CHIASMS IN JUDGES

This post accompanies Gospel Doctrine lesson 19, The Reign of the Judges. Please see my article, Chiasms in Judges.

Here's a table showing the number of years in each section of the narrative. If you add up the years in the table below, they total MORE than the number of years between the death of Joshua and Saul becoming King of Israel (470 versus 334 years). Some of the periods must overlap. Notice how many of these periods are factors or multiples of forty. Why? These periods may be somewhat artificial. For an interesting discussion of the number 40 in the Bible, see Meaning of Numbers in the Bible.

8		Oppression – Cushan-rishathaim		Judges 3:8
40		Othniel		Judges 3:11
18		Oppression – Eglon, king of Moab		Judges 3:14
80		Ehud		Judges 3:30
20		Oppression – Jabin, king of Hazor		Judges 4:3
40		Deborah – Barak (Righteous)		Judges 5:31
7		Oppression – The Midianites		Judges 6:1
40		Gideon (Righteous)		Judges 8:28
3		Abimelech's rule		Judges 9:22
23		Tola		Judges 10:2
22		Jair		Judges 10:3
18		Oppression – The Ammonites.		Judges 10:8
6		Jephthah		Judges 12:7
7		Ibzan		Judges 12:9
10		Elon		Judges 12:11
8		Abdon		Judges 12:14
40		Oppression – The Philistines		Judges 13:1
20		Samson		Judges 15:20; 16:31
40		Eli – Priest in Shiloh		1 Samuel 4:18
20		Samuel – The Ark in Kirjath-jearim		1 Samuel 7:2

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