Judges: God's War Against Humanism by James B. Jordan

Judges: God's War Against Humanism Reviews

• 
  Suzannah Rowntree

  Reading through the Old Testament lately, I found myself entranced and bemused by the book of Judges. A sprawling epic complete with war, love, betrayal, superpowered heroics, and the greatest one-liner in the history of history ("I have a message from God"--*STAB*), I found myself looking at it and thinking, "But what is it all supposed to mean?"
  
  And so I bolted down to our theology collection and helped myself to this James Jordan commentary.
  
  I really enjoyed this book. Jordan, in case you don't know, is one of the most outstanding commentators currently working in the topological/allegorical/Alexandrian/interpretive maximalist school of Biblical interpretation from a Reformed perspective (well, maybe the only one). He does a really fine job here with the Book of Judges, casting it as a polemic against centralised statist human government, potentially written either by Samuel or someone in his circle.
  
  Obviously, one of the pitfalls of Alexandrian-style interpretive maximalism--a hermeneutical approach with a lengthy and vigorous tradition in the church; just look at the second half of Augustine's City of God--is how often you just sit back, waggle an eyebrow at the creative commentator, and say, "Well, now you're just making things up." That said, Jordan is pretty convincing at least 60% of the time here, and even when he isn't, his perspective is thoroughly interesting and helpful--even when it's only drawing our attention to the metaphors or wordplay used in the text.
  
  Some things I particularly liked:
  
  Jordan draws out the theme of kingship and dynasty, particularly through the stories of Gideon, Ahimelech, and Jephthah. His take on Jephthah, by the way, is that having to dedicate his daughter (to, per Jordan and most other commentators I've read, lifelong service to God as a sort of nun) stymied his dynastic ambitions; that was why it was such a blow to him.
  
  Jordan also isn't afraid to defend certain actions in Judges--whether it's Ehud's assassin mission, Jael's deception of Barak, Jephthah's vow, Samson's youthful attempt to marry a Philistine woman, or the near-annihilation of the tribe of Benjamin--as having been done with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and thus entirely defensible.
  
  I also appreciated how the sometimes illogical-seeming actions undertaken in the book of Judges are explained through a lens of the law given in the Pentateuch. Again, I didn't agree with every single one of Jordan's applications here, but most of the time it was very helpful to be reminded, for example, of the rules governing Nazirite vows or the burning of a city as an offering to God.
  
  Finally, I really enjoyed Jordan's discussion of the roles of men and women in the chapter on Deborah. This is a really good example of how a metaphorical/maximalist interpretive lens can pull us back and show us the big picture: in explaining why women cannot lead formal worship, Jordan says,
  
  

  Guarding is man's priestly task, as shepherding is his kingly task. It is precisely because it is the bride who must be guarded, that the woman cannot be a priest. She is not the priest; rather, she is what the priest (imaging the Divine Bridegroom) guards and protects. Thus. the woman may not take up a leading liturgical role in worship, for she cannot represent the Groom to the Bride (1 Cor. 14:34).

  
  
  Good stuff. I thoroughly enjoyed this commentary, and found it quite readable in bite-sized segments every morning. Jordan has made it available for free
  online at Biblical Horizons.
• 
  Michael Pagan

  Modern commentaries don't read like this one and as a result they're usually useless. If you want to preach or understand Judges, Jordan will be a significant aid, because he is interpreting the text theologically. This occasionally leads him into strange territory—it's often said "half the time, Jordan is onto something, and the other half the time, Jordan is on something." But when he's right, he's way righter than the other guys, and when he's wrong, he's still made you think deeply about God's word.
• 
  John

  In some ways, Judges is one of the most accessible of all of the books of the Bible, having stories about heroes of the faith like Deborah, Barak, Gideon, and Samson. Yet true and deep understanding of the book is elusive. I've never been fully satisfied with the pat, moralistic interpretations that are generally given for the book.
  
  Enter James Jordan. As he states in the beginning of the book, he taught a Sunday School class through Judges several times, to several different churches and has gathered his learning into a commentary on the book. But, don't be put off by the genre of commentary, for this is a truly engaging and edifying work.
  
  From the beginning, Jordan has a richer, deeper understanding of the book than what most within the church have likely ever heard or read. Jordan is much more empathetic to the judges than most interpreters. He acknowledges their sins and failures, but more importantly, respects their status as heroes of the faith, for Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah are all mentioned in Hebrews. It states that they, "through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight." (Heb. 11:32)
  
  Hebrews tells us to look up to these saints, not down. With this in mind, he examines the book in light of what Christians ought to receive from it--and there is a great deal. The subtitle of the book signals to the reader that what is at stake in Judges is obedience to the laws of God and his kingdom. But instead of God's kingdom, early Israel desired a human king--made in their image rather than a King in whose image the people were made. Humanism, as expressed through Baal worship, is the central motif of the book. God's ways or man's ways.
  
  I won't give away much of the book, since it is really worth reading. But perhaps readers will be enticed to read it to learn more about why Jordan believes that Jephthah did not in fact kill his daughter as a human sacrifice to fulfill his "rash vow." Jordan does make that argument, and it is convincing, especially when taken in light of Hebrews 11. How could God possibly commend Jephthah as a hero of the faith if he offered a human sacrifice by killing his daughter? Put that way, it sounds absurd. But Jordan puts flesh on that argument and makes a compelling case to silence Jepthah's critics.
  
  This is a wonderful commentary that is unfortunately hard to find in print, though available free online in PDF format. Highly recommended, as with anything Jordan writes.
• 
  Joshua

  Jordan's interpretive maximalism sometimes has me scratching my head, other times raising my eyebrows, but most of the time marveling at how Jordan was able to pull out the seemingly obscure verses or events that open up the Biblical text to expose its intertextuality. He is truly an exegete who sticks close to the Bible itself as the best source for understanding its own message. He also seems to do a good job in this book of being tentative when he hasn't as much evidence, but there are a few times when I think his desire to place the text within his larger framework tends to share rather than be shaped by what the text is indicating. Still, this book (which is available for free online) is an indispensable resource on the book of Judges, and one you shouldn't ignore.
• 
  Nina

  Jordan has an interesting approach to the Book of Judges. His analysis brings meaning for this violent chapter into our current age. God has been waging a war against the same forces for 4,000 years. The names change, but it is the same old adversary. He examines symbolism and Biblical numerolgy to give his commentary further depth.
• 
  Kyle Grindberg

  An excellent commentary on the Book of Judges, James B. Jordan doesn't write in scholarly-ese, it's very accessible language, nevertheless, the content is not dumbed down. Will probably read this again.
• 
  Douglas Wilson

  Quite good.
• 
  Michael

  Really good! Jordan is constantly referring to the scriptures to work through the stories in Judges. New layers emerge from every direction when the stories are compared with other similar stories in the scriptures and Jordan does a wonderful job at this.
• 
  Zach de Walsingham

  Useful, lots of insights here, even if some are speculation and I didn't see everything he was saying. Worth looking up all the scriptural references to see where Jordan is coming from here. I am sympathetic with his interpretation of Jephthah's daughter being consecrated to Tabernacle service.
• 
  Katelynn

  A different kind of commentary than you usually find today. References to metaphors and images used in Judges and the whole Bible. Showing the hope in Christ through darker considered stories of Judges.
• 
  Josh Shelton

  Really good!
• 
  Jonah

  An excellent and indispensable commentary for anyone studying or preaching through the book of Judges.
• 
  Matt

  Agree or disagree with Jordan, he makes these stories fun to think about.
• 
  Jacob Aitken

  It has some value as a reference work. This is actually where Jordan's notoriety is helpful. Some sections of Judges really don't make any sense (chapters 17 onward). Jordan tells his own version of it. I have no idea if he is correct. Probably isn't, but it's better than the rest of the interpretations.
  
  He says Jepthath's daughter didn't actually die, but condemned herself to a life of virginity. I am sympathetic to that reading, and it no doubt gives Anchorites the hizzies, but there is no possible way Jordan can *know* that.
  
  I have a few bones to pick, though.
  
  1. When Ehud slays Eglon and Eglon's feces spill out, Jordan goes on a detour suggesting that in the garden of Eden (and possibly the new creation) humanity's bowel movements won't be smelly or noisome. In the name of all that's holy, how can you possibly know that?!?!!? Why would you even want to bring that up?
• 
  D. Ryan

  Wow. What a pleasure. Jordan makes so many things clear, especially the theme of kingship and of the church vs. state.
• 
  z

  Second read-through. Indispensable read.