Hebrews 11:32-34 mentions four infamous individuals from the book of Judges (ordered Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah). [1] But these four are not listed in the literary order of the cycles of the book of Judges, which has the sequence Barak, Gideon, Jephthah and Samson (Judges 4-16). Perhaps Hebrews follows more of a historical sequence like the one in 1 Samuel 12:11 (ordered Gideon/Jerub-Baal, Barak/Bedan, Jephthah, and Samuel). [2]

image shows a chart of verse references

Another curious thing about the list in Hebrews 11:32 is that these four individuals (from the book of Judges) are not all said to “judge” Israel. For example, Barak is not described as “judging” in Judges 4-5; that action is ascribed to the prophetess Deborah (Judg 4:4), rather than to the commander Barak. But Deborah is not mentioned at all in Hebrews.

The most important observation is that Hebrews commends these four individuals for their faith. It does not commend them for their moral character or ethical practices. Hebrews is not highlighting heroes or role models. It is highlighting faith. The point is not to be like any of these faith-challenged individuals. The point is to trust in God. Our aim is not to imitate these individuals. Our aim is to imitate Christ (see Heb 12:2-3; cf. 1 Cor 11:1).

For full disclosure, I have done a fair amount of teaching and research on the book of Judges, and I have written a commentary on the whole book. [3] The commentary is in the “Teach the Text” series, and it’s available in or wherever books are sold. Some years ago, I also wrote a piece for this blog called “Handling ‘Heroes’ in Hebrews 11.” [4] In these publications, I suggest that it is important to interpret both Hebrews 11 and the book of Judges according to their respective messages.

The point of Hebrews 11 is to inspire us to grow in our faithfulness to Jesus; the point of the book of Judges is to warn us about our tendency toward apostasy (or faithlessness)! Since Hebrews 11 has a positive objective, the author selectively includes only the positive details from people who had imperfect faith. Judges, on the other hand, has a negative objective; so, the author selectively emphasizes the negative details about Israel’s imperfect leaders.

It's helpful to review how Hebrews 11 begins. Verses 1-3 and 6 define and commend faith, and faith is the central message of Hebrews 11. In verse 1, we see that faith is confidence, hope and assurance. In verse 3, we see that faith is understanding about the future, the Creator and spiritual reality. Simply put, faith is belief or trust in the invisible God (cf. 2 Cor 5:7). In verse 6, we see that faith pleases God. Also, it is coming (drawing near) to him, believing in him, and earnestly seeking him. With that context, we can now look at Hebrews 11:32-34, mentioning the four individuals from the book of Judges.

32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies (Heb 11:32-34 NIV).

First, I want to comment that Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah are the four worst examples of faith! But that’s my opinion, when approaching the question from the direction of the book of Judges. Much better examples of faith are found in characters like Othniel, Ehud, Deborah and Jael.

Second, Hebrews 11:32 also mentions David and Samuel, and “the Prophets.” This makes me think that his list (of six people) is derived from the Prophets division of the Hebrew canon (the Hebrew canon consists of Torah, Prophets and Writings). The Prophets division is often subdivided into the former prophets (Joshua–Kings) and the latter prophets (Isaiah–Malachi). So, we might regard all six individuals as representatives of “The Prophets.”

Third, I should explain that the phrase “administered justice” (Heb 11:33) is the meaning of “judging” in Hebrew (from ĹĄ˛š´Ú˛šáš­). The narrator in the book of Judges represents God‘s perspective on Israel’s history. And he says that twelve people (each representing a tribe/region of Israel) were “judging/doing justice,” but that those twelve characters were probably unaware of their function. The narrator calls them “judges,” but the characters never call themselves “judges.”

Fourth, the author of Hebrews 11 is merely listing people from biblical history who demonstrated some faith. He is not technically interpreting the book of Judges or any other specific book of the Old Testament (at least not by our contemporary hermeneutical methods). Rather, he presumes that his audience already knows about the depressing message of the book of Judges; so, he intentionally does something different. He is neither expounding on the book of Judges nor on the book of Samuel; he is merely drawing illustrations from people in Israel’s history. He’s illustrating his point from historical individuals that we know from the former Prophets.

Now let’s talk about the faith of these four individuals — Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah — in the order that they occur in Hebrews 11:32.

Faith in Gideon’s Story (Judges 6-8): Through feeble faith, Gideon “conquered kingdoms” such as the Midianites. He “escaped the edge of the sword,” and he “became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.” Indeed, Gideon “administered justice” (cf. Judg 2:16-19), i.e., God brought justice through him, especially when God’s Spirit put on Gideon (Judg 6:34). [5] Gideon “gained what was promised” when he experienced the fulfillment of God’s word (which was given through divine messengers). And notably, Gideon’s “weakness was turned to strength,” because God was “with” him (Judg 6:12, 16; 2:18).

However, Gideon was a “mixed bag,” characterized by fear and doubt and a desire to control God. [6] Initially, Gideon hides from the Midianites (Judg 6:11-12) and expresses a skewed understanding of history and theology (Judg 6:13; cf. Deut 31:17). His lack of trust and his need for (re)assurances are exposed in his request for a sign (Judg 6:17), his fear of people (Judg 6:27), his tests with the fleece (Judg 6:36-40), and his fear of fighting (Judg 7:9-11). Gideon repeatedly doubts God’s promise of deliverance (Judg 6:14, 16, 36). So, he demands that God confirm his intentions through a series of experiments — oracular “tests” (Judg 6:36-40) so that he can “know” that God will bring deliverance (Judg 6:37). Gideon audaciously acknowledges that he is questioning God’s intentions and spoken word (Judg 6:36-37), and he even describes his actions as “one more test” (Judg 6:39 NIV) which is self-incriminating according to the Torah (which says, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test,” Deut 6:16 NIV). Gideon’s methods are motivated by doubt, and after he receives no less than three confirmations from God (Judg 6:17-21, 36-40), it is evident that he still needs additional corroboration (Judg 7:10-14). My point is that Gideon has some faith, but his faith is meager, and it’s mixed with fears and doubts. Gideon has a feeble faith.

With Gideon’s story, we conclude Part 1 of “Feeble Faith in Judges.” In Part 2 we will evaluate Barak, Samson and Jephthah, and we will give some practical reflections about faith in our stories. Read Part Two of this blog post here. 

Notes

[1] Heb 11:32-34 is not the only place where Hebrews alludes to the book of Judges. There are also allusions to the cycles of Samson (Heb 2:3; cf. Judg 15:18) and Ehud (Heb 4:12; cf. Judg 3:16, 20-22). Additionally, both books develop the motif of apostasy/faithlessness.

[2] Samuel was also considered a “judge” (see 1 Sam 7:15–8:6; 12:11), but he was apparently not included in the book of Judges either because he was considered a faithful example or because he was considered a transitional leader who initiated the monarchy.

[3] Kenneth C. Way, Judges and Ruth (Baker, 2016).

[4] See also the “Additional Insights” in Way, Judges and Ruth, 79-80.

[5] See Way, Judges and Ruth, 30, 66.

[6] For Gideon’s feeble faith, see Way, Judges and Ruth, 62, 65, 67-69, 75-77.