Answer
The book of Judges takes place between the death of Joshua and the period leading up to the last judge, Samuel, prior to the rise of monarchy in Israel (Joshua 24:29–33; 1 Samuel 1:19–28). During this time, various judges—who exercised leadership in several areas of society including legal and military matters—safeguarded and governed the nation. It was a dark time in the history of God’s chosen people as the writer of Judges conveys with the refrain, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25, ESV). There is evidence in Judges that the writer—who was likely Samuel—composed the book shortly after the events it narrates occurred, between 1045 and 1000 BC.
The author of Judges isn’t explicitly stated in the book, but clues found in the following Old Testament book, 1 Samuel, suggest that Samuel likely wrote it. Samuel’s connection to Judges is significant, as he served in the position of judge himself: “Samuel continued as Israel’s leader all the days of his life. From year to year, he went on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all those places” (1 Samuel 7:15–16) Identifying the most probable author of Judges helps narrow down the timeframe of the book’s composition, as does understanding Samuel’s life and ministry in relation to the events described in Judges.
Samuel was born around 1120 BC. Given that the composition of Judges was between 1045 and 1000 BC, Samuel would have been around 75 when he started to write the book, reflecting on earlier events. This timeline aligns with common descriptions found in the book, which are written in the past tense. For example, events are described as happening “in those days” (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25) and as having ramifications “to this day” (Judges 1:21; also see 6:24; 10:4; and 15:19). Such wording suggests the narrative was composed after the events it records.
Those who doubt Samuel’s authorship of Judges commonly cite two reasons for their skepticism. First, they argue that determining the date of the book’s composition is nearly impossible because it’s anonymous and there are insufficient chronological markers within the text. Second, they suggest that Judges was likely written hundreds of years after the events it describes. However, if there is insufficient evidence regarding authorship and the date of composition within the text as they claim, then it’s mere conjecture to argue that the text’s silence on the matter implies it was written at a later date.
Even though the period of the Judges included many dark days for Israel, there were faithful men and women whom God used to protect and advance His purposes (Hebrews 11:32). Israel’s many mistakes in this era, and their few successes, were recorded so that future generations of Israelites, as well as followers of Jesus Christ, could learn from them. As the apostle Paul writes, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4; cf. 1 Corinthians 10:6).
