“History is written by the victors.” Whoever first said that was aware that history is never written in a vacuum, it is written from a perspective, and that perspective is determined by the situation and circumstances. That means that two people on different sides of the conflict would write different accounts of the same events. That does not mean either one of them would be lying, it would simply mean that their perceptions would be influenced by their position.

Judges contains many different types of writing that were common from 1500 BC to 1000 BC. It contains summaries of conquests, a victory hymn, prayers, prophecies, political speeches, a fable, scouting reports, geographical information, and many other types of stories. All these different types of writings are found in contemporary literature. However Judges is the first to combine all these many different styles and content into a collection with a central historical purpose. First we must realize that the historical purpose was not the history of the people, nation or region. The historical purpose was to record the manner in which the relationship between God and humanity was lived out in the events surrounding the life and activities of the Israelites.

While some of the information included in Judges is also attested to by extra-biblical sources, most of the individuals and events have no contemporary verification. All this results in the book of Judges being incomplete and frustrating as a source of human history. However as a source of theological history, it is full of truth and revelation. If we insist upon reading it the same way we would read a secular history book, we are wasting our time. However, if we read it, looking for truth about the way God worked in the history of Israel, and in the lives of the people he chose to use, we can learn much.

In Judges, the who, where, and when of human action is not near as important as is the why, how, and what of God’s interaction in that human history.