After the death of Joshua "the people served the Lord all the
days of the elders that outlived Joshua" (2.7).1 Following this,
however, decline set in as "there arose another generation after
them, which knew not the Lord And they forsook the Lord God of
their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt and
provoked the Lord to anger (2.10,12). The book of Judges sets
out the record of thirteen judges who were raised up by God to
defeat Israels enemies and judge the nation. "Thirteen is a
strange number; its first mention in the Word of God is in
Genesis 14.4: Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the
thirteenth year they rebelled. So according to the law of first
mention, thirteen is associated with rebellion".2 Seven of these
judges (Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah and
Samson) were raised up to defeat enemies who had brought Israel
into servitude. In the record of five of them (Tola, Jair,
Ibzan, Elon, Abdon) there is no enemy mentioned, so it can be
assumed that no outsid