(D1) The Untold Story of How the Book of Saviors Became the Book of Judges

This chapter examines the process of “Judaization” applied to the Israeli book of the Saviors and its transformation into a Deuteronomistic Judean text, which could be integrated into the general historiographical system. This, as a background for examining the original information contained in this book and the question of what the Jerusalemite historiographers knew about the early history of the Kingdom of Israel, about the geography of the northern kingdom and its inhabitants, what of all this they incorporated into their composition, and what they left out of their stories, mainly because they did not know. The main claim in this chapter is that all the information that reached the Jerusalemite historiographers within the ancient Israeli source of the Book of Saviors was transferred into the new book they created based on it – the Book of Judges. But this information was wrapped in many layers that would “Judahize” this book, adapt it to the perceptions and beliefs of the authors, and use it to convey the messages they wanted to convey to their generation. That is – it is not entirely the untold story, as it is the story that was told – but in a completely different way…