Book of Judges

The period between Joshua, Judges, and Ruth was an unique era. In Joshua, the Israelites had to fight many battles and conquer cities and towns to obtain land. In Judges we read that Israel needed constant rescuing, as God was punishing them for their lawlessness. Lastly, in Ruth we see how God works out His sovereign plan, even through seemingly ordinary means. Joshua is a book of conquering and allotting land. It opens as God gives Joshua a promise of victory (1:2-5) and a command to be…

The vow that Jephthah made to the Lord in Judges 11 led to the sacrifice of his only daughter. In the book Death and Dissymmetry by Mieke Bal, he describes the vow as “guaranteeing primal violence.” Bal says that since Jephthah’s vow contained the word “whatever” it is used as a military tactic, which means he is trying to find a scapegoat if he is not able to defeat the Ammonites himself. By not having the sacrifice before him when he made the vow Jephthah can be viewed as being dishonest…

Child Sacrifice: An Adopted Mentality In the Hebrew Bible, there exists only two documentations regarding child sacrifice and these two accounts together illustrate some of the beliefs and ethics of the writes who narrated them. During the time period that the bible is situated in, offering the life of your firstborn to the gods was a common practice found in the literature of the larger civilizations surrounding Israel. Although we cannot infer normality of child sacrifice among the…

or Deuteronomistic History. The D-History, for short, is the section of the bible that focuses on the history of Israel entering the promise land until the exile and shows the exile was caused by the unfaithfulness towards what was laid out in the book of Deuteronomy (“Meta”). Unit Three focuses on five main parts: the land, conquest and settlement, the rise of kingship and the aftermath, the rule of David and Solomon, and the division of the monarchy. The first major part of the D-History that…

Prophets accelerate the glory of god in many of the books located in the Bible, they are a main focus whether old or new testament, they hold value to overall themes and create a vessel for god to shine through. There are many prophets in the Bible and each one of their tasks are giving by god. With the ultimate purpose of protecting them from the evils of the world and leading to salvation. Many Prophets follow every word giving to them by God while others run away from their destiny causing…

later rejected, what made David a better king than Saul, and what happened during Solomon’s rain that led to the division of Israel after his death. First is why did Israel feel they needed a king. Up until this time they had the prophets and the Judges that God had raised up to lead and protect them. The first reason Israel wanted a king is found in 1 Samuel 8, They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations…

People often say “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Describe a time when you misjudged someone based on his or her appearance or when someone misjudged you. Sometimes you misjudge people. By sometimes, I mean all the time. When you misjudge someone it is usually on their looks, but other times you think it is right to judge them by their ACTIONS. You think that if someone acts bad you have the “holy right” to judge them. Wait, but is that not what you are judging them for? Sometimes actions and…

Star of David The Star of David affects many of the lives to this day from way back then when it was a symbol of discrimination to now, a sign of hope. And how it came to be the symbol it is now today, also the different meanings it may have and how it is viewed by some of the people in the world. The symbol the star of David dated back to over a thousand years ago. The star of David in the oldest surviving copy of the Masoretic text, the Leningrad Codex, dated 1008. The earliest…

scripture, as she exemplifies characteristics that all catholic women and young girls should aspire to take on. Deborah, “the mother of Israel (Judges 5:7)”, led a very prosperous life, as she preached the word of the lord, and gave out great advice to those who were in need of it. Deborah was a prophetess, an honored judge, and a warrior. As the story opens in Judges 4, Deborah is settling disputes brought to her while she sits under the “palm of Deborah”, a tree in which people would come to…

The suicide of Samson in the Old Testament is one of the most well known cases of suicide in the Bible. Upon discovering the source of his strength, the Philistines were able to imprison Samson and pluck out his eyes. Samson plans on enacting revenge against the Philistines by toppling the pillars of the Philistine’s temple, an act that would kill the Philistines and Samson. Samson still weak from his imprisonment asks for the Lord’s assistance to regain his strength. The Lord grants Samson his…