SYMMETRY IN THE BOOK OF JUDGES

At a first reading, this book appears to present a series of characters one after the other without much 

of an overall organization. But in my post “Book of Judges: Introduction to Literary Structure” I 

presented the proposed arrangement for the book shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: The Structure of the Book of Judges

                I. Introduction (1:1-3:6)

                A. Political Situation (1:1-2:5)

                B. Religious Perspective (2:6-3:6)

                        II. Israel under the Judges (3:7-16:31)

                I'. Concluding Appendix (17:1-21:25)

                B. Religious Perspective (chs. 17-18)

                A. Political Situation (chs. 19-21)

Sections I (Judges 1:1-3:6) and I' (Judges 17-21)

The importance of the opening section of Judges in setting the tone for the whole book, both politically 

and morally, is well recognized. See, for example, Howard’s comment that “the breakdown in Israelite 

society detailed in 1:1-2:5 forms the keynote for the book.”

Within Section IA, the success of Judah as outlined in 1:3-21 is followed by the failures in the north under the house of Joseph portrayed in 1:22-36, with verses 1:1-2 and 2:1-5 serving as a framework for the whole. Large portions of IA recap the history given in Joshua 15-19. The literary symmetries within the two major parts of Section IA have been ably demonstrated by Webb. Unit IA concerns foreign wars in which the ban (i.e. total warfare to the point of extinction) is applied while I'A applies the same ban to domestic battles. Unit IB describes the problem of foreign idols while I'B deals with domestic idols.

Davis portrays the organization of Section IB as shown below (with an appropriate opening and closing section added). Although a decline in spirituality is in evidence, the structural focus of this section demonstrates the constancy of God’s loving kindness.

Introduction: the generation of Joshua serves the LORD (2:6-10)

Apostasy (2:11-13)

Wrath (2:14-15)

Grace (2:16)

Apostasy (2:17-19)

Wrath (2:20-23)

Summary: the following generation tested by the LORD (3:1-6)

Webb's analysis of these same verses is similar except that he includes all of Judges 2:16-19 under the 

umbrella of grace (even in the face of Israel's repeated failures). He also sees a symmetrical 

arrangement to Judges 2:23-3:4 which can easily be extended as follows:

    1. Yahweh's test (2:20-23)

        2. Identity of the remaining nations (3:1a)

            3. The test (3:1b-2b)

                a. Subjects of the test (1b)

                    b. Parenthesis regarding the test (2a)

                a'. Subjects of the test (2b)

        2'. Identity of the remaining nations (3:3)

1'. Results of the test (3:4-6)

A number of commentators note that the section labeled IB forms a parallel to IA (with their similar introductions and references to the death of Joshua) and takes up the narrative left off at the end of the Book of Joshua.

Section I'B has a simple structure (following Webb) in which three episodes ending in a priest being appointed are separated by set formulas:

    1. Micah installs his son as a priest (17:1-5)

            2. “In those days” (17:6)

    1'. Micah installs Levite as his priest (17:7-13)

            2'. “In those days” (18:1a)

    1''. Danites install Jonathan and sons as priests (18:1b-31)

This story begins with Micah being revealed as a thief and ends with others robbing him.

Section I'A also utilizes the same “in those days” statements, this time as an inclusio for chs. 19-21:

    1. “In those days” (19:1a)

        2. The rape of the Levite's concubine (19:1b-30)

            3. Assembly at Mizpah (20:1-17)

                4. War against the Benjaminites (20:18-48)

                    a. Inquiring of the LORD (20:18)

                        b. First battle (20:19-21)

                    a'. Inquiring of the LORD (20:23)

                        b'. Second battle (20:22,24-25)

                    a''.Inquiring of the LORD (20:26-28)

                        b''.Third battle (20:29-48)

             3'. Oath taken at Mizpah Assembly (21:1-9)

        2'. Taking the women of Jabesh-gilead and Shiloh (21:10-24)

    1'. “In those days” (21:25)

Vannoy states, “The obvious parallel between a two-part introduction and a two-part epilogue in itself indicates the book’s structural symmetry.” This symmetry is pictured in Fig. 1 as a mirror-image relationship between the two respective sub-units of sections I and I'. Section IA describes the geo-political situation existing at the start of the book where the tribes of Israel are found to be occupying a territory but imperfectly conquered. By the end of the book (I'A), the tribes are seen to be turning against one another, demonstrating that they are their own worst enemies. 

a. Armerding re-casts these two themes as pointing to (a) the charismatic leadership at the time 

and (b) the covenant life of the people as a whole. The parallelism between these two sub

sections is strengthened by the following similarities:Incidents involving the gruesome hacking 

off of body parts are found in 1:6-7 and 19.29.

 Alter comments that these are appropriate for capping this bloody period in Israel’s history.

 Josipovici adds that these episodes “stress in a quite literal way the notion of fragmentation” 

that is the hallmark of this book.

        b. The only mention of involvement by the tribe of Judah in the books comes in the almost                         identical dialogues found in 1:1-2 and 20:18:

“Who shall go up first?”

                        “The LORD said, ‘Judah shall go up first.’”

c. Jebusite opposition (1:21; 19:10-12) and the Israelites weeping (2:1-5; 20:21-26) are 

incidents found here. Also, it is only in these two sections of the book that Jerusalem is 

mentioned.

d. Offerings at the altar of Bethel are made in 2:1-5 and 21:2-5.

            e. From a chronological viewpoint, the events of chs. 20-21 more properly belong with those                     that start the book. (Howard) The present order makes sense structurally, however, and does                 not necessarily relegate Section I'A (or I'B) to the mere status of what has been called (Gray)                 “a redactional appendix.”

            f. Of the eight appearances of the phrase “10,000 men” in Judges, three occur in these two                         sections (at 1:4; 20:10,34).

            g. In this book, Israel's landholdings are described as her “inheritance” only at 2:6 and 20:6.

            h. Webb mentions that the close association of these two sections has been noted in commentators as early as Josephus and Rabbi Samuel ben Nahmani.

            i. The book begins (1:1-2) and ends (21:2-14) with a major assembly of the people.

            j. Boda cites 1:1 and 20:8-9 as rare examples of inquiries to God in which the answer is not a 

                simple yes-no. In both instances, the question involved which tribes/people would be sent off 

                to battle. The phrase “the Israelites inquired of the LORD” appears prominently at 1:1 and 

                20:23,27.

The deteriorating religious situation is the theme of Section IB, which sets the stage for the various cycles of disobedience to God that trigger the periods of oppression for the people. This religious disobedience is still present at the end of the period of judges, as shown by the incidents in the structurally parallel Section I'B concerned with the Danites taking a private priest and his graven idols by force. The chapters that comprise this latter section (labeled “Divine Sarcasm” by Davis) proceed with an “almost novelist movement” (Gray) and are held together structurally by use of literary frameworks (a) at 17:3-4 and 18:18-31 with their mention of graven and molten images and (b) at 17:5 and 18:31 with their contrasting house of gods and the House of God, respectively. (Davis)

Turning next to the center section, it can be pictured as a four-part symmetrical organization (Figure 2). The parallels between the two cycles A and A' are given in the post referenced at the start of this discussion. That only leaves a consideration of the similarities between IIB and IIB'.

Figure 2: The Structure of Section II

A. Ehud Cycle (3:7-31)

B. Deborah and Barak Cycle (chs. 4-5)

B'. Jephthah Cycle (10:1-12:15)

A'. Samson Cycle (13:1-16:31)

Deborah/Barak (Judges 4-5) and Jephthah (Judges 10:1-12:15) Cycles

The Deborah Cycle contains two parallel account of a key battle related in narrative and poetic fashion, 

respectively. It is not worth rehearsing the numerous differences in these two chapters, many of which 

can be attributed to the respective genres utilized. Davis has analyzed the prose account in ch. 4 as a 

seven-part chiasm centered on “Yahweh the Warrior” in v. 14a. Similar literary analyses have been 

performed on the song of ch. 5, about which there is no space to comment. However, it is of note that 

there is a purposeful contrast between Deborah as “a mother in Israel” in verse 7 and the tragic mother 

of Sisera at the end of the poem, as pointed out by Webb.

The analysis of the Jephthah Cycle follows that of Noth in that it includes the five minor judges that flank the Jephthah narratives. Noth’s major reasoning for this inclusion is that the story of Jephthah shares the closing refrain also found in the three minor judges following. Additional rationale for this decision is given below:

a. The locales of the judges in this section appear to form a symmetrical structure when plotted 

in their order of appearance:

Ephraim (Tola)

Gilead (Jair)

                                                Gilead (Jephthah)

Zebulun? (Ibzan)

                                                Zebulun (Elon)

Ephraim (Abdon)

b. If Jair is counted within the Jephthah Cycle, there results a total of exactly 21 references to  

    Gilead. 

            c. The mention of thirty sons of Jair is matched by the thirty sons and daughters of Izban and the                 thirty nephews of Abdon. Satterthwaite sees a deliberate contrast between these minor judges                 and their progeny with the situation of the central character in the cycle and the loss of his                 only child. This tie-in between the flanking stories of the minor judges and the Jephthah saga                 itself is reinforced by the appearance of “Israel(ite)” thirty times in the latter.

The first part of the Jephthah narrative itself is divided by Webb into two episodes (10:6-16 and 

10:17-11:11) having parallel scenes and development. However, if this division is made at the chapter 

end instead, there is no disruption in Webb's parallel scheme, and it has the dual advantage of (a) 

concluding both sub-sections with mention of an appointed head of Gilead (two of the rare instances in 

the OT where the Hebrew ro's means “authority,” according to Brauch and (b) beginning a unit with 

the designation “Jephthah the Gilead,” a phrase found in two other structurally important spots in the 

narrative (see below). This extended introduction is balanced by the closing statement in 12:7 

regarding the reign of Jephthah over Israel. The center of the Jephthah cycle can be pictured 

chiastically:

            A peace overture fails (11:12-29)

                    Vow to God (11:30-31)

                            Battle (11:32-33)

                    Vow to God fulfilled (11:34-40)

            A peace overture fails (12:1-7)

This analysis confirms Webb's contention that 11:32-33 marks the turning point of the whole Jephthah 

narrative.

Deborah (the most prominent figure in the former narrative) and Jephthah share the fact that they both come from outside the traditional leaders of Israelite society. Jephthah is the son of a harlot (11:1) and, of course, Deborah is a woman. The lowly status of the latter is stressed in the Deborah narrative when she tells Barak that Sisera will fall by the hand of a (“mere” implied) woman (4:9). 

 Both cycles also contain interactions between individual men and women with the latter coming off as the most noble or heroic: (a) Deborah/Balek and Jael/Sisera in Section IIB and (b) Jephthah and his daughter in Section IIB'. In both cycles, a warrior is “laid low” by a woman (5:27; 11:35). There are parallel scenes in 4:18, 5:1 and 11:34 in which a woman comes out to greet an approaching warrior, two involving songs. Significant events are commemorated by repetition in 5:11 and 11:39-40. The bargain between Deborah and Balek may also have a parallel in the vow that Jephthah made to God. (Brauch) 

In addition, sections B and B' (see Fig. 2) all feature prominent people riding on donkeys, as a possible foreshadowing of the coming Messiah, according to Kaiser. The literary function of coupling these two cycles is to stress that God's Spirit rests on whomever He chooses, as spelled out in Joel 2 and later quoted by Peter on the Day of Pentecost.