Close Reading: book of Judges

1

• Close Reading book of Judges
• Jephthah ch. 111-11, 30-40

2
Jephthah

• son of a prostitute
• was a mighty warrior
• Gilead was his father. He was married and had
  sons.
• Jephthah brothers drove him away.

3
_at_ War

• the Israelites are _at_ war with the Ammonites
• The elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah back
  to be their commander

4
Jephthahs Vow

• If he defeats the Ammonites , he will give to God
  whoever comes out of the doors of his house to
  welcome him will be offered to God as a burnt
  offering.
• the person who receives Jephthah is his
  daughter (his only child)
• She was offered as a sacrifice

5
Samson Bible ReadingsSamson- Ch. 131-5
(birth), 14 (lion), 15 (foxes) 16 (Delilah )
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Samson (chapters 13-16)

• He is the most colorful character in the book of
  Judges, and his story has inspired artistic
  renderings
• He is marked as a hero from the beginning by his
  birth to a barren mother
• announced by an angel of the Lord.
• Not to drink wine or strong drink
• Not to eat anything unclean
• No razor is to come on his head
• Nazirite
• One separated or one consecrated
• Similar stories are told of Samuel, the last of
  the judges, and of John the Baptist in the NT

7

• He killed a lion barehanded
• Slaughtered thirty Philistines
• Set three hundred foxes afire, and
• Killed a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of
  a donkey.

8

• According to Judges 14, the Philistines had
  dominion over Israel in the time of Samson.
• A major feature of Samsons character is his
  involvement with Philistine women.
• His downfall comes from his inability to resist
  the charms of a Philistine woman, Delilah.
• He is vulnerable to the weaker sex.

9
in love with Delilah

• He falls in love with Delilah
• Told her his secret- his consecration to God and
  the secret of his strength- his hair

10
His death

• Samson prayed to the Lord to give him back his
  strength
• He rested his weight on the temple and the
  temple collapsed.
• He died with the Philistines