Knowledge of the political background in the Middle East during the twelfth and eleventh centuries B.C. will clarify some parts of the account of the Israelites during the time of the judges and the beginning of the period of the monarchy.

There was a general decline of power in what had been centres of power, Egypt, Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. As well as the decline of power in Egypt and Assyria, the empire of the Hittites in Asia Minor declined. The general result was that the area which we can call Palestine-Syria was not under the influence of any large state, which allowed a number of small nations to try to organize themselves and gain strength in that area, with troublesome consequences for the Israelites. The most powerful of these smaller nations were the Philistines, who had established themselves on the coastal plain of Canaan around their five cities of Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath. These people had originated from the islands off the mainland of Greece and were a different ethnic group from the Semites of Canaan whose coastal lands they' had seized. The twelfth century B.C. marks the beginning of the Iron Age in Palestine and it is fairly clear that it was the Philistines who first introduced iron tools and weapons into the area, and, in fact, kept a monopoly of them for a considerable period. An interesting verse in 1 Samuel 13: 19 indicates this: 'There were no blacksmiths in Israel because the Philistines were determined to keep the Hebrews from making swords and spears.' The use of iron weapons by the Philistines made them formidable enemies.

Across the river Jordan (the Transjordan), there were the organized kingdoms of Moab and Ammon, with the kingdom of Edom to the south of the Dead Sea.

In Canaan, the Canaanites held on to several cities, the most formidable of which was Jerusalem on its hill site.

In the midst of this situation, the Israelites had to hold on to the land they had taken and try to establish themselves as a people, and the record of the book of Judges makes it clear that it proved a hard task. They were held together by their covenant faith and way of life in a confederation of their tribes. For more than a century and a half this confederation hung together under men who can best be described as 'charismatic' leaders, that is; those possessing not just the ability to lead their people in community matters but in military matters also. One of the judges was a woman, Deborah, who ordered an Israelite army into battle against a Canaanite army. Each judge is presented as a leader raised up by God to rescue his people from the attacks of an enemy. We hear of attacks from the Moabites, the Ammonites, the desert tribes of the Amalekites and Midianites, and the Philistines. But each judge takes over the leadership of the community at a time when the covenant faith has been betrayed and the Israelites have begun to worship the gods of Canaan. The following verses from Judges 2 give the writer's summary of what is described throughout the book: 'Whenever the Lord gave Israel a leader, the Lord would help him and would save the people from their enemies as long as that leader lived. The Lord would have mercy on them because they groaned under their suffering and oppression. But when the leader died, the people used to return to the old ways and behave worse than the previous generation. They would serve and worship other gods, and refused to give up their own evil ways.'

This period was one of crisis when the Israelite settlement of the promised land was threatened by the other nations who wanted to take what they could of it, and when the covenant faith of the Israelites was threatened by the temptation to worship Baal and the goddess of fertility alongside Yahweh. Judges 1:27-33 indicates that in some areas there was a process of integration between Israelites and Canaanites. There are also indications in the book of Judges of tensions between some of the Israelite tribes themselves, with severe punishment being inflicted on the tribe of Benjamin for a particularly un-pleasant crime which some of the Benjaminites were responsible for.

Yet in spite of all these threats and tensions, the confederacy of the Israelites held together. There is an indication in Judges 21: 19 of one of the influences which may have held them together. There is a reference to the yearly festival of the Lord at Shiloh. Chapter 18: 31 also refers to the Tent where God was worshipped at Shiloh, a city situated roughly in the centre of the territory held by the Israelites. The evidence suggests that every year the Israelites, or more realistically, representatives of all the tribes, met together for a covenant renewal ceremony at the place where the Tabernacle, or sacred Tent, containing the Ark of the Coven-ant was kept. We do not have further evidence for what took place, but a ceremony like the one which took place at Shechem under the guidance of Joshua is a strong possibility. An annual renewal of commitment to their God and the Law of the Covenant may have kept the faith and way of life of the Israelites from breaking up under the pressures upon them.

The honesty and realism of the Biblical writers comes out clearly in the accounts of the failure of many of the Israelites to remain loyal to the faith of the covenant: 'The people of Israel forgot the Lord their God; they sinned against him and worshipped the idols of Baal and Asherah' (3: 7). The picture given of some of the judges is not an idealistic one, either. Samson's infatuation with the deceitful woman Delilah led to his capture by the Philistines. The honesty of the writer of the book of Judges in portraying the failures of the Israelites and the limitations of their leaders is important. We are not given a picture of a meritorious society who are essentially superior to the other people around them; instead, we see people of their time, capable of brutality and foolishness, but also capable of being taught by God that he is Lord of their lives in their new land.