Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 68:3 (Sep 2025)
Article: Let Mercy Triumph Over Judgment: A Theology Of Law In Judges
Author: Jillian L. Ross

JETS 68:3 (September 2025) p. 451

Let Mercy Triumph Over Judgment: A Theology Of Law In Judges

Jillian L. Ross

Jillian L. Ross is Professor of Biblical Studies at Liberty University, 1971 University Blvd., Lynchburg, VA 24515. She may be contacted at [email protected].

Abstract: Although the book of Judges is a Torah-informed narrative within the Deuteronomistic History, Judges does not exhibit a strict theology of retributive justice. Judges instead teaches that showing mercy beyond the Mosaic law is the godly way to live. This is most clearly seen in the prologue of Judges (chs. 1–2), the Gideon account (chs. 6–8), and Jephthah’s vow (11:29–40). In the prologue, Yahweh shows mercy by mitigating judgment as stated in the law. In the Gideon account, Yahweh continues to exercise mercy beyond the law, but his deliverer-judge Gideon fails to act like him under similar circumstances. Jephthah sacrifices his daughter despite a biblical pattern for choosing life in difficult cases, especially ones involving the shedding of innocent blood. This life-giving pattern begins in the Torah but spans into the New Testament teachings of Jesus, thereby giving theological clarity to the Jephthah account and implications for other passages in Judges.1

Key words: Judges, law, mercy, Gideon, Jephthah’s vow, the beheading of John the Baptist, the Good Samaritan, intertextuality, Lev 19:18

The book of Judges shows a high level of canonical consciousness by making liberal use of Genesis, Exodus, and Deuteronomy (as well as Joshua and Samuel).2 More specifically, Judges is a Torah-informed narrative with scores of allusions to and echoes of the law of Moses.3

In many respects, the book of Judges embodies 1 Timothy 1:8–9: “The law is good if one uses it lawfully; knowing this, the law is not established [κεῖμαι] for a

JETS 68:3 (September 2025) p. 452

righteous person, but for lawless and rebellious people.”4 As in Paul’s day, the law’s proper effect in Judges occurs when God’s people rightly implement it.5 Throughout Scripture, the righteous do not need the Mosaic law, because their hearts are circumcised (