For seven years it is said that war raged between the Davidic coalition in the south and the Saulide coalition in the north.
In the mid-eleventh century events were leading toward a decisive battle between Israel and the Philistines for supremacy in the Land of Canaan.
David’s home was Bethlehem, the key town in the true heartland of the tribe of Judah. His prowess as a warrior and as a musician enabled him to rise rapidly in the ranks of the young kingdom (1 Sam 18:13).
After the initial Israelite penetration into the Land of Canaan, the next pericope deals with the Gibeonite ruse and the resultant battle with the ruler of Jerusalem and his allies.
The description of the tribal territories in Joshua 13–19 comprised some detailed border descriptions and lists of towns for the respective tribes. The town lists are assumed by most scholars to date to a period of centralized administration during the monarchy.
In the tribe of Benjamin, a hero named Ehud son of Gera delivered his people from Transjordanian aggression (Judg 3:12–30).
According to some scholars, the reference to Jabin in the narrative of Deborah’s victory is a later addition and that the original leader of the Canaanite coalition in Judges 4 and 5 was Sisera. However, Sisera is never called a king, nor does he have a specific city of his own.
The Book of Judges was intended to give due credit to the various tribal heroes of the pre-monarchial age. On the other hand, the book stressed the shortcomings of even the most renowned of the judges, or deliverers.
The reign of Abimelech, the son of Gideon, which lasted for three years, represents a peculiar episode in the period of the Judges – an attempt to pass leadership on through inheritance, to establish a kingship.
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