The Lord Raised Up a Deliverer

Deborah and Book of Judges

Kristin E. Litchamn

Ensign 20, no. 12 (Jan. 1990)

In Jewish literature, the judges are called shophetim—leaders who pronounced judgment and were chosen at various times to deliver different Israelite tribes from enemies intent on attacking and suppressing them. One of these shophetim was a woman named Deborah. A prophetess, judge, and deliverer, she not only followed the example of earlier Old Testament women in acting upon the word of the Lord, but she fulfilled her role as shophet, or judge, better than most.

Judges 1–12: The Reign of the Judges, Part 1

Church Educational System

Old Testament Student Manual, Genesis–2 Samuel: Religion 301 (2003)

Extraordinary courage was required for an Israelite to be devoted to the Lord during this era. Unfortunately, this situation arose not because of pressure from outside of Israel but because of pressure from within. Gideon’s neighbors, not a group of pagan Canaanites, were worked into a murderous frenzy when Gideon destroyed the altar of Baal. Jotham’s prophecy was uttered against his own brother, not against some Philistine king. Indeed, Israel’s problem did not stem from the pagan masses they faced. It lay within their own hearts. Their greatest enemies were not the power-hungry Midianites or Moabites but inward vacillation, apathy, disobedience, and rebellion. Their outward enemies raged through them constantly only because the inward weaknesses raged unchecked also.

Deborah and Book of Judges

Kristin E. Litchamn

Ensign 20, no. 12 (Jan. 1990)

In Jewish literature, the judges are called shophetim—leaders who pronounced judgment and were chosen at various times to deliver different Israelite tribes from enemies intent on attacking and suppressing them. One of these shophetim was a woman named Deborah. A prophetess, judge, and deliverer, she not only followed the example of earlier Old Testament women in acting upon the word of the Lord, but she fulfilled her role as shophet, or judge, better than most.

The Narrative Call Pattern in the Prophetic Commission of Enoch (Moses 6)

Stephen D. Ricks

BYU Studies 26, no. 4 (1986)

There is a striking example of a “narrative” type call in the prophetic commission of Enoch in Moses 6:23–36. This study considers the elements of the narrative call pattern; those elements of this form found in the prophetic commission of Enoch are examined and compared with the biblical narrative call passages.

Judges 1–12: The Reign of the Judges, Part 1

Church Educational System

Old Testament Student Manual, Genesis–2 Samuel: Religion 301 (2003)

Extraordinary courage was required for an Israelite to be devoted to the Lord during this era. Unfortunately, this situation arose not because of pressure from outside of Israel but because of pressure from within. Gideon’s neighbors, not a group of pagan Canaanites, were worked into a murderous frenzy when Gideon destroyed the altar of Baal. Jotham’s prophecy was uttered against his own brother, not against some Philistine king. Indeed, Israel’s problem did not stem from the pagan masses they faced. It lay within their own hearts. Their greatest enemies were not the power-hungry Midianites or Moabites but inward vacillation, apathy, disobedience, and rebellion. Their outward enemies raged through them constantly only because the inward weaknesses raged unchecked also.

Judges 13–21; Ruth 1–4: The Reign of the Judges, Part 2

Church Educational System

Old Testament Student Manual, Genesis–2 Samuel: Religion 301 (2003)

Samson could have been one of the greatest leaders in Israel since Joshua if he had been true to his Nazarite vows and to his Lord. If Samson, foreordained and chosen by the Lord, had been able to master himself, he could have set an example of spiritual and physical courage that would rank with the finest in history. But we can learn from Samson’s failure to avoid self-justification and uncontrolled passion so that we might join modern Israel in becoming a mighty and pure people before the second coming of the Lord.

Finding Samson in Byzantine Galilee: The 2011–2012 Archaeological Excavations at Huqoq

Matthew J. Grey, Jodi Magness

Studies in the Bible and Antiquity 5 (2013)

This article surveys research on Huqoq, an ancient Jewish village near the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. Excavation has found pieces of a mosaic floor in the synagogue’s east aisle that depict two female faces, an inscription, and an illustration of Samson tying lit torches to foxes (Judges 15:1–5). Because of the rarity of Samson in Jewish art, the religious significance of this mosaic is difficult to explain. However, liturgical texts from late antiquity indicate that some synagogue congregations celebrated Samson as an apocalyptic image and messianic prototype.

Khirbet Beit Lei and the Book of Mormon: An Archaeologist’s Evaluation

Jeffrey R. Chadwick

Religious Educator 10, no. 3 (2009)

Since the early 1970s, many thousands of Latter-day Saints have been told about a Lehi Cave and a place called Beit Lehi in classes and firesides and on the Internet. This article shows that Khirbet Beit Lei is not the place called Lehi in the story of Samson (Judges 15) and is not connected to the Book of Mormon prophet Lehi.

"I Make This Small Abridgment"

John A. Tvedtnes

The Most Correct Book: Insights from a Book of Mormon Scholar (1999)

Through a comparison between the Book of Mormon and the Old Testament, Tvedtnes shows that the concept of abridging the records of former generations is a long-standing one in ancient Israel. Authors and redactors of the Old Testament abridged records similarly to how Mormon abridged the records in the Book of Mormon, and does not undermine the validity of the message.