Editing Book of Judges (section)

=== Historicity ===
[[Biblical archaeology]] in the 19th and 20th centuries supported viewing Judges as historical, but while some scholars still see echoes of early history, most critical scholars today reject its historical accuracy.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Mark S. |last2=Bloch-Smith |first2=Elizabeth M. |title=Judges 1: A Commentary on Judges 1:1–10:5 |year=2021 |publisher=Fortress Press |isbn=978-0800660628 |page=18-19 |quote=[T]he nineteenth and twentieth centuries witnessed the use of ‘biblical archaeology’ to support the view that Judges represents Israel's historical reality in the premonarchic period, the era that the book purports to relate. The result was an optimistic representation of Judges' historical background, as represented by John Bright's History of Israel, in turn reflected in Robert G. Boling's Judges commentary. While a half-century has passed since the halcyon days of biblical historicism, some scholars continue to see in Judges signs of an early period. For example, Israel Finkelstein suggests that a ‘vague memory’ of a late Iron I/very early Iron II conflict can be gleaned from the story of Ehud. By contrast, most critical scholars today would claim no such early historical record in Judges.}}</ref>

Scholars hold a variety of opinions about the dating and historicity of the Book of Judges.{{sfn|Bacon|Sperling|2007|pp=563–566}}{{sfn|Alter|2013|p=105}} Some scholars doubt whether any of the people named as judges existed, while others still find truth throughout the book.<ref>{{cite book |title=Misusing Scripture: What are Evangelicals Doing with the Bible? |last=Dever |first=William G. |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-000-85301-8 |editor-last=Elliott |editor-first=Mark |page=PT113 |chapter=Christian Fundamentalism, Faith, and Archaeology |quote=the immediately following (!) book of Judges has the ring of truth for an archaeologist on every page. |editor-last2=Atkinson |editor-first2=Kenneth |editor-last3=Rezetko |editor-first3=Robert |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WGuwEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT113&dq=book+of+judges+has+the+ring+of+truth}}</ref> For [[Israel Finkelstein]], the historical reliability of the Book of Judges cannot be assessed by the possible inclusion of heroic tales from earlier eras because it is impossible to know to what extent those tales are based on authentic memories of local heroes and wars preserved over the centuries in the form of epic poems or popular folktales.<ref>Finkelstein, Israel (2001). ''The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts''. (New York: Free Press), p 120.</ref> [[Lester Grabbe]] generally considers the Book of Judges too problematic to use as a historical source for much the same reasons, but acknowledges that an actual historical core can be found in the Judges stories and cannot be ruled out by archeological evidence.<ref>Grabbe, Lester (2007). ''Ancient Israel: What Do We Know and How Do We Know It?'' (London & New York: T & T Clark), p 99-100.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Knauf |first=Ernst Axel |editor-last=Grabbe |editor-first=Lester L. |title=The Hebrew Bible and History: Critical Readings |chapter=History in Judges |year=2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-0567672698 |pages=213–221 |doi=10.5040/9780567672698.0019 |url=https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/encyclopedia-chapter?docid=b-9780567672698&tocid=b-9780567672698-2318 }}</ref><ref> Grabbe, Lester (2017). Ancient Israel: What Do We Know and How Do We Know It?. Bloomsbury. {{ISBN|978-0-567-67043-4}} p. 118: "The book is generally too problematic to use as a historical source." p. 117–118: "Two points relating to history, however, can be made about the book of Judges: first, the picture of a tribal society without a unified leadership engaging in uncoordinated local actions seems to fit the society of the hill country in IA I, as evidenced by the archaeology....Secondly, perhaps the one exception to the historical ambiguity of the text is the Song of Deborah in Judges 5 (cf. Knauf 2005b)."</ref>

Among anthropologists, few believe in a leap from independent tribes to monarchy. Most accept an intermediate stage of chiefdom as described in the Book of Judges. These chiefdoms were inter-tribal confederacies temporarily formed for the purpose of war and led by military chief, called Judge.<ref>[[Robert D. Miller|Miller, Robert D]]. (2005). ''Chieftains of the Highland Clans: A History of Israel in the 12th and 11th Centuries''. (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co), p XV, 6-8.</ref><ref>Portugali, Yuval (1994). ''From Nomadism to Monarchy: Archaeological and Historical Aspects of Early Israel''. (Eds. Finkelstein, Israel & Naaman, Nadav, Washington: Biblical Archeology Society), p 214, https://archive.org/details/fromnomadismtomo0000unse/page/214/mode/2up</ref> Historian Max Ostrovsky finds the [[Ban (law)|law of bun]] ([[Herem (war or property)|herem]]) a characteristic element of chiefdom-level warfare worldwide, wherever culture reached the level of chiefdom. Similar buns were practiced before the introduction of slavery and empire which are more characteristic of monarchies. Hence the accounts of the Book of Judges probably reflect historical reality.<ref>Ostrovsky, Max (2006). ''The Hyperbola of the World Order''. (Lanham: University Press of America), p 299-300.</ref>