The Judges Over Israel
“And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge…” (Judges 2:18, KJV)
1. Othniel
Dates: c. 1374–1334 BC | Scripture Reference: Judges 3:7–11
The first judge of Israel, Othniel was the nephew and son-in-law of Caleb. When the children of Israel forgot the Lord and served Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, for eight years, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Othniel. He judged Israel, went out to war, and the Lord delivered the enemy into his hand, bringing forty years of rest to the land.
2. Ehud
Dates: c. 1325–1245 BC | Scripture Reference: Judges 3:15–30
A left-handed man of the tribe of Benjamin, Ehud was sent to deliver a tribute to Eglon, the king of Moab, who had oppressed Israel for eighteen years. Ehud fashioned a double-edged dagger, gained a private audience with the king under the guise of presenting a secret message from God, and dispatched the tyrant, subsequently leading Israel to military victory over Moab.
3. Shamgar
Dates: c. 1245–1240 BC | Scripture Reference: Judges 3:31 (and Judges 5:6)
Son of Anath, Shamgar delivered Israel during a time of great highway robbery and agricultural disruption by slaying six hundred Philistines using only an ox goad. His brief yet striking account stands as a testament to how God uses ordinary, available instruments to secure deliverance for His people.
4. Deborah & Barak
Dates: c. 1240–1200 BC | Scripture Reference: Judges 4–5
Deborah, a prophetess and the wife of Lapidoth, judged Israel beneath her palm tree in the hill country of Ephraim. Summoning Barak of Naphtali, she directed him to mobilize ten thousand men against the Canaanite commander Sisera. Bolstered by divine intervention at the River Kishon and the famous tactical resolve of Jael, Israel broke the twenty-year oppression of Jabin, king of Canaan.
5. Gideon
Dates: c. 1191–1151 BC | Scripture Reference: Judges 6–8
Threshing wheat in a winepress out of fear of the Midianites, Gideon was called by the Angel of the Lord as a mighty man of valor. He tore down his father’s altar to Baal and, through divine pruning, reduced his army to a mere three hundred men. Armed only with trumpets, pitchers, and lamps, they threw the vast Midianite host into absolute panic and delivered Israel.
6. Abimelech
Dates: c. 1151–1149 BC | Scripture Reference: Judges 9
Son of Gideon by a concubine in Shechem, Abimelech was a self-appointed usurper who ruthlessly murdered seventy of his brothers upon a single stone to secure the throne. His brief, bloodstained reign over Shechem ended in divine retribution when a woman dropped a millstone upon his head during the siege of Thebez.
7. Tola
Dates: c. 1148–1126 BC | Scripture Reference: Judges 10:1–2
A man of Issachar of the lineage of Dodo, Tola arose to save Israel after the tumultuous days of Abimelech. He dwelt in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim, judging the nation quietly and faithfully for twenty-three years before passing away and being buried in Shamir.
8. Jair
Dates: c. 1125–1104 BC | Scripture Reference: Judges 10:3–5
A Gileadite who judged Israel for twenty-two years, Jair was blessed with remarkable temporal prosperity. He possessed thirty sons who rode upon thirty donkey colts and controlled thirty distinct towns in the land of Gilead, which came to be known as Havoth-jair.
9. Jephthah
Dates: c. 1103–1097 BC | Scripture Reference: Judges 10:6–12:7
Driven out by his half-brothers as the son of a harlot, Jephthah became a mighty man of valor in the land of Tob. When the Ammonites threatened Gilead, the elders pleaded with him to return and lead their armies. After attempting diplomatic negotiations with the Ammonite king, he secured a decisive victory, though it was overshadowed by a tragic vow made to the Lord.
10. Ibzan
Dates: c. 1096–1090 BC | Scripture Reference: Judges 12:8–10
Of Bethlehem, Ibzan judged Israel for seven years. His administration was characterized by domestic diplomacy and extensive family alliances, as he had thirty sons and thirty daughters, whom he sent abroad to marry outside his clan and brought thirty daughters from abroad for his sons.
11. Elon
Dates: c. 1089–1080 BC | Scripture Reference: Judges 12:11–12
A Zebulunite who judged Israel for ten years during a quiet era of relative peace. Upon his death, he was buried in Ajalon within the territory of the tribe of Zebulun, leaving behind little recorded conflict during his specific tenure.
12. Abdon
Dates: c. 1079–1072 BC | Scripture Reference: Judges 12:13–15
The son of Hillel the Pirathonite, Abdon judged Israel for eight years. He is remembered in the sacred text for his large and prosperous household, which included forty sons and thirty nephews who rode upon seventy donkey colts.
13. Samson
Dates: c. 1075–1055 BC | Scripture Reference: Judges 13–16
A Nazarite from birth set apart to begin delivering Israel from the Philistines, Samson was endowed with supernatural physical strength tied to his unbroken vow. Though plagued by personal flaws and compromised impulses, God used his immense feats of strength—and his ultimate self-sacrificial death bringing down the Dagon temple—to strike a devastating blow against Israel’s oppressors.
14. Eli
Dates: c. 1107–1067 BC | Scripture Reference: 1 Samuel 1–4
Serving simultaneously as the high priest and a judge over Israel for forty years at Shiloh, Eli raised the young Samuel. Though personally pious, his failure to severely discipline his wicked sons, Hophni and Phinehas, brought divine judgment upon his house, culminating in the capture of the Ark of the Covenant and his own death.
15. Samuel
Dates: c. 1067–1012 BC | Scripture Reference: 1 Samuel 1–25
The final and perhaps most influential judge of Israel, Samuel was the prophetic bridge between the era of the judges and the institution of the monarchy. Anointed by God from childhood, he judged Israel faithfully all the days of his life, turning the hearts of the people back to Mizpeh, anointing both Saul and David, and interceding unceasingly for the nation.