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The Book of Judges

Judges is book 7 of 39 in the Tanakh, part of Nevi'im. It has 21 chapters and 618 verses.

Updated September 19, 2026

שׁוֹפְטִים

Section
Nevi'im
Chapters
21
Verses
618
Longest chapter
9 (57 verses)

What Judges is about

Judges covers the unsettled centuries between Joshua and the monarchy. The people fall away, an enemy rises, a leader delivers them, and the pattern repeats: Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah and Samson are among the judges. The book ends with the refrain that in those days there was no king in Israel.

Opening verse

וַיְהִי אַחֲרֵי מוֹת יְהוֹשֻׁעַ וַיִּשְׁאֲלוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בַּיהוָה לֵאמֹר מִי יַעֲלֶה־לָּנוּ אֶל־הַכְּנַעֲנִי בַּתְּחִלָּה לְהִלָּחֶם בּוֹ׃

AND IT came to pass after the death of Joshua, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying: ‘Who shall go up for us first against the Canaanites, to fight against them?’

Judges 1:1

Chapters