovah at the beginning of this book, vv. 1-20, describes the beautiful scene of Israel’s trusting in God. This marvelous picture of oneness with the Lord, prefiguring the organic union of God with His people, is a continuation of the oneness in the book of Joshua when the people of Israel first entered into the good land (Josh. 6).

According to the full scope of the Old Testament, at Mount Sinai God married Israel (see note Exo. 20:6²). In His concept and desire, God wanted to be a Husband to Israel, and He wanted Israel to be a wife to Him, living in the most intimate contact with Him in this marvelous marriage union. In writing the books of history, Samuel put Judges after Joshua to show us the kind of life Israel lived toward her Husband. As unveiled in this book, Israel did not have a heart to be the wife of Jehovah. She forsook God as her Husband and went about as a harlot after other gods and worshipped them (Judg. 2:11-13, 17; 3:7; 8:33; 10:6; cf. Jer. 11:13; Ezek. 16:25-26; Hosea 1:2; 2:2). After the account of Judah and Caleb in Judg. 1:1-20, Israel’s history as recorded in this book is full of the rottenness and corruption of a harlot. Whereas Joshua is the book of Israel’s history full of the marvelous victories over the inhabitants of Canaan in the presence of Jehovah, Judges is the book of Israel’s history full of miserable defeats under their enemies in the forsaking of Jehovah. This is the intrinsic significance of the book of Judges.

The content of Judges consists of the children of Israel trusting in God, forsaking God, being defeated by their enemies, repenting to God in their misery, being delivered through the judges, and again becoming corrupted (Judg. 1:1-2; 2:11-23; 3:1-11). This became a cycle repeated seven times in Judges.