World English Bible · The judges
Judges 11
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Now the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor. He was the son of a . became of . wife bore him sons. When his wife's sons grew up, they drove out and said to him, "You will not in house, for you are the son of another woman." Then fled from his brothers and lived in the land of . Outlaws joined up with , and they went out with him. After a while, made war against Israel. When made war against Israel, the of went to get out of the land of . 6They said to , "Come and be our chief, that we may fight with ." said to the of , "Didn't you hate me, and drive me out of house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?" The of said to , "Therefore we have turned again to you now, that you may go with us and fight with . You will be our head over all the inhabitants of ." said to the of , "If you bring me home again to fight with , and delivers them before me, will I be your head?" The of said to , " will be between us. Surely we will do what you say." Then went with the of , and the people made him head and chief over them. spoke all his words before in . sent to the king of , saying, "What do you have to do with me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?" The king of answered the of , "Because Israel took away my land when he came up out of , from the even to the , and to . Now therefore restore that territory again peaceably." sent again to the king of ; and he said to him, " says: Israel didn't take away the land of , nor the land of ; but when they came up from , and Israel went through to , and came to , then Israel sent to the king of , saying, 'Please let me pass through your land;' but the king of didn't listen. In the same way, he sent to the king of , but he refused; so Israel stayed in . Then they went through , and went around the land of , and the land of , and came by the east side of the land of , and they encamped on the other side of the ; but they didn't come within the border of , for the was the border of . Israel sent to king of the , the king of ; and Israel said to him, 'Please let us pass through your land to my place.' But didn't Israel to pass through his border; but gathered all his people together, and encamped in , and fought against Israel. 21, the of Israel, and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they struck them. So Israel all the land of the , the inhabitants of that country. They all the border of the , from the even to the , and from even to . 23So now , the of Israel, has dispossessed the from before his people Israel, and should you possess them? Won't you possess that which your gives you to possess? So whoever our has dispossessed from before us, them will we possess. Now are you anything better than the son of , king of ? Did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them? Israel lived in and its towns, and in and its towns, and in all the cities that are along the side of the for three hundred years! Why didn't you recover them within that time? Therefore I have not against you, but you do me wrong to war against me. May the Judge be judge today between the and ." However, the king of didn't listen to the words of which he sent him. Then came on , and he passed over and , and passed over of , and from of he passed over to . a to , and said, "If you will indeed into my hand, then it shall be, that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from , it shall be , and I will offer it up for a burnt offering." So passed over to to fight against them; and them into his hand. He struck them from until you come to , even twenty cities, and to Abelcheramim, with a very great slaughter. So were subdued before the . came to to his house; and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter. When he saw her, he tore his clothes, and said, "Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are one of those who trouble me; for I have opened my to , and I can't go back." She said to him, ", you have opened your to ; do to me according to that which has proceeded out of your , because has taken for you on your , even on ." Then she said to her , "Let this thing be done for me. Leave me alone two months, that I may depart and go down on the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my companions." 38He said, "Go." He sent her away for two months; and she departed, she and her companions, and mourned her virginity on the mountains. At the end of two months, she returned to her , who did with her according to his which he had . She was a virgin. It became a custom in Israel 40that the daughters of Israel went yearly to celebrate the daughter of the Gileadite four days in a year.
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The world at this moment · The judges, 1200 BC to 1050 BC ›
No central government and no standing army. The great empires are weak, which is precisely why Israel's troubles come from close neighbors: Moab, Ammon, Midian, and the newly arrived Philistines on the coast.
- Egypt
- Broken into competing power centres and no longer able to project force into Canaan. Its withdrawal is the single biggest reason this period has no imperial overlord.
- Mesopotamia
- Assyria exists but is dormant, hemmed in and looking east. The century that would have crushed a stateless Israel simply has not arrived yet.
- The coast
- The Philistines settle their five cities after arriving from the Aegean world, bringing Mycenaean-style pottery, a taste for pork, and an early advantage in ironworking. Further north the Phoenician ports of Tyre and Sidon start the trading expansion that will eventually give the alphabet to Greece.
- Further afield
- Greece has entered its dark age: the palaces are gone, Linear B is forgotten, and writing disappears from the Aegean for three centuries. In China the Zhou dynasty replaces the Shang in 1046 BC and issues the doctrine that heaven withdraws its mandate from unjust kings, an idea with an interesting resemblance to the book of Judges.