Judges wrap up

What have we learned from our reading of the book of Judges?

Yahweh is all about war. His spirit manifests itself in different people, called judges, in different ways, sometimes in their hair. It is very helpful for killing enemies. In spite of that, sometimes people need to cast lots or consult priests to figure out what Yahweh wants them to do. They still offer him food, even though he can't eat.  Physical death is still the standard punishment for infractions of his will. Spiritual death is unheard of. Rewards and punishments in an afterlife are absent. There is no mention of Heaven or Hell.

There is no Satan, no demons, Devils, or unclean spirits. One angel with an unspeakable name appears in the form of a man to Samson's parents. There is no mention of a personal savior or messaiah.

Strangely, in spite of injunctions against personal altars in the previous books, Judges has many examples of people constructing and using sacrificial altars in places other than Shiloh. One person even has a personal priest and idols that represent Yahweh. Nothing bad happens to him, except that his priest and idols were stolen. Very little is mentioned about the actual religious practices of Israel until the last few chapters, and they feel like add ons. Someone appears to have tried to temper the weirdness of the stories with the phrase "These things happened before there was a king in Israel, when everyone did what was right in their own eyes."

The author(s) of the book is unknown. He does not claim the book of Judges is the infallible word of Yahweh or that it was inspired by the Holy Spirit. It was clearly written and/or edited after the establishment of a monarchy. The last few chapters were confusing stories that had to have taken place before the rest of the book, or not at all. The writing was sloppy and disjointed and required careful rereading for me to figure out the supposed sequence of events. I can understand why some bible scholars think different authors meshed different versions of the same stories into one tale. Very few of the events can be historically verified, if any. Many place names can, but many can not.

The amount of gratuitous bloodshed, if true, was horrendous. Thousands died in wars, thousands more innocent women and children were needlessly slaughtered. Women, excluding Deborah and Jael, were portrayed as the mere  property of men, for the purpose of carrying on the family line. They could be sacrificed, given away, used, abused, and stolen. What they wanted did not matter.

Do you ever wonder what happened to all the bodies from the wars? They would be a terrible health hazard.  Were they just left on the battlefields? We are never told.  Remember the laws given by Moses, um Yahweh, about dead bodies? The people were considered unclean if they touched one and had to go through ceremonial cleansings. Did that apply to soldiers that had fought and killed?

Edited.