Date

6-16-2025

Department

Rawlings School of Divinity

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Bible Exposition (PhD)

Chair

David J. Pederson

Keywords

Servant Leadership, Gideon, Jephthah, judges of Israel, vow, armies, Robert K. Greenleaf, leadership

Disciplines

Religion

Abstract

Jesus Christ advocates for servant leadership. He advocated for it and practiced it during his earthly ministry, and He advocates for it now because He is alive forevermore and is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Mark 10:45; Rev 1:18; Heb 13:8). This researcher was curious if servant leadership was practiced by Old Testament judges, namely Gideon and Jephthah. Both judges were victorious warriors for Israel, but were they focused on improving Israel? Or were they hopeful that a victory for Israel meant a better life for themselves?

Robert K. Greenleaf coined the term “servant leadership” in an essay titled The Servant as Leader. Greenleaf presented ten servant leadership characteristics that will be used to determine whether Gideon and Jephthah practiced servant leadership. If Gideon and Jephthah did not practice the characteristics developed by Greenleaf, they will not be considered as servant leaders. Research proved that Gideon was an effective servant-leader, while Jephthah did not come close to servant leadership.

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