It sounds rather strange right at the beginning to hear that “judges ruled” in the land of Judah. Traditionally the position of “judge” was not all that important in the Central African community, for it was the diviner who usually determined the question of guilt and innocence. It might be that subsequently the council of “elders” would decide what penalty ought to be meted out in the case of offenders. Even later in colonial history, when government-appointed official judges came on the scene, such men were never viewed as functioning in any capacity of administrative rule, for this work was being done by others. Part of the problem, of course, arises with the English translation itself. The Hebrew shophetim is in many contexts better rendered as “deliverers”; they acted more in the capacity of military leaders than as judicial arbiters. They would correspond to the paramount chief of certain African peoples, particularly those with a strong military tradition.

Source: Wendland 1987, p. 166f.

For more of the “Ruth in Central Africa” series, see here.