The recurring formula of the book of judges follows the theme of disobedience and forgiveness. Despite the disappointment God felt with his people, he still felt feelings of love for them because he is a forgiving and a loving God. Because the Israelites began to ignore God and worship other eities that they found worthy, they were punished. Although they do repent for what they have done, they go back and do the same thing as they did before, which was disobey. However, they were forgiven after they were punished with foreign oppression and the people all decided to repent. That is what he wants us all to do. He wants us to forgive others when they have done any wrong against us because that is what he would do for us. There were 12 known judges in the the Bible, divided into two categories, the major judges and the minor judges. The major judges listed are Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson. While the minor judges are Shamgar, Tola, Jair, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon. Authors of the 7th and 6th century would write stories like those found in judges because they are showing the power of God’s strength. They want to show us the message that God wants to send all of his people. He loves us all no matter what we do. There is nothing that could keep him from loving his children, no matter how extreme the circumstances of the situation of it may be. He loves us no matter what, that is why when we disobey, he punishes us. This reminds me of what my parents used to tell me when I was younger. “We punish you because we love you”. The Book of Joshua tells the story of Joshua engaging in battle against the enemies of the Israelites. The purpose of this was to deliver the Israelites into the Promised Land. Feminist criticism is advocating equal rights for women in a every sense of society. It is identifying with feminine characters and anything pertaining to the female gender. “The purpose of female criticism is to provide a critique of phallocentric assumptions and an analysis of patriarchal visions or ideologies inscribed in a literature that is male-centered and male-dominated” http://www.library.utoronto.ca/utel/glossary/Feminist_criticism.html. I think I enjoyed reading the assignments the same except for two of them.

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