Biblical Hebrew Blog by ClassicalHebrew.com

The Era of the Judges (roughly 12^th-11^th centuries B.C.E.)

When practicing bible study, we learn that Following Joshua’s death, the Israelites were faced with many enemies surrounding them, from within the land of Canaan as well as the surrounding people. There was no one leader who could unify the people and the Book of Judges tell us of political, moral and religious deterioration at this time.

Confronting the various enemies, different figures took the role of leaders upon themselves as a result of the desperate state inflicted on the people, bringing peace and quiet for limited periods of time. They were called judges, a word denoting not only legal judges but also leaders. These judges were members of different tribes of Israel, ruling sequentially, according to the Book of Judges, although many scholars assume their rule was at parallel times and contained to their own tribes or regions. They were first and foremost military figures, such as Gideon, who beat the Midianites with military cleverness, and Samson, whose incredible personal strength defeated the philistines on many occasions.

At the conclusion of this era, the Israelites were involved in interior conflicts that led to inner-wars and bloodshed, due to the lack of leadership, as the book of Judges tells us (Judges 17:6): “In those days, there was no king in Israel. Every man did what was right in his eyes.” These were resolved by uniting Israel under the rule of King Saul, followed by King David.

Technorati Tags: Book of Judges,biblical history,Israelites,Midianites,Gideon,King Saul,King David

Hebron (also known as Kiryat Arba or Mamreh) is a city of a rich biblical history going back to the era of the Patriarchs. When Abraham arrived in Canaan, one of the places in which he settled was the Hebron area, which he sanctified by building an altar to YHWH: “And Abraham moved his tent and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre which is in Hebrom and there he built an altar to YHWH” (Genesis 13:18).. Hebron is also where Abraham buried his wife, Sarah, in the cave of Machpela. Both in Jewish and in Muslim tradition Hebron is considered “the city of Abraham,” and both in Hebrew and in Arabic its name is derived from the word “friend,” because Abraham is considered to be the friend of God.

When the Israelites returned from Egypt, Hebron was conquered by Caleb the son of Jephunneh, one of the spies sent to Canaan by Moses and the only one other than Joshua who lived to enter the land. Hebron was conquered from the giants who had formerly inhabited the city, and became a central part of Judean territory.

Hebron was especially important at the beginning of David’s reign, when, for seven years, it served as his capital before Jerusalem: “In Hebron he [David] reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all of Israel and Judah thirty three years” (2 Samuel 5:5). Hebron continued to be a central part of Jewish history throughout the First Temple Period, and it is the place of Absalom’s revolt against David, a city fortified by king Rehoboam, and apparently an important cultural and administrative center throughout this period. The city was conquered again by Judah the Maccabi during the Second Temple Period.

The most substantial archeological finding from biblical Hebron are the handles of jars dedicated to king Hezekiah bearing the name of the city, thus showing that it was under Judean rule and that the inhabitants gave taxes and gifts to the king in Jerusalem.

Hebron

Technorati Tags: The City of Hebron,Kiriyat Arba,Era of the Patriarchs,Abraham,Sarah,City of Abraham,King David,First Temple,Israelites,Book of samuel