Heidegger's Bible Handbook: Judges: Its Title

1. The name of the book.

This book is the Book of שׁופטים/Shophetim or Judges, ἐπειδὰν μετὰ τὸν θάνατον Ἰησοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ Ναυῆ, διὰ τῶν κριτῶν ἔσωζεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν λαὸν θλιβόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων, τῶν περιλειφθέντων Χαναναίων· καὶ τούτων τῶν κριτῶν ἑκάστου τὰς πράξεις, καὶ τὸν χρόνον τῆς ζωῆς ἡ βίβλος αὕτη περιέχει, because after the death of Joshua, son of Nun, God saved His people, pressed by the remaining nations of the Canaanites, through the Judges: the deeds and time of life of each of these Judges are contained in this volume: these are the words of Saint Athanasius in his Synopsi Sacræ Scripturæ. The word is taken from Judges 2:16, where God is read to have raise up שֹׁפְטִים/Judges, who would rescue the Israelites from the hand of those שֹׁסֵיהֶם, spoiling them. The Greeks, as it is seen in Josephus, called them both κριτὰς/judges and δικαστὰς/judges/avengers; the Latins, by the Carthaginian word, Suffetes (which is the very word שׁופטים/Shophetim, with which the Tyrians and the Carthaginians formerly distinguished their Magistrates). They were also called מוֹשִׁיעִים/Saviors/Deliverers, as it is evident from Judges 3:15.[1]

[1] Judges 3:15: “But when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised them up a deliverer (מוֹשִׁיעַ), Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab.”

Dr. Dilday's Lecture: "The Book of Judges, Part 2"