1. Judges 10:1–5 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Why are the so-called minor judges the most neglected parts of the book of Judges?

Judges 10:1–5 (ESV)

1 After Abimelech there arose to save Israel Tola the son of Puah, son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, and he lived at Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.

Judges 3:31 (ESV)

31 After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel.

Judges 12:8–15 (ESV)

8 After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.

In general, where the book of Judges is known or taught, only the major judges receive the attention. The prologue and epilogue (Judges 1:1 – 3:6 and Judges 17:1 – 21:25, respectively) tend to suffer from neglect. But even more than these, the minor judges are perhaps the most neglected parts of the book, no doubt because of their positioning (between the major cycles), brevity, and their presumed unimportance which may derive from the unfortunate label minor.1