{"id":55043,"date":"2019-05-06T22:42:56","date_gmt":"2019-05-06T19:42:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=55043"},"modified":"2022-11-29T15:02:35","modified_gmt":"2022-11-29T13:02:35","slug":"transitions-take-ii-here-come-the-judges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/transitions-take-ii-here-come-the-judges\/","title":{"rendered":"Transitions Take II: Here Come the Judges!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[375,444,429],"acf":{"old_id":"55043","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"213","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"The enduring conundrum of Israel\u2019s infidelity","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the previous chapter, we observed that Joshua was not followed by a handpicked successor but by a collective leadership with the tribe of Judah at its head. In chapter two, Joshua\u2019s death is reported again, as is his succession by \u201cthe elders who outlived him\u201d (v.7, cf. Joshua 24:31), but there is no reference to the coalitions of tribes and their successful conquests. Rather, there is a segue into the tragedy of idolatry and we revert, again, to the rule of individual leaders\u2014called <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shof\u2019tim<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (singular: <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shofet<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Customarily translated as \u201cjudges,\u201d the root Sh-F-T (recognizable in such words as <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mishpat<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, justice) is closely related to the root Sh-B-T, which yields the word <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shevet<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014meaning both tribe and staff. A <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shofet<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, then, is someone who wields a staff, a visible and tangible sign of power. This linguistic insight explains why the <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shof\u2019tim<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of the Book of Judges are invariably military leaders and in only a single case does one of them overtly exercise judicial functions\u2014and that, paradoxically, is the sole woman judge, Deborah (Judges 4:5, see our comments there).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our chapter\u2019s introduction to these <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shof\u2019tim<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> also illustrates an axiom of the philosophy of biblical history: The fate of the Jewish nation is inextricably linked to its obedience to God. Resolute Torah observance advances its fortunes, noncompliance leads to breakdown, and idolatry\u2014the quintessence of disaffection\u2014invites devastation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the words of the text: God would appoint a <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shofet<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (v.16), under whose reign the Israelites would successfully resist the oppression of their enemies that was brought upon them on account of their infidelities (18), yet upon whose death they would revert to their evil ways (19). Indeed, the recalcitrance they regularly exhibited so highlighted the fickleness of their attachment to God that He delayed the completion of their conquest of the indigenous population in order to put Israel\u2019s faith to the test\u2014precisely as Joshua had anticipated (chapter 23). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That they ignored his caution is lamentable; that they did so repeatedly\u2014inviting the cycles of oppression and redemption\u2014is an enduring conundrum that even the subsequent millennia of Jewish history have failed to resolve. <\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":55044,"id":55044,"title":"jud2-judge","filename":"jud2-judge.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud2-judge.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/transitions-take-ii-here-come-the-judges\/jud2-judge\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jud2-judge","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":55043,"date":"2019-05-06 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