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Dr. Yael Ziegler

“And It Was in the Days of the Judging of the Judges”

The Problem of Leadership 1

he initial verse of the book of sinning, “Take out the splinter from order. Malbim thereby resolves the
Ruth draws our attention to between your teeth!” The litigant’s question of the vague description of
Tthe book’s negative setting. insolent response, “Take out the beam the time-period and simultaneously
Its inaugural word, vayehi (an from between your eyes,” is a refer- depicts this era’s social turmoil.
onomatopoeic word that sounds ence to more egregious sins commit-
like a lament), tends to introduce a ted by the judge himself. The society This opening verse focuses our atten-
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calamity. This phrase is immediately depicted by this interpretive reading tion on the problem of leadership
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followed by a second vayehi, is chaotic, lacking a viable judicial at the opening of the Book of Ruth.
introducing a famine, which is also infrastructure. Not only do the people The backdrop of this book recalls
a dependable indicator of Divine disrespect the judges, refusing to heed the chaotic leadership of the end of
displeasure and Israel’s disobedience. 4 their instructions, but the judges the period of the judges, which lacks
themselves are not worthy of respect! monarchy. The solution for this era
The full phrase vayehi bimay (and it appears at the end of the Book of
was in the days of) may further hint Ibn Ezra offers a similar reading, Ruth, which concludes with the birth
at the adverse setting of the book, but with a twist. He posits that the of David, the founder of a dynasty of
drawing our attention to the absence double language indicates that G-d Judean kings.
of monarchy. This exact phrase judged the judges at this time, and it
appears four additional times in was due to the poor conduct of the
Tanach, always prefacing a negative judges that G-d brought a famine 1 This essay has been adapted (with
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time-period. However, in every other upon the land. Ibn Ezra’s approach permission from the publisher) from Yael
Ziegler, From Alienation to Monarchy
case, the phrase vayehi bimay pre- has a syntactical advantage, in that (Jerusalem: Maggid, 2015).
cedes the introduction of a king. The he explains the connection between 2 This word seems to comprise two
replacement of a king with this vague the opening phrase, “And it was in expressions of moaning: vai and hee
(commensurate with the better-known
judging of the judges highlights the the days of the judging of the judges,” expression “oy vey”).
absence of monarchic leadership, a and the next sentence, “And there was 3 Megillah 10b; Ruth Rabbah, Petichta 7;
key factor that foments chaos during a famine in the land.” Moreover, he Genesis Rabbah 42:3; Leviticus Rabbah
this period. 6 provides a theological justification for 11:7; Esther Rabbah, Petichta 11.
the famine, which is introduced in the 4 See, e.g., Leviticus 26:18–20;
Who are these judges and whom are narrative with no causal explanation. Deuteronomy 11:16–17. The Targum on
Ruth 1:1 notes explicitly that this famine is
they judging? Commenting on the a punishment.
double language, the Gemara (Bava Malbim addresses the vague descrip- 5 Genesis 14:1; Isaiah 7:1; Jeremiah 1:3;
Batra 15b) treats the noun as the tion of the time-period. He maintains Esther 1:1. A Midrash displays its
object of the infinitive, suggesting that during the period of the Book of customary literary sensitivity by noting
that all five of these verses have this
that the judges are being judged by Ruth, there is no central leadership. opening in common (Ruth Rabbah,
the people. This is both a comment Instead, this is a period between the Petichta 7).
on the rebelliousness of the people, authoritative judges, when anyone 6 Note the refrain that bemoans the absence
who do not accept the judges’ author- who wished to rule seized control, of monarchy in the final tumultuous
chapters of the book of Judges (17:6, 18:1;
ity, and a negative assessment of the and unauthorized judges proliferated 19:1; 21:25).
judges, who deserve judgment. The throughout the land, doing as they
Gemara characterizes the judges in pleased. As we know from the end
the following anecdote: a judge rep- of the Book of Judges, lack of cen-
rimands a supplicant with an idiom tral leadership generates chaos, the Dr. Yael Ziegler teaches Tanach at leading
intended to direct him to cease his collapse of the religious and social institutions in Israel

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