{"id":5671,"date":"2026-09-11T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/articles\/?p=5671"},"modified":"2026-09-06T07:34:32","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T07:34:32","slug":"judges-to-kings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/articles\/2026\/09\/11\/judges-to-kings\/","title":{"rendered":"Judges to Kings"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/span><\/p>\n

No age is given for Joshua at the entry to the Promised Land, but since he was a fellow spy, it stands to reason he was of similar age as Caleb; he was definitely over 20 at the time of spying, since he would have died in the wilderness if God had not specifically said to spare him for his faith (<\/span>Numbers 14:30<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Hence his lowest possible age at this point would be 67, and likely much higher since God had literally just called him old in Joshua 13:1<\/span><\/strong>. He was, however, called a \u201cyoung man\u201d early in the Exodus, which likely means he was under 30, or at most 40 at the Exodus (<\/span>Numbers 11:28<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

This puts his probable upper age at something like Caleb\u2019s own 85 years. Now we know he went on to live 110 years (<\/span>Joshua 24:29<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>. Which means he lived for a minimum 25 years, maximum 43 years after this.<\/p>\n

This is somewhat important for the internal chronology of the judges period, though fortunately we don\u2019t need it for the overall chronology of the patriarchs because 1 Kings 6:1<\/span><\/strong> tells us that 480 years passed between the Exodus and the 4th<\/sup> year of Solomon\u2019s reign.<\/p>\n

This allows us to bridge past the judges period, reaching from Solomon to Moses, and from Moses back to Abraham thanks to Galatians 3:17<\/span><\/strong>, which tells us that from Abraham\u2019s covenant at 85 years old (‑1937) to the Exodus (‑1507) was 430 years to the day (<\/span>Exodus 12:41<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>, and from there to Solomon\u2019s 4th<\/sup> year was 480 years (‑1027). More on this in the Appendix on Biblical Chronology<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But even though the judges period doesn\u2019t affect the big picture, it tells us a lot about the geopolitical situation at the time. Remember, traditional historians believe that this coincided with the peak of the power of the 18th<\/sup>-19th<\/sup> dynasties, which they believe controlled the territory as far as Turkey.<\/p>\n

And they did indeed do that – in the 10th<\/sup> and 9th<\/sup> centuries, not the 14th<\/sup> and 13th<\/sup>. During the entire judges period, as has been noted, Egypt is absent from the Biblical record because they were oppressed by the Amalekites – who, on the other hand, make regular appearances in the judges period.<\/p>\n

\n

Joshua 24:31<\/span><\/strong> Israel served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua<\/strong>, and had known all the work of Yahweh, that he had worked for Israel.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Joshua died between 25 and 43 years after entering the Promised Land; I personally favor a lower number, meaning he was effectively the same age as Caleb. At some point after that, Israel sinned and the first punishment was sent.<\/p>\n

All we are told here is that it was after those who outlived Joshua had died out – approximately 20 years or so, perhaps. We are going to assign 49 years from the entry to the Promised Land to the first time God punished them; reasons for this will follow at the proper time.<\/p>\n

JUDGES PERIOD<\/h3>\n

As has been noted, Joshua didn\u2019t finish the process of driving out the Canaanites, particularly in the south. This may have been because the southern tribes found it easier to get support from the Amalekites in Egypt, who were involved in every major war for the next 300 years.<\/p>\n

One of God\u2019s primary orders for them was to completely conquer the Canaanites, and not to make treaties with them – the reason for this being that He was afraid, with good reason, that Israelites would start following their religion and draw down His jealousy on them.<\/p>\n

And of course, they did anyway (<\/span>Judges 1:28-36<\/span>, 2:1-4<\/span>)<\/strong>. So God made them lose battles, and they didn\u2019t change. So finally, He decided to leave some tribes that He didn\u2019t drive out as tests to see if they would obey Him or not. (Spoiler alert: they didn\u2019t.)<\/p>\n

This began a cycle of sin, foreign oppression, repentance, and deliverance that lasted through much of the judges period, with at least six cycles recorded. The records are usually in the format \u201cthe land had rest X years,\u201d and then the people sinned \u201cand God sold them into the [foreign tribe] Y years,\u201d then \u201cGod raised up a judge to deliver them, and he judged them Z years.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you add up all of the XYZ years, you get a number far too large to fit here. Since we have a solid bridge between Solomon and Moses, we know the entire period from the entry to the Promised Land to Saul\u2019s first year cannot be more than 355 years.<\/p>\n

Thus, we have to understand this as ordinal (5th<\/sup>) years, not cardinal (5) years. Hebrew makes no distinction, unfortunately. Let\u2019s take the first example; Joshua died, and the people waited until his generation had died out to sin and for God to make them vassals of a foreign people – in this case, the Mesopotamians.<\/p>\n

They served the Mesopotamians eight years. Then Israel repented, begged God for help, so God called Othniel, younger brother of Caleb, to deliver Israel. He did so, and \u201cthe land had rest 40 years.\u201d This seems<\/em> like it means that the entire period from the first sin to the end of the \u201crest\u201d would total 48 years.<\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s also possible to treat these as ordinal numbers; they sinned, God made them serve the Mesopotamians until the 8th<\/sup> year (from the beginning of the bondage), and then after Othniel delivered them they had rest until the 40th<\/sup> year from the beginning of the bondage.<\/em><\/p>\n

Once again Israel sinned, God was angry, and they became vassals of Moab for 18 years. Again they repented, again God picked a judge who delivered them, \u201cand the last had rest 80 years,\u201d or better \u201cthe land had rest until<\/em> the 80th<\/sup> year from the beginning of the bondage,\u201d which is when the next bondage began.<\/em><\/p>\n

Using this method, it fits neatly inside the 355 year window given us by 1 Kings 6:1<\/span><\/strong> – although there are some places where there is room for discussion and disagreement by a decade or two. But since this isn\u2019t critical for any other period, we won\u2019t spend a lot of time on this, and focus on telling the story.<\/p>\n

THE CAPTORS<\/h3>\n

The Bible mentions six different nations enslaving Israel for their sins at this time; it\u2019s worth looking at them one by one. The first, Mesopotamia, isn\u2019t the one we have spent so much time on (Babel, Ur, Kish, etc.), but rather the land of Haran.<\/p>\n

This word is a translation of the Hebrew Aram-Naharaim<\/em> which is literally \u201cAram of the two rivers.\u201d You\u2019ll remember from the earliest chapters that the land of Aram was in the upper Euphrates valley in modern NE Syria and SE Turkey.<\/p>\n

This was the adopted homeland of Abraham\u2019s cousins, and so these invaders were most likely distant relatives of Israel, Laban\u2019s descendants looking for a piece of the inheritance of Abraham. This may also be one of the earliest references to the Mitanni kingdom, in fact (‑1418).<\/p>\n

We say that because their king, Cushan-rishathaim is unknown to history; since it means \u201ctwice-wicked Cushan,\u201d most people think that the name is an insult, not an actual name. Even so, we can actually connect him strongly to the Mitanni.<\/p>\n

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Habakkuk 3:7-8<\/span><\/strong> I saw the tents of Cushan<\/strong> in affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian<\/strong> did tremble. Was the LORD displeased against the rivers?<\/strong>\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is the only other mention of the name Cushan in the Bible – albeit about 1,000 years later – and it mentions Cushan in the context of the Mitanni, in the context of \u201cthe rivers,\u201d which must be the Euphrates and its tributaries.<\/p>\n

Historians would tell you this referred to the Midianites in Arabia, but as noted before\u2026 Arabia has no rivers<\/strong>. Since the word Midian and Mitanni are very similar in Hebrew, we can only distinguish them by location, and \u201crivers\u201d places them solidly in Aram-Naharaim, which literally means \u201cAram of the rivers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless, God delivered them through the judge Othniel, younger brother of Caleb; we know for a fact he was under 20 after the Exodus (since otherwise, he\u2019d be dead), and that he was born before the end of the 40 years in the wilderness (since otherwise, his parents would have been dead).<\/p>\n

This means that by the end of the captivity to Mesopotamia, Othniel would have been no less than 58 years old, and no more than 116. More likely somewhere in the middle. Regardless, his age puts an upper limit on how high we can stretch the period after Joshua\u2019s death, since the longer it was, the older Othniel would be at this time.<\/p>\n

MOABITES<\/h3>\n

Othniel judged Israel until he died, let\u2019s say around 20 years after the captivity; then Israel started falling away, worshiping idols, and so on; so the new captivity, this time to the Moabites, began the 40th<\/sup> year from the last captivity.<\/p>\n

Remember, this was not a period of kings, or continuous rulers; this was, according to the book of Judges, a time when \u201cevery man did that which was right in his own eyes.\u201d<\/em> It was effectively a libertarian society, subject to judgments between individuals by a line of hereditary priests.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s important to emphasize that Othniel had not been judging<\/em> 40 years, because there had to be some time for him to die, Israel to drift without his leadership, start sinning, annoy God, and then to lose a war, before the 40th<\/sup> year was up.<\/p>\n

Then the Moabites took the Ammonites – their cousins – and the Amalekites, who by this time were well established in Egypt, to help attack Israel (<\/span>Judges 3:12-13<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>. This would have been in ‑1378, lasting 17 years until ‑1361.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s strange is that despite the Amalekite and Ammonite involvement, the captivity was clearly to the Moabites (<\/span>Judges 3:14<\/span>, 28-30<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>, and not the Amalekites. Anyway, Ehud delivered them from this captivity, then he died, Israel sinned, and God sold them into captivity to the Canaanites of the city of Hazor in ‑1298 (<\/span>Judges 4:1-2<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Hazor was to the northern part of Canaan, so it\u2019s odd that he, too, apparently had Amalekite help, since Deborah mentions Amalek in her victory song (<\/span>Judges 5:12-14<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>. It\u2019s worth noting that Deborah was a prophetess around ‑1278. The Bible is often accused of open misogyny, but God had no problem using a woman when she was the best man for the job.<\/p>\n

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Judges 4:4-5<\/span><\/strong> Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, she judged Israel at that time. She lived under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

So she told Barak, apparently a leader among Israel, that God had sent him to deliver them from the Canaanites. His response demonstrated\u2026 shall we say, less than perfect faith in the prophecy:<\/p>\n

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Judges 4:8-9<\/span><\/strong> Barak said to her, \u201cIf you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go<\/strong>.\u201d She said, \u201cI will surely go with you: nevertheless, the journey that you take shall not be for your honour; for Yahweh will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.\u201d Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

So because Barak was afraid to go without Deborah holding his hand, any glory he might have gotten for leading the army would belong to her, instead. He apparently was cool with that. So they went, she commanded him when to attack, they did, they won, the rest is history (<\/span>Judges 4-5<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Likewise in ‑1258, the Midianite captivity specifically mentions having the Amalekites as their allies (<\/span>Judges 6:3<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>. Yet in none of these captivities does the Bible ever record they went into captivity to<\/em> Amalek.<\/p>\n

Why not? If Amalek contributed warriors to each battle, why did they never get a share of the spoils? Easy: they already did because the Amalekites were the Hyksos, and the rest of the Canaanite tribes were vassals of theirs<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It was in everyone\u2019s best interest to keep the Hebrews contained, so the Amalekites continued to harass Israel every chance they got through their proxies in the Palestine region. As mentioned in the last chapter, Manetho confirms exactly this at exactly this time in history:<\/em><\/p>\n

Finally, they appointed as king one of their number whose name was Salitis.\u2026 above all he fortified the district to the east<\/strong>, foreseeing that the Assyrians,\u2060 as they grew stronger, would one day covet and attack his kingdom. (Josephus)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Manetho believed this was the Hyksos defending against the Assyrians, but he was wrong for they had no presence in this part of the world at this time; even historians agree with that fact. In reality, this was the Amalekites defending themselves against Israel, having heard the news of their powerful conquest of the Promised Land under Joshua and fearing they might return to Egypt.<\/p>\n

\u2026This place [Avaris] he rebuilt and fortified with massive walls, planting there a garrison of as many as 240,000 heavy-armed men to guard his frontier. Here he would come in summer-time, partly to serve out rations and pay his troops, partly to train them carefully in manoeuvres and so strike terror into foreign tribes<\/strong>. (Ibid.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is dated – using the rising of Sothis, a calendar which Manetho credits Salitis with starting, and thus a very<\/em> firm date in history – as ‑1321. And it is Manetho\u2019s testimony that from here, the Amalekites \u201cstruck terror into foreign tribes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now the Hyksos already controlled the area up to southern Palestine; from there, they were in easy striking distance of Moab, Ammon, Edom and of course Israel. But the Hyksos had to focus in Egypt, and couldn\u2019t fully divide their forces with occupying the land of Canaan.<\/p>\n

So instead, they contented themselves with extracting loyalty from the Canaanite tribes that were left, and using them to fight proxy wars against the Israelites. Which is why they were involved<\/em> in nearly every captivity, yet never once were the captors.<\/p>\n

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Judges 6:3-6<\/span><\/strong> So it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east;<\/strong> they came up against them; and they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, until you come to Gaza, and left no sustenance in Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor donkey. For they came up with their livestock and their tents; they came in as locusts for multitude; both they and their camels were without number:<\/strong> and they came into the land to destroy it. Israel was brought very low because of Midian; and the children of Israel cried to Yahweh.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is how \u201cstriking terror into foreign tribes\u201d looked from the Israelites\u2019 side. Notice the \u201cas locusts for multitude\u201d agrees well with a 240,000 man strike force of Amalekites alone,<\/em> the ones stationed at Avaris.<\/p>\n

Notice also the \u201cchildren of the east\u201d came with the Midianites. This is an odd phrase, and some interpret it as Ammon and Moab who lived to the east; but the Bible would likely have mentioned them by name, since it already had several times in the book of Judges.<\/p>\n

However,<\/em> there were other \u201cchildren\u201d of the east. Remember, the Bible was written to its audience; to the Hebrews having read the book of Genesis, \u201cchildren of the east\u201d would certainly have brought back memories of Abraham\u2019s offspring being sent \u201ceastward, to the east country.\u201d<\/p>\n

These particular ones could be any of Abraham\u2019s other sons by Keturah, who were sent to the land of the east so as not to infringe on Isaac\u2019s inheritance. These became the Mitanni\/Midianites as well as the Asshurim\/Assyrians, and probably other tribes we know by other names.<\/p>\n

It would be plausible that these people would want to recapture the land they felt Isaac\u2019s descendants took from them, and also would be consistent with the known fact that the Assyrians were pushing westward into the Euphrates area under Tukulti-ninurta I in the first few years of his reign, ‑1261‑1258 or so.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s interesting because the aforementioned captivity to the Midianites with the help of the \u201cchildren of the east,\u201d which may include the Asshurim, lasted from ‑1258‑1251 – thus precisely at the same point in history.<\/p>\n

If that identification of the \u201cchildren of the east\u201d is correct, then this marks the first time the Assyrians appear on the Bible\u2019s radar.<\/p>\n

THE RISE OF MONARCHY<\/h3>\n

To get out of this captivity, after the usual whining to God about what happened, God appeared to Gideon and told him to break down an altar of Baal that belonged to his father and sacrifice certain things in a certain way.<\/p>\n

Upon throwing down his altar, he earned the nickname Jerubbaal, \u201clet Baal contend,\u201d which was effectively daring Baal to do something about it. \u201cBite me, Baal\u201d would be one of the nicer ways we might express this sentiment today (<\/span>Judges 6:32-33<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Gideon had several crises of faith, insisting that God make a fleece wet when nothing else was, then dry when everything else was wet, which God humored; then God kept culling the army until it only had 300 men in it, so that they would know it was His doing, not their own strength (<\/span>Judges 7:1-7<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Long story short, they conquered the Midianites, as well as some Israelite collaborators. Upon returning from the successful campaign, Israel wanted to make him king, to which he responded \u201cI will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you<\/strong>: the LORD shall rule over you\u201d<\/em> (<\/span>Judges 8:23<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

He had seventy legitimate sons, plus at least one by a concubine (<\/span>Judges 8:30-31<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.The laws of inheritance didn\u2019t consider the sons of a concubine equal with those of a wife, which made the son of the concubine, Abimelech, jealous.<\/p>\n

Abimelech then went to his mother\u2019s town and stirred up a bit of a civil war against the sons of Gideon, and managed to wipe out all but the youngest of the 70 (<\/span>Judges 9:1-5<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>, whose name was Jotham. In spite of his father\u2019s words, Abimelech then became the first proper king of Israel, ruling for three years (‑1218), a century before Saul.<\/p>\n

Again making a long story short, Jotham stirred up things against him, and Abimelech died; thereupon, God changed tactics in how He led Israel. Up until this point, the idea had been that each person was independent; there was no king, God was their king.<\/p>\n

They had elders to judge them, more or less like Moses had appointed in the wilderness; on occasion, a hero would rise up like Gideon or Deborah to do the job Moses and Joshua had done, and once their job was done they would sooner or later die and let Israel as a whole figure it out for themselves once more.<\/p>\n

So for most of the first 300 years, \u201cevery man did that which was right in his own eyes\u201d<\/em> (<\/span>Judges 17:6<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong> – which is to say, decided for himself what right and wrong were. There was no hierarchy outside of basic family dynamics.<\/p>\n

But after Abimelech, God began to shift towards a more centralized leadership. And the first step in that was a continuous system of judges from this point on. They were not kings, they were more advisor than dictator, but it was the first continuous executive presence in Israel (<\/span>Judges 10:1<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Israel was clearly wanting a king, as witnessed by their offer to Gideon and their acceptance of Abimelech – whose name literally means \u201cmy father is king.\u201d So God compromised, by providing a central judicial leader.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t seem to have helped very much, as Israel still found themselves in constant hot water with God due to their idolatrous ways. After the death of one judge, Jair, they followed other gods again,<\/em> and were put in captivity again, and again repented\u2026 only this time, God wasn\u2019t buying it.<\/p>\n

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Judges 10:11-14<\/span><\/strong> Yahweh said to the children of Israel, \u201cDidn\u2019t I save you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines? The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, oppressed you; and you cried to me, and I saved you out of their hand. Yet you have forsaken me, and served other gods: therefore I will save you no more. Go and cry to the gods which you have chosen. Let them save you in the time of your distress!\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

God\u2019s patience had run out; yes, it does happen, despite what Christians think (compare also Numbers 14:22-23<\/span>;<\/span> Jeremiah 15:1<\/span><\/strong>; etc.). But Israel really put on a good show of repenting this time, so God forgave them one last time (<\/span>Judges 10:15-16<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>. This was in ‑1170, about 60 years before the anointing of Saul.<\/p>\n

JEPHTHAH\u2019S VOW – THE AVOIDABLE TRAGEDY<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Meanwhile, a man named Gideon (no relation) had a son named Jephthah, who was the son of a prostitute. His brothers resented him and chased him out of the house, so he fled to another place. After the Ammonites invaded, they sent to bring him back to deliver them from the Ammonites because he was known to be a \u201cmighty man of valor\u201d (<\/span>Judges 11:1-11<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

He was testy at first, as is to be expected, but eventually agreed if they promised he would be \u201chead over them\u201d – a position dangerously close to king. Regardless, once he was in charge he sent to the Ammonites to attempt a diplomatic solution.<\/p>\n

The Ammonites claimed Israel occupied what had once been their land; Jephthah disputed this, and used the argument \u201cWhile Israel lived in Heshbon and its towns\u2026 three hundred years; why didn\u2019t you recover them within that time?\u201d<\/p>\n

Now it\u2019s possible that \u201cthree hundred years\u201d was a round number, and not precisely three hundred years. Still, it must be close. Israel lived in Heshbon from when they conquered it three years before the entry to the Promised Land (it was on the other side of the river); which would mean this date should be ‑1170.<\/p>\n

And arranging our judges and captivities as we have done, and allowing 49 years for Joshua\u2019s leadership and the death of the elders who outlived him (which is why we did that), it all fits perfectly that this is 300 years after the conquering of Heshbon.<\/p>\n

Back to the story, diplomacy didn\u2019t work so they warred, and obviously the Ammonites lost. But before leaving for the battle, Jephthah made a foolish vow which many people have used to make God look bad; he said:<\/p>\n

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Judges 11:30-31<\/span><\/strong> Jephthah vowed a vow to Yahweh, and said, \u201cIf you will indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand, then it shall be, that whatever comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me<\/strong>, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be Yahweh\u2019s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

God is known to be very hard-nosed about you keeping your vows, but He is also known to be quite averse to child sacrifice. Remember the Canaanites. This put Jephthah in an awkward spot\u2026 when, upon his return, his only child came out of the door first.<\/p>\n

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Judges 11:35-36<\/span><\/strong> It happened, when he saw her, that he tore his clothes, and said, \u201cAlas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are one of those who trouble me; for I have opened my mouth to Yahweh, and I can\u2019t go back.\u201d<\/strong> She said to him, \u201cMy father, you have opened your mouth to Yahweh; do to me according to that which has proceeded out of your mouth, because Yahweh has taken vengeance for you on your enemies, even on the children of Ammon.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

She begged to be allowed two months to mourn, and \u201cat the end of two months\u2026 she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed\u201d<\/em> (<\/span>verse 39<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>. And again, God\u2019s harsh, unforgiving religion has taken a lot of flak for this; which is entirely unjustified.<\/p>\n

First, God never asked for a vow like that to be made. But secondly, and far more importantly, God had thought ahead to realize there would be times when your vows put you between a rock and hard place so He left you a way out;<\/em> it was called \u201credemption\u201d:<\/em><\/p>\n

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Leviticus 27:2-4<\/span><\/strong> Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, \u2018When a man makes a vow, the persons shall be for Yahweh by your valuation. Your valuation shall be of a male from twenty years old even to sixty years old, even your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary. If it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Leviticus 27:11-13<\/span><\/strong> If it is any unclean animal, of which they do not offer as an offering to Yahweh,<\/strong> then he shall set the animal before the priest; and the priest shall value it, whether it is good or bad. As you the priest values it, so shall it be. But if he will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of it to its valuation.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

So if you foolishly vow that something will belong to the Lord, specifically<\/em> an unclean animal, like a human \u201cwhich they do not offer as an offering to the Lord,\u201d there is a method for redeeming – buying back – that animal or person from the Lord (see also Exodus 13:14-15<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In the case of a human woman, it is specifically<\/em> mentioned that the price is 30 shekels of silver – about six months of minimum wage (and, not coincidentally, the price Jesus was valued at by the Pharisees and Judas; Jesus, who redeemed the metaphorical woman with his death\u2026 think about it).<\/p>\n

So it seems like Jephthah went through with his vow and sacrificed her as stated; but if so, that was his own fault, and the fault of the priests who didn\u2019t know the law of God well enough. It was certainly not a fault of God or His system of laws.<\/p>\n

All Jephthah had to do, under the law, was take her to the priest and buy her back from God for the equivalent of about $10,000, which he most likely could have easily afforded. If nothing else, he could have taken up a collection.<\/p>\n

After this a series of three judges came, of whom nothing noteworthy is said; however, to fit in the chronology they need to be more or less contemporary, as we\u2019re left with 13 years to fill in this period (otherwise we have to take a bit of time away from Joshua, or overlap Saul and the Philistines).<\/p>\n

Fortunately, we know one judge was from Zebulon, one from Ephraim, and one from Judah – fairly well spread out in Israel, which might have been an attempt by God to have more local judges since the consecutive thing also wasn\u2019t working.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t work either, because in Judges 13:1-5<\/span><\/strong>, God sold them to the Philistines, a captivity which would last 40 years. At this point, God promised a son to a certain Manoah who would \u201cbegin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines\u201d<\/em> (<\/span>Judges 13:5<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

You know this son as Samson; and the Bible chooses its words carefully; Samson would only begin<\/em> to lead Israel out of the captivity. He was born after the captivity began, so his lifetime is entirely contained within the 40 year captivity.<\/p>\n

SAMUEL<\/h3>\n

But before we get to Samson\u2019s story, we need to make a brief digression of about 20 years to tell the story of Samuel. Unfortunately, the book of Judges and the book of Samuel, which talk about the same period in history, have no connections between them that allow a secure dating. There is no event that is mentioned in both books, at least, not that anyone has found until now.<\/p>\n

That makes this period very tricky to unravel, and what follows are the facts from both books arranged into a story that makes the most sense of any I can tell. In the end, it doesn\u2019t matter for the bigger chronological picture.<\/p>\n

We know that Saul ruled 40 years (<\/span>Acts 13:21<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>, and the Philistine captivity lasted 40 years before that. We also know that Samuel died shortly before he did, having lived to be 98 years old, so we can infer that Samuel was born about 20 years before the Philistine captivity happened.<\/p>\n

His mother was barren, and prayed for a child – vowing that her firstborn would be given to God. God answered and so as soon as he was weaned, he was given to the temple to be raised there by the high priest Eli (<\/span>1 Samuel 2:11<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Eli was a good priest, but his sons were not. So, for not restraining his sons as, say, Abraham would have done (<\/span>Genesis 18:19<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>, God cursed his house and prophesied the death of his sons (<\/span>1 Samuel 3:11-14<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>. Then time passed, while Samuel grew up – and everyone knew he was going to be a prophet (<\/span>verses 19-20<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

For the sins of the sons of Eli, among other things, God must have sold Israel into slavery to the Philistines at some point before this, since the first time they are mentioned in Samuel the Philistines are at war with Israel, having already considered the Hebrews their servants.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

1 Samuel 4:9<\/span><\/strong> Be strong, and behave like men, O you Philistines, that you not be servants to the Hebrews, as they have been to you<\/strong>. Strengthen yourselves like men, and fight!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Therefore, the 40 year captivity to the Philistines mentioned in Judges 13:1<\/span><\/strong> must have already been underway by 1 Samuel 4:9<\/span><\/strong>. It\u2019s impossible to say for how long, but to make the story make sense I\u2019ve started it 19 years before the loss of the Ark in this verse, for reasons you\u2019ll see in a moment.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Samson was conceived shortly after the captivity began, and thus – if my 19-year-guess is right – Samson was 18 at this point when the Ark was lost. About this time, Samson wanted a particular Philistine wife, which was frowned upon by his parents, but he was stubborn and so they made it happen.<\/p>\n

His marriage didn\u2019t go well, and after his wife betrayed him to her relatives to get them out of a lost bet, he got mad and stomped off and killed some Philistines. Her father took this as a breakup, so he gave her to someone else.<\/p>\n

At some point later Samson calmed down, and came back and found her remarried; her father said \u201cWell, you left her\u201d and Samson said \u201cwe were on a break!\u201d Once again Samson stomped off and burned a bunch of Philistine crops and grain fields.<\/p>\n

When the other Philistines heard what happened and found out who did this and why, they then killed his (ex?) wife and her whole family. Samson responded by killing more Philistines. When your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.<\/p>\n

They of course put up whatever passed for \u201cwanted\u201d posters for him, so his own people tried to capture him to deliver him to the Philistines. So guess what Samson did? Killed more Philistines – a thousand this time, with a donkey\u2019s jawbone for a weapon.<\/p>\n

Then he found a prostitute in Gaza, a Philistine city; the Philistines knew he was there and set a trap for him. He evaded it, and in an act of pure caprice, woke up in the middle of the night and stole the gates and the posts of the city – which must have weighed a ton, literally – and carried them up on top of a hill and left them there.<\/p>\n

After that, people got the message: leave Samson alone. The Bible then says \u201cHe judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years\u201d<\/em> (<\/span>Judges 15:20<\/span>)<\/span>.<\/span> So we\u2019ll leave him doing that and go back to Samuel\u2019s story<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

About the time all of this was happening with Samson, the Ark was lost to the Philistines in the battle I mentioned above – where Eli\u2019s corrupt priest sons died as well. When the news reached the temple, Eli fainted, fell backwards, and died.<\/p>\n

THE PHILISTINES AND THE ARK<\/h3>\n

Meanwhile, the Philistines discovered that the Ark wasn\u2019t such a blessing if God didn\u2019t like you. They also discovered God has a sense of humor – even if they didn\u2019t think it was funny.<\/p>\n

\n

1 Samuel 5:2-5<\/span><\/strong> The Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. When they of Ashdod arose early on the next day, behold, Dagon was fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh<\/strong>. They took Dagon, and set him in his place again. When they arose early on the next day morning, behold, Dagon was fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh;<\/strong> and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold. Only Dagon\u2019s torso was intact.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But that was the least of their problems; everywhere the Ark went, plague followed; the Philistines were overrun by mice and afflicted with tumors and boils – in fact, there is a fair argument that this is the first recorded incidence of the Bubonic plague – better known as the Black Plague.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth noting that, contrary to what most Christians think, God wasn\u2019t mad at being held by the Philistines. Nor was He mad about His Ark being in the temple of Dagan. This was literally the most holy place in the Philistine land, and having the Ark of God placed next to the chief deity of the land was the highest honor they could bestow, and God accepted it as the best they knew how to do.<\/p>\n

No, reading the story closely, you\u2019ll see that the only bad thing that happened at first was that Dagan was placed in a bowing position before the Ark of God. God was restrained; no boils, no earthquakes, no mutilation of Dagan\u2019s idol\u2026 at first.<\/p>\n

God simply placed Dagan in the genuflected position that the angel whom Dagan represented would have taken in the presence of his Master (<\/span>Romans 14:11<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

No, the problems came only after the Philistines didn\u2019t read the signs, and didn\u2019t realize that their god Dagan bowing down to the God of the Hebrews meant that the Hebrew God was greater.<\/em> They put their own god back in his position of honor defying the true God; and THAT\u2019S when God smote them with plagues.<\/em><\/p>\n

Anyway, after 7 months of suffering they consulted their priests, and they decided to send the Ark back to Israel loaded with offerings. They put it on a cart yoked to oxen without a driver and the oxen drove straight to Israel, and parked themselves in a field in Bethshemesh.<\/p>\n

The Israelites, having learned nothing, decided to peek inside the Ark, so they melted like Nazis (<\/span>1 Samuel 6:19<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>. After this, they were afraid to do anything with it, and asked the men of Kirjath-jearim to take it away – which they did, and it stayed there for 20 years (<\/span>verses 20-21<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

THE END OF THE CAPTIVITY<\/h3>\n

The very next story in 1 Samuel<\/strong> begins with Samuel saying \u201clet\u2019s go get the Ark, bring it up, and God will deliver you from the Philistine captivity\u201d (<\/span>1 Samuel 7:1<\/span>)<\/span>.<\/span> Why now, after 20 years?<\/strong> Generally, grand calls to action in a society like this happen as a response to some major event.<\/p>\n

Remember, it was after 20 years<\/strong>. And that happens to be exactly the same amount of time as the book of Judges says that Samson<\/em> judged Israel, during the same Philistine occupation of Israel<\/strong>. Is that a coincidence, do you think? Therefore this is our link between the two narratives – the judgeship of Samson<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

When Samson died the Philistines were still in control of Israel, meaning he must have died at less than 39 years old; and since he was a captive for at least a year, to allow his hair to regrow, he most have been taken captive at 38.<\/p>\n

Which means his first exploits must have begun, and his twenty years judging must have been reckoned from, his 18th<\/sup> year – which is why we picked that date earlier. All of this tells us that the reason Samuel, after 20 years, finally said \u201clet\u2019s go get the Ark\u201d\u2026 is that it was only now officially HIS problem – the previous judge, Samson,<\/em> having just died!<\/p>\n

Samson seems to have made no particular effort to chase out the Philistines in his 20 years of judging, God having plainly said that Samson would begin<\/em> to free the people from captivity, but pointedly not saying he would actually free them.<\/em><\/p>\n

Anyway, I\u2019m sure you know the rest of Samson\u2019s story; he loved Delilah, and she kept nagging him to tell her how he was so strong, because she was a Philistine spy and for 20 years, no one had been able to kill him.<\/p>\n

He, knowing this, kept telling her fake reasons for his strength, and she of course would tell the Philistines, who would try to capture him – and fail epically. She did this no less than three times. We tend to read this as a brief relationship, which it might have been, but there is no particular reason they couldn\u2019t have been together for a decade.<\/p>\n

Regardless, at some point he finally relented and told her the real reason – that he had never had a haircut or eaten anything made from grapes. Whereupon she of course did what she always did – told the Philistines. He was the strongest man to ever live, not the smartest – it\u2019s important to note that distinction.<\/p>\n

So he was captured, blinded, and yoked to a millstone to grind the grain. But then his hair began to grow again. And at some after that – long enough for hair to grow, but not so long the Philistines had tired of making fun of him – they had a party with 3,000 Philistines, who called him up to mock him.<\/p>\n

He prayed for strength one last time, and pushed down the pillars that held the house up, and one last time did what Samson loved best – killed Philistines. His dying act killed 3,000 high ranking Philistines, thus weakening them significantly.<\/p>\n

And his death would certainly have galvanized the population against the Philistines (nothing unites people like a martyr), whereupon Samuel gathered up the people and said now was the time to bring the Ark to free themselves.<\/p>\n

\n

1 Samuel 7:3<\/span><\/strong> Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, \u201cIf you do return to Yahweh with all your heart\u2026 and serve him only; and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Ark must have also been brought back to the Tabernacle at this time, although it is not mentioned specifically. Then there were a few battles, some miraculous events, and then it says\u2026<\/p>\n

\n

1 Samuel 7:13-15<\/span><\/strong> So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more within the border of Israel<\/strong>. The hand of Yahweh was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. The cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel\u2026 Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is the end of the 40 years of captivity that began in Judges 13:1<\/span><\/strong>, but not the end of the Philistine power which would continue to be an annoyance even into the times of David. Indeed, it says of Saul \u201cThere was severe war against the Philistines all the days of Saul\u201d<\/em> (<\/span>1 Samuel 14:52<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

But they \u201ccame no more within the border of Israel.\u201d This is, incidentally, the first mention of Samuel as a judge;<\/em> before this he had been called a prophet, but there is no mention of Samuel in any context after the loss of the Ark and the death of Eli; 20 years of silence.<\/p>\n

Evidently, Samuel was in the shadow of first Eli and then Samson for the first 60 or so years of his life. Only from this point was he henceforth a judge \u201call the days of his life.\u201d And yet even here, Samuel was not to lead Israel alone – for following this, apparently immediately, the people demanded a king.<\/p>\n

KING SAUL<\/h3>\n

Like Eli, Samuel\u2019s sons were not good people, and the Israelites used that as an excuse to request a king; but you have seen that they had been wanting a king for a century by this point; which is why God said this was not a rejection of Samuel, but of God as their king (<\/span>1 Samuel 8:4-7<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

So God told Samuel to warn them about all the bad things about having a king – conscription, taxes, imminent domain, and so on – and the people said \u201cTaxes? That doesn\u2019t sound so bad!\u201d (<\/span>1 Samuel 8:9-20<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>. Stupid people<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

God picked Saul, Samuel anointed him as king; interestingly, as noted a long time ago, the first king of Israel who changed the system of government to monarchy was Saul, son of Kish; just as the first king in Sumer was Etana, son of Cush, and built the city of Kish (just a different spelling of the same name). Probably a coincidence. Whatever.<\/p>\n

Saul was a Benjamite, which was the smallest tribe in Israel due to the events in the early part of the judges period as recorded in Judges 19-21<\/span><\/strong>. His family was also not noble, and so he struggled to believe he could be king (<\/span>1 Samuel 9:21<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>. This modest attitude didn\u2019t last once he had a taste of power, unfortunately (<\/span>1 Samuel 15:17<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Early on in his reign he won a decisive victory against an Ammonite invasion, then in his second year he attacked the Philistine garrisons stationed outside the borders of Israel, declaring war; which he won, although by offering his own sacrifices, which was only for priests to do, he got in hot water with God (<\/span>1 Samuel 13:7-14<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>. The next 30 years or so were summed up as follows\u2026<\/p>\n

\n

1 Samuel 14:47-48<\/span><\/strong> Now when Saul had taken the kingdom over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines: and wherever he turned himself, he defeated them. He did valiantly, and struck the Amalekites<\/strong>, and delivered Israel out of the hands of those who despoiled them.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Noted how Saul attacked everyone else and left the Amalekites for last; because of all of these, they were the most powerful and the farthest away, ruling from Egypt. Remember, every time during the judges period that they were invaded, the Amalekites helped the Moabites or whomever.<\/p>\n

But by the time of Samuel, Samson, and the Philistine captivity (‑1151‑1111) the Amalekites were not mentioned any more. Because by this point they were too busy dealing with uprisings from their Egyptian vassals in Thebes to help their allies in Canaan.<\/p>\n

As you know already, they would eventually lose that war and be forced to retreat from Avaris around \u20111082, the 29th<\/sup> year of Saul; although it could be earlier, if the Hyksos were expelled before the 18th<\/sup> year of Ahmose.<\/p>\n

The Egyptians pursued them to Sharuhen, and after a three year siege defeated them again. Then the Theban 18th<\/sup> dynasty retreated to deal with problems from Nubia and Libya, and at this point – probably around the 32nd<\/sup> year of Saul \u2013 God decided it was time to finish off the Amalekites once and for all, fulfilling a curse given four centuries earlier in the time of Joshua.<\/p>\n

Saul was sent to kill everyone and everything in the \u201ccity of the Amalekites.\u201d This is, presumably, Sharuhen, which Ahmose I had just conquered not that long before – which is probably why Samuel doesn\u2019t mention a siege or attack of the city at all:<\/p>\n

\n

1 Samuel 15:5-9<\/span><\/strong> Saul came to the city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley. Saul said to the Kenites, \u201cGo, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt.\u201d So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. Saul struck the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, that is before Egypt<\/strong>. He took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Note that he went to the city,<\/em> but then struck them from Havilah all the way to Shur, at the border of Egypt. This indicates that they were fleeing – and not holed up in their city for a siege. If this is indeed Sharuhen, there would be no fortifications left after Ahmose conquered it – so fleeing was the only option.<\/p>\n

They were stopped at the border of Egypt, where there was certainly a large garrison of native Egyptian troops, and caught between hammer and anvil, the Amalekites ceased to be a power forever. But Saul saved Apepi III:<\/p>\n

\n

1 Samuel 15:9<\/span><\/strong> But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the cattle, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and wouldn\u2019t utterly destroy them: but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

God was very angry at this, and said He regretted making Saul king and that the kingdom would be taken from him and given to someone else. Whereupon, shortly thereafter, Samuel found and anointed David as king.<\/p>\n

THE RISE OF DAVID<\/h3>\n

Saul continued to rule for about a decade after David\u2019s anointing – no specific chronological information is given, but it must be somewhere in that range – while David was first his armor bearer and then his commander in chief, then a guerrilla force hiding in the mountains, then an exile in – of all places – the Philistine country.<\/p>\n

But before all that happened, after he became his part-time armor bearer and harpist, David killed Goliath the Philistine which caused him to be catapulted to fame and be appointed general of the army (<\/span>1 Samuel 18:5<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>. His fame however made Saul jealous, and he secretly wanted to kill David.<\/p>\n

But David was very close to Saul\u2019s son Jonathan, and Saul gave David his own daughter Michal as a wife – partly because he thought the dowry he asked (100 foreskins of Philistines) would get him killed. It didn\u2019t – in fact, David brought 200 (<\/span>1 Samuel 18:20-27<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>. Show off.<\/p>\n

From that point Saul openly tried to kill David on many occasions, being saved either by Jonathan or Michal, or a miracle where anyone who tried to capture David for Saul – including Saul himself – started prophesying instead of killing him.<\/p>\n

Anyway, Saul went back and forth between friendly and murdery, and finally David fled for good; he stopped on the way to get help from the high priest, who fed him and gave him the sword he had used to kill Goliath.<\/p>\n

Then David went to Gath, the hometown of Goliath so as you can imagine, that was awkward. He then fled to a cave and gathered 400 debtors and malcontents under Saul\u2019s rule, who became the core of his army.<\/p>\n

Then he went to the king of the Moabites, received asylum for his parents – he didn\u2019t trust their safety under Saul\u2019s rule – then returned to Judah (<\/span>1 Samuel 22:1-5<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>. Saul meanwhile found out that the high priest had helped David, and killed 85 priests and most of the Levites in the town of Nob – women and children, too. But one priest, Abiathar, escaped and joined up with David.<\/p>\n

PHILISTINE PHORAY<\/h3>\n

Meanwhile, the Philistines thought Hebrew civil war was a good time to start invading, so with God\u2019s blessing David counterattacked and liberated the area from the Philistines (<\/span>1 Samuel 23:1-6<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>. Then he spent considerable time hiding in the mountains, always being one step ahead of Saul. And somewhere in the middle of all this, Samuel died (<\/span>1 Samuel 25:1<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

David had already passed up two good chances to kill Saul, figuring that if God had anointed him, God could kill him. Finally, realizing there could never be peace between them no matter what Saul said, he fled once more to the Philistines who had, apparently, decided to let bygones be bygones (<\/span>1 Samuel 27:1-7<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In fact, the Philistines, in an ironic twist of fate, decided to appoint David as a general in their armies (<\/span>verses 8-12<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>. He was poised to join them in the attack against Saul, when the other Philistines realized he might be tempted to betray him and sent him back home (<\/span>1 Samuel 29<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Returning home to Ziglag, he discovered the Amalekites – those whom Saul had apparently let slip through his fingers – had attacked it and taken the wives and children of David and his army hostage and burnt the city.<\/p>\n

David pursued them and found a man who had been left behind, and upon interrogating him he said \u201cI am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days ago I fell sick\u201d<\/em> (<\/span>1 Samuel 30:13<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

This is the first direct mention of Egypt after over 400 years (‑1071) and we find here one of the last surviving Amalekites, still having one of the Egyptian slaves he had gathered in the glory days of his people, when they ruled Egypt less than 20 years earlier.<\/p>\n

David caught up with the Amalekites, who were having quite a party, and David killed all but 400 of them who escaped. Meanwhile, the battle between the Philistines and the Israelites under Saul was going badly for Saul, and he was killed, along with Jonathan and two other of Saul\u2019s sons.<\/p>\n

Thinking David would reward the person who killed Saul, an Amalekite took Saul\u2019s crown and bracelet to David, telling him that Saul and Jonathan were dead – and worse, taking credit for assisting his suicide.<\/p>\n

David promptly killed him (<\/span>2 Samuel 1:1-16<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>, and this is the last mention of a Amalekite until the time of Hezekiah (around ‑700), where some Simeonites \u201cstruck the remnant of the Amalekites who escaped, and have lived there to this day\u201d<\/em> (<\/span>1 Chronicles 4:42-43<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

These would be the descendants of the 400 who escaped David. And thus ends the tale of the Hyksos. God vowed to wipe them out and make them forgotten by history – and if you doubt His power to do that, ask historians if they ever existed<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

KING DAVID<\/h3>\n

David returned to Hebron, and the locals hailed him as king after the death of Saul. But only the tribe of Judah, his own tribe, followed him; the rest of Israel rallied behind a son of Saul who escaped, Ishbosheth (<\/span>2 Samuel 2:8-10<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Long story short, for several years there was war between their houses. There was drama, some backstabbing (literally and figuratively) and in the end, someone assassinated Ishbosheth, effectively ending the war.<\/p>\n

Finally Israel all came together to declare David king (<\/span>2 Samuel 5:1-5<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>, and he would reign for 40 years in total – 7 in Hebron, 33 in Jerusalem. Jerusalem, at that time, was still inhabited by the Canaanites which had never been fully driven out of the land (<\/span>Joshua 15:63<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It was conquered in the early judges period (<\/span>Judges 1:8<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>, but by this point had apparently completely reverted to being a Canaanite city. Now Jerusalem is one of the most defensible cities in the world. Even the Romans, at the height of their power, struggled to conquer it.<\/p>\n

\n

Lamentations 4:12<\/span><\/strong> The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Which explains the confidence of the inhabitants in the face of David (<\/span>2 Samuel 5:6-7<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.The idea seems to have been that Jerusalem was so easy to defend, that even blind and lame people could defend it. Well, David conquered it anyway and established it as his capital.<\/p>\n

The Philistines, his forever frenemies, decided to come up and lay siege to him in Jerusalem (<\/span>2 Samuel 5:17-25<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>. Thanks to some help from God, he defeated them decisively, then settled down in Jerusalem in peace.<\/p>\n

There he had children and began to build a house for himself, for which Hiram of Tyre sent goods and craftsmen. Josephus said that the temple of Solomon was begun in Hiram\u2019s 12th<\/sup> year, which was Solomons\u2019 4th<\/sup> year; meaning that Hiram overlapped with David\u2019s reign by 8 years or so. This is useful for dating the kings of Tyre, as we will do in time.<\/p>\n

About this time, David sent to bring the Ark up; apparently all this time it was still in Kirjath-Jearim. Unfortunately, he didn\u2019t follow the right procedure as described in the books of the Moses, and someone died trying to prevent it from falling – the Ark was meant to be carried by hand, never on a cart (<\/span>1 Chronicles 15:2<\/span>, 12-15<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

After that, David was afraid to move it, and left it where it was for a while. Interestingly, the Ark had apparently been separated from the Tabernacle which had remained at Shiloh; David built the Ark a new tent in Jerusalem to which he eventually moved the Ark (<\/span>1 Chronicles 16:1<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Then David wanted to build God a proper temple, not a tabernacle, and the prophet Nathan came and said, in effect, \u201cyour heart is in the right place, but you\u2019ve killed too many people\u201d (<\/span>2 Samuel 8:1-16<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>. So thanks, but no thanks.<\/p>\n

However God promised that his son would build the temple, and that his children would be kings forever. Even though David was not allowed to build the temple himself, he gathered spoil from the nations he conquered, to give Solomon a head start on the materials needed.<\/p>\n

He proceeded to secure and expand the borders of Israel (<\/span>2 Samuel 8:1-15<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong> making the nations around him tributaries as far as the Euphrates River (<\/span>verse 3<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>, as God had promised Abraham (<\/span>Genesis 15:18<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>. This would have placed his borders up against the Hittites to the NW and the Mitanni to the NE. At this point, there would be no interactions with Assyria, which by now was firmly under Mitanni domination.<\/p>\n

DAVID\u2019S MISDEEDS<\/h3>\n

Then there were various wars and such, and then the whole Bathsheba-gate scandal – which I\u2019m sure you remember – and to make matters worse, he had Uriah the Hittite indirectly killed to cover it up. Note the presence of a Hittite, in the middle of the supposed \u201cHittite dark age,\u201d which of course didn\u2019t exist.<\/p>\n

Then God sent Nathan the prophet to him with a rebuke, and told him that because of this sin, \u201cthe sword shall never depart from your house\u201d<\/em> (<\/span>2 Samuel 12:10<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>. As a result, David had a great deal of family trouble; many of his sons were killed by another son, Absalom, who then started a civil war against his father who had to flee Jerusalem, whereupon Absalom declared himself king.<\/p>\n

After a while, Absalom died in battle and David returned to Jerusalem, but then faced ongoing problems with his long-time general Joab, who tended to do things behind David\u2019s back to help his boss out in ways he knew he wouldn\u2019t approve of.<\/p>\n

Then David conducted a census, which made God very angry (<\/span>2 Samuel 24<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>; like with the moving of the Ark, it seems the problem wasn\u2019t the census per se but how it was done; because whenever you conduct a census, God had commanded a tax to be paid to the temple which David apparently didn\u2019t do (<\/span>Exodus 30:12-14<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

This caused a plague, which (after the loss of 70,000 people) David averted by making an offering on a certain threshing-floor which he purchased and which, later, would be used as the foundation for the temple of Solomon.<\/p>\n

Then when David was old, another son of his named Adonijah decided to declare himself king even though the king had intended to make Solomon his heir. So Bathsheba, Solomon\u2019s mother, got David to anoint Solomon king and managed to thwart the succession crisis (<\/span>1 Kings 1<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

There was the usual housecleaning upon a new reign, which began in ‑1031; Solomon purged those seen as loyal to his brother, including the high priest who had supported his brother\u2019s bid for king, which fulfilled the curse God had made to Eli to remove his seed from the priesthood (<\/span>1 Kings 2:27<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The events in chapter 2 are said to have taken 3 years (<\/span>1 Kings 2:39<\/span>)<\/span><\/strong>, and in ‑1029 Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh and took his daughter for a wife.<\/p>\n

And we know who she is.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No age is given for Joshua at the entry to the Promised Land, but since he was a fellow spy, it stands to reason he was of similar age as Caleb; he was definitely over 20 at the time of spying, since…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5805,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[23,30],"class_list":["post-5671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-coolest","tag-history","tag-people"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5671"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5804,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5671\/revisions\/5804"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}