Judges: Authorship

Author of Judges: Probably Samuel.

The Talmud (Baba Bathra 15a) claims Samuel’s authorship of Judges.

The text was compiled after Joshua’s death (Judges 2:7) and during the monarchy because it says four times “in those days there was no king in Israel” (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25).

Judges is a philosophy of history (Proverbs 14:34). Its philosophy falls in line with Samuel’s emphasis on the Word of God or lack of it informing a culture (1 Samuel 3:1, 4, 7-10, 17 – 4:1) and the importance of consistent, steady obedience over a long period and the consequences of its absence (1 Samuel 12:1-7).