Editing Book of Judges (section)

=== Epilogue ===
By the end of Judges, Yahweh's treasures are used to make idolatrous images, the Levites become corrupt, the [[tribe of Dan]] conquers a remote village instead of the Canaanite cities, and the [[tribes of Israel]] make war on the [[tribe of Benjamin]], their own kinsmen.{{sfn |Guest|2003|pp= 202–4}}  The book concludes with two appendices,<ref>{{bibleverse-nb||Judges|17–21|HE}}</ref> stories which do not feature a specific judge:{{sfn|Soggin|1981|p=5}}
* [[Micah's Idol]] (Judges 17–18), how the tribe of Dan conquers its territory in the north.<ref>{{bibleverse-nb||Judges|17–18|HE}}</ref>
* [[Levite's concubine]] (Judges 19–21): the gang rape of a Levite's concubine leads to war between the Benjamites and the other Israelite tribes, after which hundreds of virgins are taken captive as wives for the decimated Benjamites.<ref>{{bibleverse-nb||Judges|19–21|HE}})</ref>
Despite their appearance at the end of the book, certain characters (like [[Jonathan (Judges)|Jonathan]], the grandson of [[Moses]]) and idioms present in the epilogue show that the events therein "must have taken place... early in the period of the judges."{{sfn|Davis|Wolf|2002|pp=328–61}}