Judges: A Narrative of God's Power

I review this commentary, which is more expositional in nature, because it represents such a different perspective than most of today's more scholarly commentaries. It represents the other end of the spectrum as Block who believes the narrator is intentionally presenting many of the “heroes” (they get worse as the book progresses) as very compromised and sinful. They are not people to emulate but they instead demonstrate how sinful and rebellious Israel was during this period. Many other commentaries will see both good to emulate and evil to avoid in many of the judges (Davis & Wilcox). Barber, however, sees the narrator as presenting the judges in almost entirely positive terms. They are men of faith and courage to be emulated as Hebrews exhorts us to. This commentary is helpful just for the contrasting perspective it provides.