Job and the Land Of Uz (1)

The book of Job is said to contain more questions than any other book of the Bible.  The struggle and patient endurance (Ja.5:11 & Jb.7:16 LXX) of the man Job argues the question of justice.  After reading through the book, we see it is the pride of man which questions an act of God in judging that man.  We are to trust God’s wisdom, regardless of our circumstances (cf. Ec.7:12-14, Jb.28:12-28, 42:1-2).

However, the purpose of this topic isn’t to discuss the lesson or message of the book of Job.  My intention is to locate the ancient land of Uz, and place the patriarch Job in the Bible timeline.

Jb.1:1 “There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless, upright, fearing God, and abstaining from evil.”  Job was a righteous man (Ezk.14:20), an ancient gentile/non-Jew Godfearer.  (see “Ten Commandments in Genesis & Job”.)  The Lord questioned the adversary in Jb.1:8, “Have you considered My servant Job? There is none like him.”  Job was God’s servant.  The book of Job shows that Job practiced the Golden Rule.  Jesus said in Mt.7:12, “However you want people to treat you, so treat them.”  Job cared for others (ref Jb.31:16-23).

{Sidelight: Jb.1-2 is one of the adversary’s three main appearances in the Bible canon.  The other two are Ge.3 and Mt.4/Lk.4.  He’s in Zec.3:1-2 (to a lesser extent), and in many New Testament references.}

There isn’t consensus among Bible historians as to who wrote/compiled the book of Job.  Rabbinic tradition ascribes the book of Job to Moses (though the writing style is said to be dissimilar).

Chuck Swindoll: Job “The author of the book of Job is unknown. Several suggestions have been put forth as plausible authors: Job himself, who could have best recalled his own words; Elihú, the fourth friend who spoke toward the end of the story; various biblical writers and leaders; or many editors who compiled the material over the years. It was most likely an eyewitness who recorded the detailed and lengthy conversations found in the book. In Old Testament times, authors sometimes referred to themselves in the 3^rd person, so Job’s authorship is a strong possibility….Though we cannot be certain, Job may have lived during the time of Jacob or shortly thereafter.”  The time of the patriarchs.

The Aramaic Peshítta is the Bible of the church in the East.  Stephen Vicchio Job in the Ancient World, p.202 “The Peshitta’s Job is to be found immediately after the Toráh and before the historical works; between Deuteronomy and Joshua.”  p.215 “This position in the canon must have seemed appropriate as a 6^th book about early patriarchs.”  That places Job sometime prior to Joshua’s conquest of Canáan.

Elon Gilad Who Really Wrote the Book of Job? “The language in Job is unlike any other found in the Bible, or outside it. True, the book is written in Hebrew, but it is very strange Hebrew indeed. It has more unique words than any other book of the Hebrew Bible. The language is archaic, which would indicate that it was very ancient.”  Bible scholars are unsure as to who completed the book of Job.

The Reese Chronological Bible, p.19, puts Job’s birth during “The Age of the Patriarchs, ca 1967 BC”.

Job lived in the “land of Uz”, and was “the greatest of the men of the East” (Jb.1:1-3).  Evidently Uz was located E of the ancient land of Canaan/Palestine.  Uz is called Ausítis in Jb.1:1 LXX/Septúagint.

There are places today which traditionally claim to be the city or region of Job.  Many Bible readers think the land of Uz where Job lived was located SE of Canaan, in Edom or Arabia.  Edom, Arabia and Midian were the land areas E of the Gulf of Áqaba and the Sinai Peninsula.  Midian was E of the Gulf of Aqaba, in the NW of the Arabian desert.  Edom lay N of Midian, and across the Sinai Peninsula E of Egypt.  (Moab was N of Edom, Ammon was N/NE of Moab.)  However, Edom and Midian weren’t part of Mesopotámia (located E of Canaan).  Rather, both Edom and Midian lay south of the land of Canaan.

Jb.1:3 Job was the greatest of the “men [Strongs h1121, or sons] of the East [h6924]”.  What land areas were in the East, where “men of the East” lived?  The expression “men of the East” occurs 10 other times in the Old Testament: Ge.29:1, Jdg.6:3, 33, 7:12, 8:10, 1Ki.4:30, Is.11:14, Je.49:28, Ezk.25:4, 10.

Ge.29:1 Jacob went to the land of the “men of the East”, to Labán the Araméan/Syrian (Ge.28:5).  Nu.23:7 Balák king of Moab brought Balaám “from Arám [Mesopotamia LXX], from the mountains of the East”.  Is.9:12 “Arameans [h758] from the east, Philistines from the west.”  Arameans or Syrians were “men of the East”.  Jdg.6:3 men of the East.  Cambridge Bible Jdg.6:3 “Bedouins from the desert E of Moab and Ammon.”  Ezk.25:4 the Lord would allow men of the East to settle on Ammonite land.  Ellicott Commentary Ezk.25:4 “The various nomadic tribes inhabiting the eastern deserts.”  The desert lay E of Ammon.  This desert of Syria/N Arabia was inhabited by “men of the East”.

In the Old Testament (OT), “men of the East” refers to Arameans/Syrians; also to nomads or Bedouins of the north Arabian & Syrian desert (east of Moab and Ammon); and to Chaldéans.

Pulpit Commentary Jb.1:3 “Men of the east’ seems to include the entire population between Palestine and the Euphrates”.  Fairbairn’s Bible Dictionary “The East [Jb.1:3] denotes not only the countries which lay directly E of Palestine, but those which stretched also toward the N and E – Armenia, Assyria, Babylonia, Parthia, as well as the territories of Moab, Ammon, and Arabia Déserta.”

“Men of the East” didn’t refer to peoples to the South, such as Edomites, Midianites, Amalekites.  Barnes Notes Is.11:14 “Edom – Idúmea; the country settled by the descendants of Esau, that was south of Judea.”  Ge.36:8 “Esau lived in the hill country of Seir; Esau is Edom.”

Since Job was the greatest of the “men of the East”…the land of Uz/Ausitis was in the East.  Uz wasn’t in Edom (inhabited by descendants of Esau and Seir the Horite); Uz wasn’t in Midian (where Moses dwelt when he fled Egypt).  Descendants of Esau, and the Midianites, mostly lived to the south of Canaan.

In the OT, the word Uz (h5780, Hebrew) appears 6 or 8 times, depending on the Bible version.  Uz is a man’s name in Ge.10:23, 22:21, 36:28, 1Ch.1:17, 42.  Uz is a land in Jb.1:1.  Uz as a land also appears in the Masoretic text Je.25:20 and Lam.4:21; but Uz isn’t in the LXX Je.25:20/32:20 or Lam.4:21.  We understand that Jeremiah wrote ca 1,000 years after the time of the patriarchs; peoples migrate and boundaries change over the centuries.

In Ge.10:23 & 1Ch.1:17, the man Uz, the son of Aram, was a grandson of Shem (and a great-grandson of Noah).  Ge.22:21 another man Uz was the firstborn son of Abraham’s brother Nahór.  In Ge.36:28 & 1Ch.1:42, yet another Uz is a grandson of Seir the Horite.  However, in the LXX Ge.36:28 & 1Ch.1:42, the name of Seir’s grandson is Os/Hos (not Uz).  Whereas in the LXX Ge.10:23 & Ge.22:21, the name is Uz.  So the name is questionable in Ge.36:28 & 1Ch.1:42…Uz, or Hos?

Ge.22:20-23 “Milcáh has born children to your [Abraham’s] brother Nahor, Uz [h5780] his firstborn and Buz [h938] his brother, and Kemuél the father of Aram…and Bethuél.”  This Uz was Abraham’s nephew.  Térah, Abram, and Nahor (later?) moved from Ur to Harrán (Ge.11:31) in NW Mesopotamia.  Terah died.  Nahor stayed in Harran.  (God had told Abram to go on to Canaan, Ge.12:1-5.)  The city of Nahor (Ge.24:10) was in Padán-Arám in upper Mesopotamia (h763 Aram-naharáim).

{{Sidelight: Aram and Arphaxád were two of Shem’s sons after the Flood (Ge.10:22).  According to scripture, Terah and his sons descended from Arphaxad (Ge.11:10-26), not Aram.  They weren’t blood Arameans.  But they lived in Harran in the (Syria-Turkey) area originally settled by Aram, son of Shem.  (Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 1:6:4 “Aram had the Aramites, which the Greeks call Syrians.”)}}

Gill Exposition Ge.22:21 “Uz his [Nahor’s] firstborn…gave name to the land of Uz where Job dwelt, and who seems to be a descendant of this man, Job 1:1.”  Perhaps Job did descend from Abraham’s brother Nahor (in the lineage of Shem’s son Arphaxad)!  Cambridge Bible Ge.22:21 “Uz as a locality in the Syrian region. It may denote a branch of an Aramean tribe. It appears as the birthplace of Job.”  Uz, the firstborn son of Nahor, was the uncle of “Laban the Aramean [h761]” or Syrian (Ge.31:24).

The city of Nahor was Harran in Mesopotamia (Ge.24:10, 27:43).  bible–study.org “Nahor, whom he [Abraham] had left in Ur of the Chaldees, when he departed from thence. And who afterwards came and dwelt in Harran of Mesopotamia. Genesis 22:21 ‘Uz his [Nahor’s] firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram.’ The first of these gave name to the land of Uz, where Job dwelt, and who seems to be a descendant of this man (Job 1:1). The latter, was the father of the Buzites, of which family Elihu was, that interposed between Job and his friends (Job 32:2).”

Nahor (Ge.24:10), Balaam (De.23:4), also the Syrians with whom David fought (1Ch.19:6)…lived in Mesopotamia (h763 Aram-naharaim).  They lived NE of the land of Canaan towards the area of the Upper Euphrates.  (In the New Testament Greek, “Mesopotamia” g3318 occurs only in Ac.2:9, 7:2.)

Ge.31:53 “The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor.”  Abraham’s brother Nahor was uncle to Ishmael & Isaac.  Ge.22:21 Nahor’s sons Uz & Buz & Bethuel were Abraham’s nephews, 1^st cousins of Ishmael & Isaac.  Bethuel was the father of Laban and of Isaac’s wife Rebekah (Nahor’s granddaughter); this Uz & Buz were uncles to Rebekah and Laban.

Laban had idols.  Perhaps his father Bethuel did too?  However, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob came to Laban in a dream (Ge.31:24, 29).  Laban knew of the true God YHVH (Ge.24:31)!  Laban may have practiced polytheism.  Yet Abraham wanted a wife for Isaac taken from Nahor’s descendants, not from heathen Canaanites.

Job in the land of Uz had heard of YHVH and believed He was God (Jb.42:1, 5).  Elihu the Buzite (h940), from the family of Ram, may have descended from Buz and Aram the nephew of Buz (Jb.32:2, Ge.22:20-24).  More on Job’s four visitors is in Part 2 of this topic.

So the land of Uz most likely was the territory where one (or both?) of those ancients had lived…Uz the son of Shem, Uz the son of Nahor.  That land of Uz became known as Ausitis (Jb.1:1 LXX).

Josephus op. cit. “Of the four sons of Aram [Ge.10:23], Uz founded Trachonítis and Damascus; this country lies between Palestine and Cele-syria.”  (ref Lk.3:1 the Trachonitis province.)

R.N. Coleman The Poem of Job “Josephus identifies the land of Uz with the territory of Damascus and Trachonitis. The habitual residence of Job was in some portion of ancient Bashán. Ephráem Sýrus, who died AD 379, recorded that the patriarch Job resided in Bashan, having been the predecessor of Og [De.3:10]. He describes Job as a king, a priest, and a prophet of the Gentiles 140 years.”  Bashan was east of the Jordan River.

ISBE: Uz “A kingdom of some importance somewhere in Southern Syria and not far from Judea, having a number of kings.”  Trachonitis was NE of the Jordan (Smith’s Bible Dictionary).  Auranitis was in SW Syria, S of Batanea and Trachonitis.  Some think the Ausitis in the LXX book of Job was Auranitis or Hauran.  (Abraham’s brother Nahor, the father of an Uz, had dwelt in the Syria-Turkey Harran).

Wikipedia: Bashan “After the [Babylonian] Exile, Bashan was divided into four districts: Gaulonitis, the most western; Auranitis, the Hauran (Ezk.47:16); Trachonitis; Batanaea.”

Jsh.21:27 Golan (part of the modern day Golan Heights) of Bashan was part of the eastern half of Manasséh’s territory.  e.g. De.4:43 “Golan in Bashan of the Manassites.”

Wikipedia: Hauran “Auranitis (Hauran) is a volcanic plateau, a geographic area, and people located in SW Syria and extending into the NW corner of Jordan. It includes the Golan Heights to the west; also includes Jabál al-Drúze in the east and is bounded there by more arid steppe and desert terrains.  The Yármouk River drains much of Hauran to the west and is the largest tributary of the Jordan River.”

And the Jordan River is mentioned in the book of Job!  Jb.40:23 “The Jordan rushes to his mouth.”  Therefore, the land of Uz probably wasn’t all that far from the Jordan River.  Ancient Bashan was east of the Jordan.

Also, the LXX book of Job mentions Phoenícians.  Jb.40:25 LXX “The nations [or races] of the Phoenicians.”  (Jb.40:25-ff isn’t in the Masoretic text.)  There were Phoenicians living in coastal NW Canaan.  ATS Bible Dictionary “The Canaanites, whom the Greeks named Phoenicians.”  Chief cities of Phoenicia (Ac.15:3) were Tyre & Sidon (Ezk.28, Mt.11:21, Jg.10:12), and Byblos.

Ezk.27:23 “Harran [h2771], Canneh, Eden, the traders of Sheba, Asshur, Chilmad traded with you [Tyre of Phoenicia].”  Harran (h2771) in: Ge.11:31, 12:5, 27:43.  LXX Ge.27:43 Rebekah said to Jacob, “Depart quickly into Mesopotamia to Laban my brother in Charan.”  Harran in upper Mesopotamia.

Cambridge Bible Jb.1:1 “The land of Uz probably lay E of Palestine and N of Edom. An interesting tradition places the home of Job in the Nukra, the fertile depression of Bashan at the southeast foot of Hermon. Near the town of Nawa, about 40 miles almost due south of Damascus, and about the latitude of the north end of the sea of Tiberias, there still exist a Makâm; that is, place, or tomb, and monastery of Job. Wetzstein assigns the building to the end of the 3^rd century.”  Pulpit Commentary Jb.1:1 “Arabian tradition regards the region of the Hauran, northeast of Palestine, as Job’s country.”

Franz Delitzsch The Book of Job Commentary “Au’sos [Uz], in Josephus Ant. 1, 6, 4, is described as founder of Trachonitis and Damascus; that the Jakut Hamawi and Moslem tradition generally mention the East Harran fertile tract of country northwest of Têmâ and Bûzân, el-Bethenije, the district of Damascus in which Job dwelt. All these accounts agree that Uz is not to be sought in Idumea [Edom] proper. In later times the territory of Edom extended [e.g. Lam.4:21].”

Stephen Vicchio Job in the Modern World, p 202 “Mugir el-Hambeli says, ‘Job came from the Damascan province of Batanea.’ Moslem tradition suggests that after the death of his father, Job journeyed to Egypt to marry Rahme, the daughter of Ephráim [or Manasseh?], who had inherited from her grandfather Joseph his beautiful robe. Later, Job brought her back to his native Hauran.”  p.203 “The tradition of ‘Job’s well’ or ‘Job’s spring’ is to be identified entirely with the land north and east of the boundaries of Israel and Arabia.”  p.204 “The Hauran Valley of Bashan in the Transjordan. Job’s tomb has been venerated in that region for many years. Almost all Syro-Arabic sources identify the province of Bathania as Job’s ‘land of Uz.’ Bathania also contains a Monastery of Job.”

Again Gill Exposition Ge.22:21 “Uz his [Nahor’s] firstborn…gave name to the land of Uz where Job dwelt, and who seems to be a descendant of this man, Job 1:1.”  Uz is thought to be Job’s ancestor.

This topic is continued in “Job and the Land of Uz (2)”.  In it, we’ll look to identify the ancestry of Job’s four visitors and tribes of peoples in his book, as we associate the time period in which Job lived.

Chronology: the Exodus to Samuel

In this topic, Bible chronology is traced from the exodus out of Egypt until the judgeship of Samuel.  Earlier chronology is addressed in “Chronology: Abraham to the Exodus” and “Chronology: Septuagint versus Masoretic Text”.  My basic position is the so-called maximalist view, that Bible history is correct unless archaeology clearly proves it wrong.

However, exact dating cannot be done for Israel’s exodus, or for the years of the many judges which followed in the Land.  Also there’s no consensus among Bible historians regarding the dates when Saul, David, and Solomon were kings.  Their years cannot be pinpointed by dates from ancient histories.  (There’s no ‘BC’ or ‘BCE’ dates written in scripture.)  The dates in this topic are approximate.

A date of 1612 BC for the exodus of Israelites & the mixed multitude from Egypt was taken from Dr. Martin Anstey’s The Romance of Bible Chronology, v.2.  I use that date, 1612 BC.

Moses was born around (circa or c) 1692 BC.  Moses is the son of Amrám and the grandson of Koháth (who’d gone to Egypt with Jacob c 1827 BC, Ge.46:8, 11).  Moses’ father Amram was born in Egypt, while Joseph was still alive.  see “Levites and the Exodus Multitude (1)”.

Moses fled to Midian at age 40 (Ex.2:15, Ac.7:22-29), c 1652 BC.

Caleb was born in Egypt c 1651 BC.  (cf. Nu.13:25-30, the 2^nd year of the exodus…with Jsh.14:6-10.)

Moses is 80 when he returns to Egypt from Midian (Ac.7:30-34), c 1612 BC.  Ex.7:7 “Moses was 80 years old, and Aaron 83, at the time they spoke to Pharaoh.”  The exodus occurred then (Ex.12:39-41).

When they exited Egypt c 1612 BC, Joshua is a young man, compared to Moses (Ex.33:11, Nu.11:28).  Joshua is 44 or so.  Caleb is 39 (born c 1651 BC).

The Israelites left Egypt, and then had to spend 40 years in the wilderness (Nu.32:13), until c 1572 BC.

{Sidelight: Ge.41:51 Joseph fathered Manasséh.  Ge.50:23 Manasseh fathered Machír.  Machir’s son Gileád was the same generation as Moses/Aaron.  Joshua’s father Nun was the same generation as Gilead & Moses/Aaron.  Zelophehád, Hépher’s son, was Gilead’s grandson (1Ch.7:14-27, Nu.26:28-37, 27:1, Jsh.17:3).  Zelophehad’s daughters are seen in the 40^th year of the exodus (Nu.27:1-ff, 36:1-ff).}

Nu.21:23-26 & De.3:12 in the 40^th year Israel took Heshbón and Aroér, and began to dwell in that area east of the Jordan River.  (Nu.25:7 Phineás’ bold action occurred in the 40^th year in the wilderness.)

The Israelites entered the Promised Land c 1572 BC.  De.34:7-9 Moses died that year at age 120.

Jsh.11:15-19 Joshua then waged war with the kings in the Land for 5 years at least, and defeated them.

Jsh.13:1 Joshua is old, near 90.  Cambridge Bible Note Jsh.13:1 “The Hebrew leader was now about 90 years of age.”  Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 5:1:19 “The 5^th year was now past, and not one of the Canaanites remained.”  Josephus implied there were 5 years of conquest.  The supposed Book of Jasher 89:54, “For 5 years did Joshua carry on the war with these kings…the land became tranquil”.  The land of Canáan became relatively tranquil for a while.

Jsh.14:6-11 indicates there were 5 years of conquest.  Caleb says he’s 85.  45 years have passed since he was age 40 in the 2^nd year of the exodus (c 1611 BC), when he and Joshua spied out the Land.  Ellicott Commentary Jsh.14:7 “Caleb would be 40+38=78 years old when they crossed the Jordan. He was 85 when they began to divide the country.”  Joshua allotted the Land among the tribes of Israel c 1566 BC.

Jsh.23:1, 14 “a long time” (19-20 years) after the Land division, Joshua knows it’s his time to die.  Jsh.24:29 Joshua dies at age 110, c 1546 BC.  (Joseph previously also had died at age 110, Ge.50:26.)

Joshua was in the Land for around 25-28 years: 6-7 years of conquest/settlement, 19-20 years of ‘rule’.

Josephus op. cit. 5:1:29 “Joshua…became their commander after his [Moses’] death for 25 years.”  Jasher 90:32 indicates that Joshua died 28 years after crossing the Jordan, 68 years after leaving Egypt.  Eusebius Chronicles, p.111 “The Hebrews say that he [Joshua] was leader for 27 years, as so he was 43 years old when Moses went out of Egypt.”  Elihu Schatz “The traditional interpretation assumes that Joshua ruled for 28 years (Seder Olam Rabbah, ch. 12), which means that he was 83 when he began to rule, since he lived to be 110 years old (Jsh.24:29).”  Again, Joshua was 4 or 5 years older than Caleb.

Jsh.24:31 & Jg.2:7-10 the elders who outlived Joshua continued to serve the Lord…for several years.

Josephus op.cit. 6:5:4 “After the death of Joshua, for 18 years in all the multitude had no settled form of government, but were an anarchy; after which they then permitting themselves to be judged by…the best warrior…the Judges.”  The magistrate was usually a champion who delivered them from enemies.

bible.ca/archeology/chronology-of-judges “The 8 year oppression of Arám-naharáim (Jg.3:8) began…15 years after Joshua died.”  Jasher 91:12 “The elders judged Israel after the death of Joshua for 17 years.”

So Joshua and the elders who outlived him led the Israelites for 40 years or so in the Land, prior to the series of judges.  (6+19+15=40)  From c 1572 BC until c 1532 BC.

Jg.2:16 “Then the Lord raised up judges [shaphát Strongs h8199, Hebrew] who delivered them from those who plundered them.”  These judges were warriors, military leaders, or ad hoc rulers in the early loose confederation of Israel.  Succeeding Joshua, there are no ruling judges before this verse.  Barnes Notes Jg.2:16 “This is the first introduction of the term judge, which gives its name to the book.”

How long did the judges lead Israel (prior to the people asking Samuel for a king to rule them, 1Sm.8:4-5)?  Before we identify those judges, a pertinent passage was spoken by the apostle Paul in retrospect:

Ac.13:16-21 “The God of Israel chose our fathers…with a mighty arm He led them out from it [Egypt]; for 40 years He put up with them in the wilderness. When He had destroyed seven nations in the Land of Canaan, He divided by lot to them their Land, about 450 years. After this He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul…for 40 years.”  Our translations of the passage differ.  Barnes Notes “This is a most difficult passage, and has exercised all the ingenuity of chronologists.”  To what centuries was Paul referring?

Most commentaries interpret the 450-year period as…from when God chose the “fathers” until Joshua divided the Land.  The Land was divided in c 1566 BC.  Isaac the son of promise was born c 2017 BC.  That’s 451 years earlier.  Abram was called at age 75, c 2042 BC.  That’s 476 years earlier, perhaps still close enough to the “about 450 years” Paul indicated. (see “Chronology: Abraham to the Exodus”.)

Ellicott Commentary Ac.13:20 “The 450 years in this case referred to the interval between the choice of ‘our fathers’, which may be reckoned from the birth of Isaac.”  Benson Commentary Ac.13:19 “The apostle is not to be understood as signifying how long God gave them judges, but when he gave them….computed from the birth of Isaac….it will be 448 years.”

But some commentaries interpret the 450-year period as…from when the judges began until the days of Samuel.  Joshua and the elders had died by c 1532 BC.  Samuel was living 450 years later, c 1082 BC.

Meyer’s NT Commentary Ac.13:20 “Until the end of the series of judges.”  Eclectic Notes Ac.13:20 “Judges characterized the period of 450 years.”

I’ll leave it to the reader to decide which of the above two interpretations better fits the history.

Let’s now look at the period of the several judges/deliverers, until Samuel the prophet-judge.

After the deaths of Joshua and the elders who outlived him, c 1532 BC, the Israelites began to do evil.  Jg.2:10 “There arose another generation after them [Joshua and the elders] who did not know the Lord.”  Jg.3:7 they served heathen gods and angered the Lord.  So He allowed an oppressor to subjugate them.

Jg.3:8 the first oppressor was Cushán-rishatháim of Aram-naharaim for 8 years, until c 1524 BC.

Jg.3:9-11 the people cried out to the Lord.  He was merciful and raised up Othniél (Caleb’s nephew, the son of his younger brother Kenáz, Jsh.15:17) as warrior-judge.  Othniel prevailed, and the Land had rest 40 years, from c 1524 BC to c 1484 BC.

A pattern will repeat throughout the time of the judges:  Israel would disobey the Lord, come under foreign domination, the people will cry out to God, God mercifully raises up a judge to defeat the oppressor, the Land has peace.  Then the people disobey again, God allows them to be subjugated, they cry out to God, He sends a deliverer, the Land has rest again, etc.  The same cycle, over and over again.

Jg.3:12-14 Israel does evil.  So they must serve Eglón king of Moab for 18 years, c 1484 BC – c 1466 BC.  Jg.3:15-30 Ehúd of Benjamin subdues Moab, and the Land has rest 80 years, until c 1386 BC.

Jg.3:31 Shamgár saved Israel from Philistines.  Josephus op.cit. 5:4:3 said Shamgar died in his 1^st year.

Jg.4:1-3 Jabín of Canaan oppresses Israel for 20 years, c 1386 BC – c 1366 BC.  Barák, Deboráh and Jaél defeat Jabin and his general Siserá (Jg.4:4–5:31), and the Land has peace 40 years, until c 1326 BC.

Jg.6:1-ff Israel does evil again, so the Lord gives them over to the Midianites for 7 years, until c 1319 BC.  Gideon is called; he defeats Midian.  Jg.8:28 the Land has peace 40 years, until c 1279 BC.

Jg.9:1-22 Abimélech, Gideon’s son, rules over Israel 3 years, until c 1276 BC.  After Abimelech dies, Tolá of Issachár judges Israel 23 years (Jg.10:1-2), until c 1253 BC.  After Tola, Jaír the Gileadite judges Israel 22 years (Jg.10:3-5), until c 1231 BC.

Jg.10:6-8 Israel does evil, so God gave them over to the Philistines and Ammonites for 18 years, from c 1231 BC – c 1213 BC.  Jg.11:8-11 Jephtháh the Gileadite warrior became Israel’s deliverer.  Jg.11:12-28 the king of Ammón wanted back old Amorite land east of the Jordan River, which Israel had taken possession of over 300 years previously.  It seems that land had belonged to the Ammonites before it became the Amorites’.  The Israelites had taken possession of that land from Sihón king of the Amorites at the end of the 40 years in the wilderness (again Nu.21:23-26 & De.3:12, also Jsh.12:1-2), c 1572 BC.

Jephthah’s messengers said to the king of Ammon in Jg.11:26-27, “While Israel lived in Heshbon and in Aroer and in the towns that are on the banks of the Arnón [LXX Jordan], 300 years, why didn’t you recover them within that time? I therefore have not sinned against you, but you are doing me wrong by warring against me.”  However, 340 years had elapsed from c 1572 BC to the oppression of c 1231 BC.

Matthew Poole Commentary Jg.11:26 “300 years; not precisely, but about that time.”  ESV Study Bible “300 years’ may be a round number giving an approximate date.”

Also, some judgeships possibly had overlapped since Joshua divided the Promised Land of Canaan, or were concurrent in different tribal areas of the Land.

Jg.12:7 having ended the Ammonite war in c 1213 BC, Jephthah judged Israel 6 years, until c 1207 BC.

Jg.12:8-10 Ibzán of Bethlehem succeeds Jephthah as judge, for 7 years, until c 1200 BC.  After Ibzan, Elón the Zebulunite judges Israel 10 years (Jg.12:11-12), until c 1190 BC.  Then Abdón judges Israel 8 years (Jg.12:13-15), until c 1182 BC.

Jg.13:1 “Israel again did evil, so the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines 40 years.”  Actually, the Philistines warred against Israel on & off for hundreds of years (2Ki.18:1 even 8 years in King Hezekiah’s day).  This 40-year period of Philistine oppression was from c 1182 BC – c 1142 BC.

Jg.13–16 is the account of Samson fighting against the Philistines during this time.  Jg.16:30-31 Samson sacrifices his life, having judged Israel for 20 years.  This ended Philistine oppression temporarily.

Jg.15:20 “He [Samson] judged Israel 20 years in the days of the Philistines.”  It is thought by some that Samson’s heroic judgeship was during the latter 20 years, c 1162 BC – c 1142 BC, of that 40-year Philistine oppression.  Anstey op. cit., p.18 “The judgeship of Samson, 20 years, is included in the 40 years of the 6^th servitude under the Philistines.”

James Jordan Puzzling Out the Era of the Judges “The Philistine oppression lasted 40 years (Jg.13:1). Samson was born about this time. Samson judged for 20 years, and in his death killed all five Philistine kings as well as a large number of the Philistine nobility and priesthood (Jg.15:20; 16:27). It is unlikely, if not impossible, in the light of Nu.1:3, that Samson began judging before he was 20. Thus, his 40 years seem to be the same as those of the Philistine oppression.”  Samson died at age 40, c 1142 BC.

{{Sidelight: Jg.17–21 these ending chapters of Judges are a flashback to events which occurred earlier in the book, but weren’t inserted then (to not interrupt the timeline).  Henry Commentary Jg.17:1 “What is related in…the rest of the chapters to the end of this book, was done soon after the death of Joshua.”  Pulpit Commentary “Two detached histories [Jg.17–21], which fill up the rest of the book…are long prior to Samson.”  Josephus op. cit. 5:2-3 places them before Othniel’s early judgeship of Jg.3.}}

Again, it is possible that some judgeships were contemporaneous, or they began within the years listed as foreign servitude (such as Samson’s judgeship).

Generally the book of Judges was a period of less restraining authority.  The final verse in the book is Jg.21:25. “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”  The syndrome was ‘I did it my way’, not God’s way.  Israelites didn’t want to be governed by the Lord or His laws.  It was a time when self-will ruled, for the most part.  But Pr.28:26 says, “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool”.  Benson Commentary Jg.21:25 “There was no supreme governor, such as Moses and Joshua were…none that had power sufficient to punish public wrongs…and thereby check the progress of vice and profaneness, and keep the people in order. ”  Most didn’t have the Holy Spirit.  Wrong covetousness was the norm.  This is a lesson we can glean from the book of Judges.

1Sm.4:15-18 Eli judges Israel for 40 years til age 98, c 1142 BC – c 1102 BC.  Samuel is judge after Eli.

Recap: The exodus from Egypt was c 1612 BC.  After 40 years of wilderness wandering under Moses, the Israelites entered the Promised Land under Joshua c 1572 BC.  After Joshua’s wars of conquest, the Land was divided to the tribes of Israel by lot c 1566 BC.  That was approximately 450 years after the birth of Isaac in c 2017 BC, and 464 years before the time Samuel succeeds Eli as judge c 1102 BC.

My other topics in the timeline are “Chronology: Samuel to Rehoboam”, “Chronology: Abraham to the Exodus”, “Chronology: Septuagint versus Masoretic Text”.