Judges , livre ebook

JUDGES
Athena E. Gorospe with Charles Ringma
Asia Bible Commentary Series
General Editor
Federico G. Villanueva
Old Testament Consulting Editors
Yohanna Katanacho, Tim Meadowcroft, Joseph Shao
New Testament Consulting Editors
Steve Chang, Andrew Spurgeon, Brian Wintle

© 2016 by Athena Evelyn Gorospe and Charles R. Ringma
Published 2016 by Langham Global Library
An imprint of Langham Creative Projects
Langham Partnership
PO Box 296, Carlisle, Cumbria CA3 9WZ, UK
www.langham.org
Published in partnership with Asia Theological Association
ATA
QCC PO Box 1454 – 1154, Manila, Philippines
www.atasia.com
ISBNs:
978-1-78368-867-8 Print
978-1-78368-196-9 Mobi
978-1-78368-195-2 ePub
978-1-78368-197-6 PDF
Athena Evelyn Gorospe and Charles R. Ringma have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the Authors of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher or the Copyright Licensing Agency.
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are from the New International Version, copyright © 2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-78368-867-8
Cover & Book Design: projectluz.com
Langham Partnership actively supports theological dialogue and an author’s right to publish but does not necessarily endorse the views and opinions set forth, and works referenced within this publication or guarantee its technical and grammatical correctness. Langham Partnership does not accept any responsibility or liability to persons or property as a consequence of the reading, use or interpretation of its published content.

Converted to eBook by EasyEPUB
Contents

Cover


Series Preface


Authors’ Preface


List of Abbreviations


Introduction


A Framework for Reading Judges


A Narrative Approach


Themes


Judges 1:1–3:6 Grappling with Failure


Overview: Structure and Links


1:1–36 Experiencing Failure


Vision and Reality: The Story in Asian Christian Realities


2:1–5 Lack of Vigilance


2:6–10 Acknowledging Yahweh


2:11–21 Disobedience and Apostasy


2:22–3:6 Failure and Testing


Coping with Failure


Judges 3:7–31 The Role of Individual Deliverers


3:7–11 Othniel the Ideal Deliverer


3:12–30 Ehud the Unlikely Deliverer


Likely and Unlikely Deliverers


Judges 4:1–5:31 Partnership and Solidarity in God’s Work


Story and the Poem


4:1–24 Contours of an Upside-Down World: The Inversion of Roles


Playing One’s Part in Yahweh’s Purposes


5:1–31 Celebrating the Mighty Deeds of God in People’s Participation


The Singers and the Structure


Cooperating in God’s Work


Judges 6:1–8:29 The Use of Power: Empowerment, Abuse, and Violence


Structure of the Gideon-Abimelech Cycle


6:1–10 Disempowerment: The Economic Plunder of Israel


6:11–7:25 The Growing of a Leader: Issues in Empowerment


God with Us – Key to Transformation


Empowering Asian Leaders


8:1–35 Difficulties and Resistances in the Transformation Process


Taking the Spotlight Away from Yahweh


Judges 8:30–9:57 The Pitfalls of Power


8:30–35 Transitions: Honoring Leaders Rightly


9:1–6 The Destructive Side of Family Ties


Nepotism in Asian Societies


9:7–15 The Perils of Kingship


9:16–20 Dealing with Integrity


9:21–56 Retributive Justice


The Ambiguity of Power


Judges 10:6–12:7 The Marginalization of Yahweh


10:6–16 The Diminishment of Yahweh


The False Gods of Asian Society


10:17–11:11 The Rise of a Self-Made Man


11:12–28 Strong Leadership and Public Success


11:29–40 Tragedy in the Midst of Victory


Harmful Effects of Ministering Out of Rejection


12:1–7 Unresolved Issues


Using People and Using God


Judges 13:1–16:31 Reversal of Expectations


Overall Narrative Structure


The Samson Narrative as Dramatic Comedy: The Tragic Hero Who Overcomes


13:1–25 Great Expectations and the Reversal of Roles


Children of Promise in Asian Culture


Spirituality of Presence


14:1–16:3 Comic Reversal in the Samson-Philistine Episodes


Humor in Filipino Culture and the Christian Life


16:4–31 Comedy Turns to Tragedy and Then Comes Full Circle


13:1–16:31 Denouement: The Divine Trickster


God’s Unexpected Ways


Judges 17–18 The Domestication of God: Gods, Gold, and Goons


Judges 17–21 Overview of Concluding Chapters


Judges 17–18 Structure and Overview


17:1–6 God’s Domestication in Family Life


What is Offered to God Belongs to God


17:7–13 God’s Domestication in Religious Life


Patronage System in Asian Culture


18:1–31 God’s Domestication in Economic-Political Life


The Domestication of Yahweh


Judges 19:1–20:7 When Home Becomes Unsafe


19–21 Structure and Links in Judges


19:1 Exposition: The Characters


Objectifying God and One Another


19:2a Inciting Moment: Leaving Home


19:2b–21 Complications: Going Home


19:22–26 Climax: Outcast and Disgrace Outside the Home


19:27–29 Resolution: Going Home


19:30–20:7 Epilogue: The Levite Tells the Story





Justice: Restoring Agency and Empowering the Vulnerable


Judges 20:1–21:25 A Society That Has Gone Awry


20:1–17 A War between Brothers


20:18–48 Parody of a Divine War


21:1–23 Reparations for a Lost Tribe


Just Reparations


Recovering Grace and Love in the Church


21:24–25 Epilogue: The Ironic and Incomplete Ending


Bibliography


About Asia Theological Association


About Langham Partnership

Endnotes
Series Preface
In recent years, we have witnessed one of the greatest shifts in the history of world Christianity. It used to be that the majority of Christians lived in the West. But now the face of world Christianity has changed beyond recognition. Christians are now evenly distributed around the globe. This has implications for the interpretation of the Bible. In our case, we are faced with the task of interpreting the Bible from within our respective contexts. This is in line with the growing realization that every theology is contextual. Our understanding of the Bible is influenced by our historical and social locations. Thus, even the questions that we bring into our reading of the Bible will be shaped by our present realities. There is a need therefore to interpret the Bible for our own contexts.
The Asia Bible Commentary (ABC) series addresses this need. In line with the mission of the Asia Theological Association Publications, we have gathered Asian evangelical Bible scholars in Asia to write commentaries on each book of the Bible. The mission is to “produce resources for pastors, Christian leaders, cross-cultural workers, and students in Asia that are biblical, pastoral, contextual, missional, and prophetic.” Although the Bible can be studied for different reasons, we believe that it is given primarily for the edification of the Body of Christ (2 Tim 3:16–17). The ABC series is designed to help pastors in their sermon preparation, cell group leaders or lay leaders in their Bible study groups, Christian students in their study of the Bible, and Christians in general in their efforts to apply the Bible in their respective contexts.
Each commentary begins with an introduction that provides general information about the book’s author and original context, summarizes the main message or theme of the book, and outlines its potential relevance to a particular Asian context. The introduction