Major Themes of Judges: Although it is best to establish these through an inductive approach, here the major themes are briefly noted so as to be aware of them as we work through the text. The theme of covenant underlies the entire story, in keeping with its Deuteronomic character. More specifically, Judges is about God’s covenant people, Israel, about their faithfulness and unfaithfulness to covenant commitments made first at Mount Sinai and later renewed, especially at Shechem under Joshua’s leadership (Josh. 24). This includes subthemes of obedience and blessing, on one hand and sin (Israel’s failure to live up to covenant commitments) and punishment on the other. As story moves into story, we will see that each time, Israel’s sin worsens in degree and scope, and likewise in the punishm…