The prevailing view is simply that the Judges were inspired, not hereditary leaders. But this misses the point; the Judges were normally from the rul… - Cyrus Herzl Gordon

" "

The prevailing view is simply that the Judges were inspired, not hereditary leaders. But this misses the point; the Judges were normally from the ruling aristocracy, quite like the kings in Homer. ...The kings did not necessarily inherit rulership from their fathers but sometimes did, like Odysseus from Laertes, or Abimelech from Gideon. ...the kings came from the fighting and landed aristocracy...