The judges of Israel and how each one's record ends
Fourteen judges rule Israel between the conquest and the crown: twelve in the book of Judges, from Othniel to Samson, then Eli and Samuel, whose judgeships stand in 1 Samuel. The book defines the office in one sentence: “Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them” (Judges 2:16 ). Graded by their own records, four judges finish clean, four end in recorded failure, and six pass in a verse or two with nothing on record beyond years and sons. Abimelech’s three years in Shechem stand outside the count: the text calls them a reign, and no deliverance is recorded under him (Judges 9:22 ).
The fourteen judges
| # | Judge | Hebrew | Meaning | Years | Text | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Othniel | 注指转职谞执讬讗值诇 | uncertain | Rest: 40 years | Jdg 3:9-11 | good |
| 2 | Ehud | 讗值讛讜旨讚 | uncertain | Rest: 80 years | Jdg 3:15-30 | good |
| 3 | Shamgar | 砖址讈诪职讙址旨专 | no Hebrew derivation | none stated | Jdg 3:31 | mediocre |
| 4 | Deborah | 讚职旨讘讜止专指讛 | bee | Rest: 40 years | Jdg 4-5 | good |
| 5 | Gideon | 讙执旨讚职注讜止谉 | hewer | Quiet: 40 years | Jdg 6-8 | bad |
| 6 | Tola | 转旨讜止诇指注 | worm | 23 years | Jdg 10:1-2 | mediocre |
| 7 | Jair | 讬指讗执讬专 | he gives light | 22 years | Jdg 10:3-5 | mediocre |
| 8 | Jephthah | 讬执驻职转指旨讞 | he opens | 6 years | Jdg 11-12:7 | bad |
| 9 | Ibzan | 讗执讘职爪指谉 | uncertain | 7 years | Jdg 12:8-10 | mediocre |
| 10 | Elon | 讗值讬诇讜止谉 | oak | 10 years | Jdg 12:11-12 | mediocre |
| 11 | Abdon | 注址讘职讚旨讜止谉 | servant | 8 years | Jdg 12:13-15 | mediocre |
| 12 | Samson | 砖执讈诪职砖讈讜止谉 | sun | 20 years | Jdg 13-16 | bad |
| 13 | Eli | 注值诇执讬 | contested | 40 years | 1 Sam 1-4 | bad |
| 14 | Samuel | 砖职讈诪讜旨讗值诇 | heard by God | all his life | 1 Sam 7 | good |
The years column states what the text states: for the deliverers it is the rest the land received, for the administrators the years judged. No figure is given for Shamgar, and Samuel’s length of office is never numbered.
The judges
Othniel
Othniel (注指转职谞执讬讗值诇 , Otni’el) has no settled derivation; “God is might” and “lion of God” are both proposed.
Gematria: ayin(70) + tav(400) + nun(50) + yod(10) + aleph(1) + lamed(30) = 561.
He enters the record before the judgeships, taking Kirjath-sepher and winning Caleb’s daughter (Joshua 15:17 ). Raised against Chushan-rishathaim of Mesopotamia, “the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war” (Judges 3:10 ), and the land rests forty years. No failure is recorded.
Verdict: good.
Ehud
Ehud (讗值讛讜旨讚 ) has no settled derivation.
Gematria: aleph(1) + he(5) + vav(6) + dalet(4) = 16.
A left-handed man out of Benjamin, the tribe whose name is “son of the right hand” (Genesis 35:18 ). Raised against Eglon of Moab (Judges 3:15), he kills Eglon at the tribute delivery and Moab is subdued: “and the land had rest fourscore years” (Judges 3:30 ). No failure is recorded.
Verdict: good.
Shamgar
Shamgar (砖址讈诪职讙址旨专 ) has no Hebrew derivation.
Gematria: shin(300) + mem(40) + gimel(3) + resh(200) = 543.
His whole record is one verse: “And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel” (Judges 3:31). Deborah’s song places “the days of Shamgar” just before her own (Judges 5:6 ). One act, no administration, no years.
Verdict: mediocre.
Deborah
Deborah (讚职旨讘讜止专指讛 , Devorah) is the bee; the plural stands in “chased you, as bees do” (Deuteronomy 1:44 ).
Gematria: dalet(4) + vav(6) + resh(200) + he(5) = 215.
“She judged Israel at that time” (Judges 4:4), and Barak will not march without her: “If thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go” (Judges 4:8 ). She answers that the honor of the campaign passes to a woman: “for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman” (Judges 4:9). The land rests forty years (Judges 5:31). No failure of hers is recorded.
Verdict: good.
Gideon
Gideon (讙执旨讚职注讜止谉 , Gid’on) is from gada (讙指旨讚址注 , “to hew down”), the verb Deuteronomy 7:5 gives for cutting down the groves. His first act is the hewing of his father’s Baal cult by night (Judges 6:25-27), and for it he is renamed Jerubbaal (讬职专只讘址旨注址诇 ): “Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar” (Judges 6:32 ).
Gematria: gimel(3) + dalet(4) + ayin(70) + vav(6) + nun(50) = 133; Jerubbaal, yod(10) + resh(200) + bet(2) + ayin(70) + lamed(30) = 312.
He refuses the crown: “I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you” (Judges 8:23 ). Then he makes an ephod of the Midianite spoil, “and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house” (Judges 8:27 ).
Verdict: bad.
Tola
Tola (转旨讜止诇指注 ) is the worm; the plural stands in “it bred worms” (Exodus 16:20 ).
Gematria: tav(400) + vav(6) + lamed(30) + ayin(70) = 506.
“After Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tola the son of Puah” (Judges 10:1); he judges twenty-three years and dies, and nothing else is recorded (Judges 10:2).
Verdict: mediocre.
Jair
Jair (讬指讗执讬专 , Ya’ir) is “he gives light,” from or (讗讜止专 , “light”).
Gematria: yod(10) + aleph(1) + yod(10) + resh(200) = 221.
His record is sons and cities: “thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities” (Judges 10:4), then twenty-two years, then the grave. The thirty cities carry the name of the earlier Jair who took them (Numbers 32:41 ).
Verdict: mediocre.
Jephthah
Jephthah (讬执驻职转指旨讞 , Yiftach) is “he opens,” from patach (驻指旨转址讞 , “to open”).
Gematria: yod(10) + pe(80) + tav(400) + chet(8) = 498.
A Gileadite, “the son of an harlot,” driven out by his brothers and recalled for the Ammonite war (Judges 11:1-7). He wins, and the record turns on the vow: “whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me… shall surely be the LORD’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering” (Judges 11:30-31 ). His daughter meets him, and at the end of two months “she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed” (Judges 11:39). He judges six years (Judges 12:7).
Verdict: bad.
Ibzan
Ibzan (讗执讘职爪指谉 ) has no settled derivation.
Gematria: aleph(1) + bet(2) + tsade(90) + nun(50) = 143.
Of Bethlehem; thirty sons, thirty daughters sent abroad and thirty taken in, seven years (Judges 12:8-9). Nothing else is recorded.
Verdict: mediocre.
Elon
Elon (讗值讬诇讜止谉 ) is the oak or terebinth; the KJV renders the word “plain” in the place-name Elon-moreh (Genesis 12:6 ).
Gematria: aleph(1) + yod(10) + lamed(30) + vav(6) + nun(50) = 97.
A Zebulonite; ten years, and the record moves on (Judges 12:11-12).
Verdict: mediocre.
Abdon
Abdon (注址讘职讚旨讜止谉 , Avdon) is from eved (注侄讘侄讚 , “servant”).
Gematria: ayin(70) + bet(2) + dalet(4) + vav(6) + nun(50) = 132.
“He had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on threescore and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years” (Judges 12:14). Nothing else is recorded.
Verdict: mediocre.
Samson
Samson (砖执讈诪职砖讈讜止谉 , Shimshon) is from shemesh (砖侄讈诪侄砖讈 , “sun”).
Gematria: shin(300) + mem(40) + shin(300) + vav(6) + nun(50) = 696.
He is announced with a limit on the deliverance: “he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines” (Judges 13:5 ), and the record keeps to the limit. The Nazarite from the womb, who is to “come at no dead body” (Numbers 6:6 ), takes honey out of the lion’s carcass (Judges 14:9); the man of the seven locks tells Delilah the secret, and they are shaved off as he sleeps on her knees (Judges 16:17-19). He dies pulling the house down on the lords of the Philistines: “the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life” (Judges 16:30 ). He judges twenty years (Judges 15:20; 16:31).
Verdict: bad.
Eli
Eli (注值诇执讬 ) is contested: popularly read “my God,” the form matches alah (注指诇指讛 , “to ascend”), “high, exalted.”
Gematria: ayin(70) + lamed(30) + yod(10) = 110.
The priest at Shiloh (1 Samuel 1:3) judges Israel forty years (1 Samuel 4:18). The failure is recorded to his face, “honourest thy sons above me” (1 Samuel 2:29 ), and then behind his back: “his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not” (1 Samuel 3:13 ). He dies at the news of the ark’s capture, fallen backward off the seat by the gate (1 Samuel 4:18).
Verdict: bad.
Samuel
Samuel (砖职讈诪讜旨讗值诇 , Shemu’el) gets its etymology from the text: “Because I have asked him of the LORD” (1 Samuel 1:20 ), from sha’al (砖指讈讗址诇 , “to ask”); the common parsing is “heard by God,” shama (砖指讈诪址注 , “to hear”) plus El (讗值诇 , “God”).
Gematria: shin(300) + mem(40) + vav(6) + aleph(1) + lamed(30) = 377.
He judges Israel “all the days of his life” (1 Samuel 7:15), on a yearly circuit of Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpeh, home at Ramah with an altar (1 Samuel 7:16-17). His sons “turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment” (1 Samuel 8:3 ); the record puts that on the sons and records no failure against Samuel himself.
Verdict: good.
The tally
Four records close clean: Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Samuel. Four end in recorded failure: Gideon’s ephod, Jephthah’s vow, Samson’s life, Eli’s sons. Six pass with nothing beyond years and sons: Shamgar, Tola, Jair, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon. The book states the cycle once for all fourteen: “when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers” (Judges 2:19 ), and it closes on its own diagnosis: “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25 ). Hebrews names five of the era for their faith, “Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel” (Hebrews 11:32 ); of the four judges among them, three carry the failed records. Paul brackets the era at “about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet” (Acts 13:20 ). Israel’s answer to the diagnosis is to ask Samuel for a king (1 Samuel 8:5), and the era hands over to the kings of Israel and Judah.