A Guide to the 12 Judges of Israel

In the book of Judges we learn about the Judges of Israel. Before Israel had kings that ruled there were judges. These judges were not like our judges today. They did have judicial power like today's judges but they were also the leader of Israel's army. Here is a guide to the 12 Judges of Israel.

First Judge of Israel: Othniel
Othniel's Reign: 40 years
Othniel was the first of the 12 Judges of Israel. The king of Mesopotamia had oppressed the Israelites for 8 years when God sent Othniel to deliver them.

Second Judge of Israel: Ehud
Ehud's Reign: 80 years
Ehud had a great advantage because he was left-handed. Ehud hid a sword by strapping it to his right thigh. Nobody expected a soldier to be able to draw a sword from their right thigh because being left-handed was rare. So when Ehud went to pay tribute to King Englon he easily drew the sword with his left hand, stabbed King Englon and defeated the Moabites.

Third Judge of Israel: Shamgar
Shamgar's Reign: Unknown
Shamgar is most well known for using an ox goad, a farming implement, during battle. An ox goad was actually a pretty common weapon in battle but the unusual part was that Shamgar was able to kill 600 men single handedly.

Fourth Judge of Israel: Deborah
Deborah's Reign: 40 years
Deborah was the first and only female Judge of Israel. The story of Deborah is a significant passage since it is probably the first example of a female warrior, although Deborah did have help from General Barak and Jael when defeating the Canaanites and Sisera.

Fifth Judge of Israel: Gideon
Gideon's Reign: 40 years
The name Gideon means "detroyer" or "mighty warrior" and the name was fitting. God instructed Gideon to tell the soldiers that were afraid to go home. When Gideon did this 22,000 soldiers went home and only 10,000 remained.but Gideon was still able to defeat 135,000 Midianites.

Sixth Judge of Israel: Tola
Tola's Reign: 23 years
Out of all the 12 Judges of Israel Tola is the one that is talked about the least All that is said about Tola is that he was Judge of Israel for 23 years.