* The word judges, which has been adopted to designate these rulers, is somewhat misleading, as it suggests the idea of an organized civil magistracy. The word shophet, the same that we meet with in classical times under the form _suffetes_, had indeed that sense, but its primary meaning denotes a man invested with an absolute authority, regular or otherwise; it would be better translated _chief, prince, captain_.
These judges were not magistrates invested with official powers and approved by the whole nation, or rulers of a highly organised republic, chosen directly by God or by those inspired by Him. They were merely local chiefs, heroes to their own immediate tribe, well known in their particular surroundings, but often despised by those only at a short distance from them. Some of them have left only a name behind them, such as Shamgar, Ibzan, Tola, Elon, and Abdon; indeed, some scholars have thrown doubts on the personality of a few of them, as, for instance, Jair, whom they affirm to have personified a Gileadite clan, and Othnîel, who is said to represent one of the Kenite families associated with the children of Israel.* Others, again, have come down to us through an atmosphere of popular tradition, the elements of which modern criticism has tried in vain to analyse. Of such unsettled and turbulent times we cannot expect an uninterrupted history:** some salient episodes alone remain, spread over a period of nearly two centuries, and from these we can gather some idea of the progress made by the Israelites, and observe their stages of transition from a cluster of semi-barbarous hordes to a settled nation ripe for monarchy.
* The name Tola occurs as that of one of the clans of Issachar (Gen. xlvi. 13; Numb. xxvi. 23); Elon was one of the clans of Zebulon (Gen. xlvi. 14; Numb. xxvi. 26)
** Renan, however, believes that the judges formed an almost continuous line, and that there merely lacks a descent from father to son to make of them an actual dynasty. The chronology of the _Book of Judges_ appears to cover more than four centuries, from Othnîel to Samson, but this computation cannot be relied on, as forty years represents an indefinite space of time. We must probably limit this early period of Hebrew history to about a century and a half, from cir. 1200 to 1050 B.C.