In Defense of Yhwh's Unmerited Grace in Judges: A Response to Frolov and Stetckevich

Abstract:The analysis and interpretation of the roles of repentance and grace within the book of Judges is complicated by a variety of narrative and lexical features. Often repentance is assumed to precede the deliverance from oppression in each of the cycles. A prior article, Reassessing Repentance in Judges by Hoyt concludes that the narrator of Judges focuses on communicating a theology of Yhwh's grace and compassion, not a theology of repentance, and provides hints that the Israelites may not have repented. A more recent article by Frolov and Stetckevich, "Repentance in Judges: Assessing the Reassessment," engages in this discussion by arguing against Hoyt and concludes that the narrator does communicate repentance. This article continues the conversation by analyzing Frolov and Stetckevich's conclusions and correcting their misrepresentations of Hoyt's prior research. This article concludes that their argument is not compelling and that they have not provided sufficient evidence to show that repentance is communicated in Judges. But, rather, Hoyt's prior conclusion, that the narrator focuses on communicating a story of Yhwh's grace, while hinting that Israel may not have repented, is still worthy of consideration.