Fifteen such heroes are named in the Book of Judges, from which book it
will be seen how various were the enemies with which they had to
contend. Their period shows a regular alternation of sin, punishment,
and salvation. After Joshua, comes a long period of falling away,
followed by the rise of Othniel who delivers Israel from the oppressions
of Cushan of Mesopotamia, into whose hands they had been given. On his
death, Israel again sins and is punished by Eglon, king of Moab. This
time salvation comes through Ehud, but his death is followed by another
relapse into idolatry, and so things continue. Among the rest of the
“Judges,” the most famous are Deborah the prophetess, and Barak, Gideon,
Jephthah, Samson, and the prophet Samuel.
During this period Israel does not come at all into contact with the
great kingdoms of the East. At the time of the Hebrew settlement in
Palestine, the country was under the suzerainty of the Pharaohs, but it
is probable that by this time the suzerainty was little more than a
name. The conflicts were rather with their own kinsmen, the Moabites,
Ammonites, and also the Midianites.