Book of Judges

Judges is the seventh book of the Old Testament relating to events associated with the temporary leaders of Israel called "Judges". Specifically, this "Book of Judges" describes the time period between the passing away of Joshua and the prophecies of Samuel and the leadership of King Saul. During this period Israel had no king and God called upon special people, "judges", to lead His people. They were leaders in society and battle and not like judges today.

The Book of Judges describes how the ancient Hebrews tended to obey God when there was a judge, but disobey Him (and fall prey to their enemies) when there was not a judge, whereupon the people would cry to God for help and He would respond by appointing a new judge.

The authorship of the Book of Judges has traditionally be attributed to Samuel.

One judge was a woman and the remainder were men. The more prominent judges were:

• Gideon
• Samson
• Deborah