The Theology of the Framework of Judges

Abstract

It is widely recognized that the stories which constitute the core of the book of Judges (chapters ii-xvi) have independent origins, presumably within the individual tribes they describe.' In their present form, however, they are held together by an interpretative framework which not only connects but also unifies these tales, suggesting that they are manifestations of the same basic phenomenon recurring cyclically in Israelite history. The framework is thus seen as a secondary stage in the development of the book of Judges. Many scholars proceed further, identifying the framework as Deuteronomistic, thereby linking it with the editorial process which underlies the books of Joshua, Samuel, and Kings. This claim usually rests on the framework's effort to demonstrate a philosophy of history as well as the pragmatic theology on which it relies: Israelite idolatry angers God who therefore allows his people to be oppressed; when their suffering leads to repentance, God provides a leader to bring deliverance. This view is best known in the formulation of Martin Noth, who pointed out:

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 39 citations exist upstream.