The battles continue of course in the book of Judges. The
Israelite tribes move down from the forested highlands into the plains. The
plainspeople fight back. The story of Deborah includes a very well-planned
three-phase battle involving armies from several Israelite tribes. The story of
Gideon takes place in a time of drought when enemy tribes take over the fields
that feed southern Israel. And then the Philistines come, pushing into Canaan
from the West as Israel pushes from the East. Again, the enemy is more advanced
than the Israelites—the Philistines know how to work with iron—and again we’re
reminded these events take place in a real historical world, with a real
historical iron age. The time of the tribes is ending and the age of nations
begins… just about when the Biblical narrative tells us Israel demanded a
king—i.e. they demanded to be a nation, not just an alliance.
It all makes sense, in military, historical and geographic
terms. Could people centuries after the events really have imagined it so well?
Or is it simpler to believe it’s true—in which case, the rest of the story
might well be just as true.
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