Who are the Judges in the Old Testament?

Answer 1

There are a total of 15 judges mentioned in the Old Testament. Some of the judges were Abimelech, Jephthah, Othniel, and Abdon.

• Answer:

The Judges served for about 365 years (1244 to 879 BCE, according to traditional chronology), from the death of Joshua until the time of King Saul. They served as Judges, as military leaders when the nation was under threat, and as spiritual leaders.
The Book of Judges records those events in which some of the ancient Israelites began to sin (Judges 2:11), and were then persecuted by surrounding nations, as God had warned them (Deuteronomy ch.32). When the Israelites repented (Judges 2:1-4, 3:9, 3:15, 6:6, 10:10), God saved them from their enemies.
The Judges:

• Othniel
• Ehud
  
• Shamgar
  
• Deborah

• Gideon
  
• Abimelech
  
• Tola
  
• Yair
  
• Jepthah
  
• Ibzan
  
• Elon
  
• Abdon
  
• Samson
  
• Eli
  
• Samuel

In addition to the above, there have been regular judges, from the time of Moses (Exodus ch.18) down to this day. These are Torah-scholars whose function is to adjudicate disputes according to Torah-procedure.

Answer 2

The Judges:

• Othniel
• Ehud
  
• Shamgar
  
• Deborah
  

Link: More about Deborah

• Gideon
  
• Abimelech
  
• Tola
  
• Yair
  
• Jepthah
  
• Ibzan
  
• Elon
  
• Abdon
  
• Samson
  
• Eli
  
• Samuel
  

Link: More about Samuel

See also the other Related Links.

Link: Jewish history timeline

Link: Transition from Judges to Kings

Link: More about the Hebrew Bible