THE FUNCTION OF REPETITION AND CONTRADICTION IN THE PARADIGM OF THE JUDGES (2:11–19)

The Book of Judges is unique in that it includes in its inception a schematic description of the pattern of the narratives of the Judges that reoccurs throughout the book. However, the description of the paradigmatic pattern is complex: it contains repetitions, inconsistencies, and even a significant contradiction. These textual phenomena have been typically explained in diachronic and synchronic readings. This article claims that these phenomena are literary devices to create multifaceted meaning.