17:1–21:25 Review · Chaos in Israelite Society:While the last five chapters have often been referred to as the epilogue of the book, scholars have struggled to understand its connection with what precedes. For unlike the previous section, these narratives feature neither any judge nor any foreign enemy. Instead they seem to concern largely nameless individuals within Israelite society, with the focus being on internal chaos generated entirely from within. Structurally, the cyclical framework that organizes much of the preceding material also no longer organizes the epilogue. Instead, it is the refrain “In those days Israel had no king” (17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25) that seems to bind together two extended narratives, each featuring a Levite.

These stark contrasts notwithstanding, one can noneth…