Politics · 19 · Solomon and Sheba
In Judges, wars are self-inflicted
Kings justified themselves by promising protection from enemies. Judges says Israel brought war on itself through unfaithfulness, so kings weren't really necessary.
The deepest threats come from within.
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The book invents the 'judge,' a leader who rescues Israel without becoming king or forming a standing army. Citizen soldiers fight and then return to their farms. It wasn't a practical plan, but an intellectual effort to imagine a past without the palace.
Bible reference: Judges 2:11–23
Source: Why the Bible Began, pp. 305–307
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