WBC 08: Judges

The Word Biblical Commentary delivers the best in biblical
scholarship, from the leading scholars of our day who share a commitment to
Scripture as divine revelation. This series emphasizes a thorough analysis of
textual, linguistic, structural, and theological evidence. The result is
judicious and balanced insight into the meanings of the text in the framework
of biblical theology. These widely acclaimed commentaries serve as
exceptional resources for the professional theologian and instructor, the
seminary or university student, the working minister, and everyone concerned
with building theological understanding from a solid base of biblical
scholarshipButler expounds on the book of Judges as a riddle. The book
takes up a dreary theme of failure and disobedience and presents it with irony,
satire, and humor. These instances of humor not only enliven the stories, they
also provide the keys that he uses tot address the scholarly riddles the book
so frequently presents.
Butler observes that Judges is a complex work of
literature that cannot be easily reduced to a thesis sentence or to one single
purpose statement. The central themes, though, are clear enough. Each story
deals in one way or another with a crisis in leadership. The problem of
disobedience also shadows leaders and people throughout the book. Political
judgments color the way the stories are told, foreshadowing the later division
of Israel into two warring kingdoms. Finally, despite the absence of any overt
theological statements, the stories all point to the sovereignty of God over
God's people, and the worship that they owe him.
Throughout Butler presents
thorough reviews of the latests scholarship and up-to-date bibliographies to
guide readers through the research on the fascinating riddles of
Judges.Series: Word Biblical Commentary, volume 8.