The Period Of The Shophtim
(11 75-1 040 B .C.)
In the Scriptures after the Book of Yahshua Ben Nun comes the Book of Shophtim. It is an account, in anecdotal form, of the Yisraelite 'resistance' to the Canaanite ascendancy. The very existence of the People of YAHWEH was at stake. The situation was extremely serious.
Yisrael's Inner Strength
The spiritual traditions of these former nomads now began to take shape in epic accounts, the improvised compositions of the survivors of the adventure on Sinai. Mosheh' shepherds, in stories which very rapidly assumed a fixed, stereotyped form, told their grandchildren the amazing history of the People of YAHWEH, protected by YAHWEH and led across the plains by Mosheh, YAHWEH's prophet. But all that was of the past. Life had changed from what it had been during the exciting period in the wilderness when the spiritual ideal took shape, matured and grew daily clearer through the direct, incessant action of Mosheh, the man who talked with YAHWEH 'face to face'. Yet it should not be concluded too rapidly that shortly after Yahshua Ben Nun's time Yahwism was on the wane. The memory of the Covenant concluded between YAHWEH and his people remained vivid, at least in some quarters.
It did so, in the first place, among the kohens of Shiloh, a high place situated to the south of Shechem. There, in safety, lay the Ark of the Covenant, the protection of the Twelve Tribes. A body of kohens was in charge of this set apart chest in which were kept the stone tablets of the Law.
Among devout families, too, the traditions of Yahwism were carefully preserved. And also among the Levites who had become the custodians of the places of pilgrimage. They were to be found scattered about in various centres where their office was liturgical in nature. Although their orthodoxy was not always free from criticism they remained nevertheless servants of the altar and the archivists of the Law of Mosheh and of the great spiritual events of their people.
There Were Also The 'Sons Of The Prophets' Or Nabis.
They were a kind of spiritual confraternity whose members were bound by temporary or permanent vows according to individual cases. They wore their hair long, abstained from all fermented liquor and regarded themselves as consecrated to the service of YAHWEH. They formed centres of faith in which YAHWEH was venerated as the only saviour of his people.
To conclude this list of the little islands of Yisraelite resistance the 'Shophtim' must also be mentioned, those national heroes and envoys whose personal action was to transform the whole period of history to which very rightly their name has been given.
1 There should also be mentioned the nabis who were consecrated to YAHWEH.
The Shophtim: Definition Of The Term
The Shophtim: shophetim; in the singular, shophet. The term can be compared with Suffete which, at Tyre and Carthage (centres of Canaanite-Phoenician origin) designated the political heads of the city who were elected for a term. But the Scriptural 'Judge' must not be thought of as a magistrate responsible for passing sentence or giving judgment, for that office among most of the settled Semites devolved on the council of elders, who usually sat in the public square near the principal gate of the city.
The 'Judge' in the Scriptures was he who makes the law (of YAHWEH) triumph. He was a 'judge-saviour' chosen by YAHWEH to effect a 'deliverance'. In France Joan of Arc, for example, is comparable to these 'inspired' men of the Old Covenant; they were simple folk who, usually, received their mission very unexpectedly; men who, 'being seized by the spirit of YAHWEH', communicated their enthusiasm to their own circle, galvanizing their fellows into action, encouraged the hesitant to fight and led their people to victory.
The Judge was therefore a military leader with authority for only a limited period; during the time when he was in power he was responsible for imposing by force the rights of the People of YAHWEH on the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land.
The Shophtim: The Historical Picture Of The Period
To a historian, who must endeavor to see beyond the anecdotal character of the Book of Shophtim, it appears as a slow, clumsy, almost chaotic progress leading eventually to the establishment of kingship.
At first we find a few Yisraelite groups of the north and centre of Palestine who became allies in order to ward off a common danger. A military leader was therefore chosen to lead into battle the troops of a few of the Yisraelite tribes. But directly after the campaign the leader in question had to return to the ranks, or, more properly speaking, to take up again his agricultural pursuits with his fields and cattle. In these conditions Yisrael could not achieve much else besides very mediocre and temporary successes.
Yet after several bitter experiences Yisrael finally began to understand how necessary it was to have a single military command at the head of the Twelve Tribes. The complete, definitive victory of the sons of Yacob could only be achieved at this price, and the better minds among them were beginning to realize this.
The Shophtim: The Theological Context
During the long and arduous period of the settlement in Canaan (twelfth century and a good part of the eleventh) the Chosen People might well expect, almost it would seem by definition, to be greatly helped by YAHWEH, its Sovereign and its Protector. On the contrary, we find Yisrael plunged into great difficulties, a fact which caused some astonishment to the faithful among the Yisraelites. The Devarimist theologians of the seventh century undertook the task of furnishing the necessary explanations.
If, from time to time, they tell us in substance, the Hebrew tribes were cut in pieces, vanquished or made vassals by the enemy it was only justice; Yisrael had strayed from the Mosaic Law and suffered the just punishment for its sins. YAHWEH abandoned his people to their merely human strength and they immediately failed. But let Yisrael once repent of the evil that it had done, let it 'call on YAHWEH' and he would forgive and raise up a 'judge', a military leader who was YAHWEH's envoy, whose responsibility it would be to rally the people and save them from the danger which threatened them.
Of course, some years after each recovery Yisrael fell once more into the same sins and the process began again. That is the theme of the Book of Shophtim. This theological explanation was set out by Fr Lagrange in the form of a sequence with four stages: Sin -Punishment -Repentance -Forgiveness.
1. Sin.
Yisrael transgressed the Law of Mosheh (by worship of the Baals, taking part in the orgiastic cults of the idolators, marriage with the Canaanites).
2. Punishment.
YAHWEH turns away from his people; Yisrael's enemies at once take advantage of the withdrawal of divine protection to reduce one or other of the Yisraelite tribes to slavery. 2
3. Repentance.
Under the blows of misfortune falling so heavily upon them the Yisraelites, realizing their transgressions, 'call on YAHWEH' and implore his mercy.
4. Forgiveness.
YAHWEH, touched by these sincere marks of repentance sends, for this or that group of tribes which are especially threatened, a judge who will lead them to victory.
That is the pattern of each judgeship. Yet this theological plan, despite its utility for the reader of the Scriptures, does not help us much at the historical level which we must now examine.
2 At this period, it should be remembered, the Yisraelites still retained the primitive, not to say naive, idea of earthly retribution for Good or Evil. The righteous man was rewarded here below; the wicked man was punished during his life. YAHWEH's justice was manifested at a purely human and strictly earthly level. It was only in the third century B.C. and especially in the second century, that belief grew in rewards and punishments after death.
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