JUDGE-ADVOCATE-GENERAL. 314 JUDGES OF ISRAEL. JUDGE - ADVOCATE - GENERAL. The head ol tlio Ininnu of military justice in the Vniteil .Stato-i Army. He i.s the custodian of the records of all j;eiieral courts-martial, courts of inquiry, military commissions, and of all papers relatin;; to the title of lands un<li'r the control of the War Department. e.cept the Washington aqueduct and the puhlic huildinj^s and grounds in the District of C'olumhia. The ollicers of his de- partment render opinions upon legal questions when called upon l)y the proper authority. A similar de])artment exists in all Kuropean armies, that of Kngland dilTering in that the judge-advo- cate-general is selected from among the high civil judiciary. See Courts, JIilit.ry; Military Law. JUDGES, Book of (Heb. Shupheiim, Gk. Kplrai, hriliii, Lat. Liher Jtidiciim) . A book of the Old Testament, recording the achieve- ments of a number of leaders at dilfcrent periods in the early history of the Hebrews, who in the book itself and elsewhere are called judges. (See Judges of I.srael. ) It cannot be said to be a history, properly speaking. The events re- corded in it do not follow each other chronologi- cally, nor is there any other order to be perceived in their arrangement. The contents of the book may be summarized as follows: ( 1 ) An introduc- tion, giving an account of the invasion of Western Palestine by the several tribes, their conquests and settlements, and the agreement reached with the Canaanites. contiiuiing the narrative from Jos. xxiv. 28 (chs. i.-ii. .5) ; (2) chapters ii. C-xii., an account of the deeds of a number of heroes: (a) Othniel ben-Kenaz, a .ludean. in conllict with Cushan-Kishathaim, King of Aram-Xaharaini ; (b) Ehud, a I'enjaniinite, against Moab; (c) Shamgar against the Philistines; (d) Deborah -ind Barak against Sisera ; (e) Gideon, the Manas- site, against the Jlidianites; (f) Abimelech, son of Gideon, against Shecbemitcs; (g) Tola, of the <lan of Issachar; (h) .Jair, the (Jileadite (Ma- iiasseh?): (i) Jephthah against the Ammonites; to whom are added Ibzan, Elon (of Zebulon), and Abdon (chap. xii.. 8-15), probably representing clans rather than individuals. (,3) Story of Sam- son and his exploits ( xiii.-xvi.) . (4) Chapters xvii.-xxi., two narratives: (a) ifigration of the Danites and establishment of a sanctuary at Dan; lb) an outrage committed upon a traveler by the Benjaminites, and the revenge taken upon the tribe by a combination formed against it. The stories of Eli and Samuel, who are by .Jewish tra- dition counted among the judges, are told in the first Book of Samuel (q.v. ). The point of view from which the history of the Hebrews is regarded is the same in Judges as in the preceding and following books, so that, in the view of modern scholars, the Book of .Judges forms a portion of a great historical compilation, t)eginning with the creation of the world and ex- tending to the destruction of .Jerusalem. The eight books (Genesis-Jings) into which this com- pilation is divided in the .Jewish canon are com- monly designated as the Octateuch. The period of the judges is portrayed as a falling away from the leligion and laws of Yahweh as promulgated by Moses. The struggles and conflicts of the period are regarded as punishments sent by Yah- weh against the Hebrew clans for their disobedi- ence. The twelve tribes of the Hebrew confedera- tion are pictured as dwelling in the territory assigned to them by Joshua, but not united except in cases of emergency for self-defense. The loose imion among the Hebrew clans is a part of the picture which corresponds to conditions as they existed before the days of Saul ; and the two tales added to the Book of .Judges | chs. xvii.-xxi.) form valual)k' material for reconstructing a pic- ture of the religious and social culture in the earlier period of Hebrew history. There js no trace at this time of an organized religious cult such as is set forth in the Pentateuchal codes, and the religious practices and ideas of the Hebrews did not ditj'er materially from those of the surrounding nations. So far as the composition of the Book of .fudges is concerned, 't l)etrays the same composite char- acter as the l^'Utateuch and Joshua. Whether, however, the compiler (or compilers) of Judges had before him the compilation JE (see Et.oiiisr AND Yaiiwlst) which is found in the Penta- teuch and Joshua (q.v.) is a question in reganl to which critics are still divided. Uecently the trend of opinion is toward recognizing .JE also as the basis of .Judges, with subsecnieiit introduc- tions and additions made by the same compiler whose hand is recognized in Deul^rcmomy and still later. However, it nnist be saiil that the question is still an open one, and that there is much to be said in favor of assuming dillerent sources for .Judges from those found in Joshua and the Pentateuch. The stories in .Judges are so promiscuous in character, so independent of each other, that it is not easy to assume a syste- matically arranged source, such as ,JE appears in the Pentateuch and Joshua, l)Ut. whatever the sources were, they were combined into a single narrative, and then made to accord with the prag- matism observed in the Hexateuch. On the other hand, it is also evident that the compilation did not end with the death of Samson, but was car- ried on into the days of Eli and Samuel. The deliverance from the Philistines and such a fare- well address as is ascribed to Samuel (I. Sam. ch. xii.) are exactly in the style of the narra- tive in .Judges and of the redactor who added the introduction to .Judges. It is therefore safe to assume that this compilation was carried down to the death of Samuel at least, .so that the present break between Judges and Samuel is an arbitrary one. Consult : The commentaries of Moore. Ber- theau, Keil. Studer: Budde. Ilichtcr uiul Samuel (Giessen. 1890) ; Frankenberg. Die Comjmxition des dcuteroiiomifsrhoi Uirhtrrhiirha (^iarburg. 1895) ; and the intrcductions to the Old Testa- ment by Driver, Kueuen, Bleek-Wellhausen, and Kijnig. JUDGES' CAVE. A cave in West Rock, at Xew Haven. Conn., so named because in lllfll it was the hiding-place of the regicides GofTe and Whalley. JUDiGES OF ISRAEL (Heb. shophctim) . A name given to the leaders who at various inter- vals directed the affairs of the Israelites from the death of .Joshua to the reign of Saul. Their names were Othniel. Ehud, Shamgar. Barak, Gideon, lola, .Jair. .Jephthah. Ibzan, Elon, A'odon, Samson, Eli. Samtiel. The account of their deeds is given in the Book of Judges and the First Book of Samuel (qq.v.). Without the last two. whoso careers are recorded in the Book of Samuel, the number of judges is twelve: with Eli and Samuel, as well as Deborah and .bimelech. the number is sixteen. In reality the 'judges' are merely a series of heroes and champions, quite independent of one
