The word, “Judges” should not be mistaken its modern contexual meaning today. “Judges”, as employed in the Christian old testament “Book of Judges” or Judaism’s “Tanakh” is a depiction of some valliant millitary personnels or heroes whom God personally appointed , during times of great distress to lead the Israelites. The Book of Judges, as contained in the old testament Christian Bible and the Judaism tanakh is a strong narrative of their conquests and success. far from a kingly position and therefore, not subjected to inheritance, the accounts of the book of Judges were of God’s chosen leader to deliver His flock. It s ealiest accounts relay the choosing of Judah to lead the battle into the promised land and then, it further presents the Major and minor Judges ( it may be worthy to note here that the terms “major’ and “minor” is based mainly on the size of the textual account made on the respective judges , not neccessarily on importance alone). These valliant soldiers include Othniel, who God used to deliver the Israelites from King Cushan of Mesopotamia. Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Jephtah and Samson. The Judges all play major roles in delivering Israel, this continous path repeats itself extensively. In a potent cycle, the re occuring formular persists…. instgating from the first Judge, Othniel. The Israelites incurs the wrath of the jealous God by worshipping an Idol, hence, violating His very first commandment, God lets them suffer, consequently in the hands of the Mesopotamian king, Cushan. The people of Israel, supposedly , learning their lesson, cry unto the lord for salvation and He listens, sends Othniel to rescue them and peace reigns again.. for a while. This re ocurence continued evn up until the time of the last Judge, samson.
Time variation did not the least dissipate the potency of God’s covenant with the Israelites nor did it make His wrath vanish. The scholars , during the 7th and 6th century BC , constantly relayed to their future generations the foundation upon which their nation was built, the sacrifice that ensured their freedom and their understanding with God ( covenant). It would be uneventful and incomplete to avoid the repetition of the account of these events to future generations simply because of the time difference because the salvation won by the Israelites was for all men and all generations.
The potency , bravery , as well as truth int eh account of the Book of Judges is still vivid , even up unti l the narration made by the Levite and his concubine. This, among other reasons gives one compelling reason to trust the historical authenticity over the account of the conquest as narrated in the book of Joshua. The Levitte accounts for the ravaging of his concubine by the men of Gibeah. This strong admittance of truth, was the primary reason for the assembly of the men of Israel and their engaegemnet in war against Gibeah. Granted, there was a series of preceeding conquest that alreeady existed with the Benjamites, however, the strong display of character by the Levitte by cutting up his concubine ( of less value than wife0 ans spreading her parts throughout all Israel suggests a collective guilt. They pesisted, demanding the men that had perpetuated such inhuman acts, the Benjamins refused admittance and assembled their men instead. it is important to note that the woman involved was not even of the legal status of a wife, a mere concubine was able to pull such cloak and put two brotherly nations in conquest. This account for the reasons, direct or indirect and its broad and extensive depiction, both in quality and quantity of the conquest seems to be much more accurate when compared to the account , as narrated in Joshua. The acount in Joshua seems to neglect the role played by this woman which is obviously a profound one.

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