Monday, December 21, 2020

Books read in 2020: No. 31 -- The Book of Judges, KJV

published by Zondervan

Started: Dec. 18
Finished: Dec. 21

Notes: I began the year reading the Bible without getting very far, so figured I'd continue here.

Mini review: This is a collection of stories related to "judges," figures who helped to guide or rule over the early Israelites before a monarchy had been formed. For instance, the story of Samson can be found here, but there is quite a bit more, mainly concerning figures that aren't likely to be recognizable to the casual reader of the Bible. From a historical or mythological point of view, these tales are interesting in that they show how early Israelites dealt with those of other nations and races around them. Most of the tales here follow a similar vein, the Israelites falling away from God, then God punishes them by allowing outsiders to rule over the Israelites for a while, then a hero ("judge") steps forward to either guide the Israelites to freedom of sorts or to outright fight for that freedom. Many a fan of Sword & Sorcery fiction might find some interesting literature here worth reading.

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