Judges 3
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1Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan;
CHAPTER 3
Jud 3:1-4. Nations Left to Prove Israel.
1. these are the nations which the Lord left, to prove Israel--This was the special design of these nations being left, and it evinces the direct influence of the theocracy under which the Israelites were placed. These nations were left for a double purpose: in the first instance, to be instrumental, by their inroads, in promoting the moral and spiritual discipline of the Israelites; and also to subserve the design of making them acquainted with war, in order that the young, more especially, who were total strangers to it, might learn the use of weapons and the art of wielding them.
Now these are the nations, etc. We are now told in detail what was stated in general in Jdg_2:22, Jdg_2:23, after the common method of Hebrew narrative. To prove Israel. This word to prove is used here in a somewhat different sense from that which it bears in Jdg_2:4 and in Jdg_2:22. In those passages it is used of their moral probation, of proving or testing their faith and obedience; but here it is rather in the sense of "to exercise" or "to accustom them," to train them to war. A considerable period of rest had followed Joshua's conquest, during which the younger Israelites had no experience of war; but if they were to keep their hold of Canaan, it was needful that the warlike spirit should be kept up in their breasts.
2Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof;
3Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baalhermon unto the entering in of Hamath.
The five lords, etc. The title seren, here rendered "lord," is one exclusively applied to the lords of the five Philistine cities enumerated in Jos_13:3; 1Sa_6:17, 1Sa_6:18, viz; Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. It occurs repeatedly in 1Sa_16:1-23.; 1Sa_5:1-12; 1Sa_6:1-21; 1Sa_29:1-11; etc. The word means an axle-tree. The entering in of Hamath. There are two theories in regard to Hamath. Some, as Professor Rawlinson in the 'Dictionary of the Bible,' identify it with Hamah, a large and important city on the Orontes in Upper Syria, and consider that the kingdom of Hamath, which was overthrown by the king of Assyria (2Ki_18:34; 2Ki_19:13), and of which Hamath was the capital, was for the most part an independent Hamitic or Canaanite kingdom (Gen_10:18), but occasionally, as in the days of Solomon and Jeroboam (1Ki_8:65; 2Ki_14:28; 2Ch_8:4), subject to Israel Others, however, justly considering the great improbability of the Israelite dominion having ever extended so far north as the valley of the Orontes, and observing how it is spoken of as an integral part of Israel (1Ki_8:65), look for Hamath much further south, in the neighbourhood of Beth-rehob (see Jdg_18:28, note). As regards the phrase "the entering in of Hamath," the identical Hebrew words occur seven times, viz; Num_13:21; Num_34:8; Jos_13:5; in this passage; 1Ki_8:65; 2Ki_14:25; 2Ch_7:8, and are variously rendered in the A.V.: "as men come to Hamath;" "unto the entrance of Hamath;" "the entering into Hamath;" "the entering in of Hamath (three times); and the entering of Hamath." The exact meaning of the phrase seems to be "the approach to Hamath," some particular spot in the valley from whence the direct road to Hamath begins; very much like the railway term for certain stations which are the nearest to, though at some little distance from, the place from which they are named, as, e.g; Shapwick Road, Mildenhall Road, etc. The latter words of the verse describe the territory of the Hivites, which reached from Mount Baal-hermon in the Lebanon range as far as the point where the road leads to Hamath.
4And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.
5And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites:
Jud 3:5-7. By Communion with These the Israelites Commit Idolatry.
5-7. the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites--The two peoples by degrees came to be on habits of intercourse. Reciprocal alliances were formed by marriage till the Israelites, relaxing the austerity of their principles, showed a growing conformity to the manners and worship of their idolatrous neighbors.
The Canaanites, etc. The same enumeration of the tribes of the Canaanites as in Exo_34:11.
6And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
They took their daughters, etc. Here is a further downward step in the disobedience of the Israelites. Intermarriage with the Canaanite nations had been expressly forbidden (Exo_34:15, Exo_34:16; Deu_7:3; Jos_23:12), and the reason of the prohibition clearly stated, and for some time after Joshua's death no such marriages appear to have been contracted. But now the fatal step was taken, and the predicted consequence immediately ensued: "they served their gods;.; they forgat the Lord their God, and served the Baalim and the Asheroth."
This section introduces us into the actual narrative of the Book of Judges, the prefatory matter being now concluded. The whole book proceeds on the same model as this section does. The apostasy of Israel; their servitude under the oppressor sent to chastise them; their cry of distress and penitence; their deliverance by the judge raised up to save them; the rest which follows their deliverance. There is infinite variety in the details of the successive narratives, but they are all formed on the same plan.
7And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgat the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the groves.
The groves. The Asheroth, here and elsewhere (Jdg_6:25, Jdg_6:26; Deu_16:21, etc.)wrongly rendered groves, were large wooden images or pillars in honour of Ashtoreth, and so are properly coupled with Baalim. This verse is in fact identical in meaning with Jdg_2:13, of which it is a repetition (see note to Jdg_2:13, and Jdg_8:23).
8Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushanrishathaim eight years.
Jud 3:8-11. Othniel Delivers Israel.
8-11. sold them--that is, "delivered them"
into the hand of Chushan-rishathaim--or, Chushan, "the wicked." This name had been probably given him from his cruel and impious character.
served Chushan-rishathaim eight years--by the payment of a stipulated tribute yearly, the raising of which must have caused a great amount of labor and privation.
Chushan-rishathaim, i.e; as usually explained, Chushan the victorious, or the wicked. His name, Chushan, or Cushan, points to Cush, the father of Nimrod (Gen_10:6-8), and the seat of his kingdom in Aram-naharaim, or Mesopotamia, agrees with Nimrod's kingdom in "Babel … in the land of Shinar" (Gen_10:10). An earlier invasion of Palestine by conquerors from Mesopotamia is mentioned Gen_14:2, where Amraphel, king of Shinar, is one of the five kings who invaded Sodom. Bela, son of Beer, king of Edom, seems by his name to have been clearly from Mesopotamia, as Balaam the son of Beer was (Num_22:5; Num_23:7); and in the time of Job we read of bands of Chaldeans looting in the land of Uz (Job_1:17). Chushan, as the name of a people, is coupled with Midian in Hab_3:7; but we have no accounts of the state of Mesopotamia at the time of Chushan-rishathaim.
9And when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.
A deliverer. Hebrew, Saviour, as Jdg_3:15 (see Neh_9:27). Othniel, etc. Mentioned Jdg_1:13; Jos_15:17, and 1Ch_4:13, where he is placed under "the sons of Kenaz," and seems to be the father of Hathath and Meonothai. According to Judith 6:15, he had a descendant, Chabris, living in the time of Holofernes. The Hebrew, though grammatically it favours the view that Othniel was the brother of Caleb, does not absolutely exclude the rendering that Kenaz was his brother, and so Othniel his nephew. Compare Jer_32:7, where the words "thine uncle" apply to Shallum, not to Hanameel, as is clear from Jer_32:8. And as the chronology seems to make it impossible that Othniel should be Caleb's brother, since Caleb was eighty-five years old at the time of Othniel's marriage, and Othniel therefore could not be less than fifty-five, an improbable age for his marriage; and since, again, Othniel could not well have been less than eighty at Joshua's death, which, allowing only ten years for the elders, and reckoning the eight years for Chushan's dominion, would make him ninety-eight when he was raised up to deliver Israel, it is a lesser difficulty to take Othniel as the nephew of Caleb, by understanding the words, Caleb's younger brother, to apply to Kenaz. But perhaps the least objectionable escape from the difficulty is to take the phrase in its most natural grammatical sense, but to understand the word brother in its wider and very common sense of kinsman or fellow-tribesman. They were both sons of Kenaz, or Kenizzites. Caleb was the head of the tribe, and Othniel was next to him in tribal dignity, and his junior in age, but probably succeeded to the chieftainship on Caleb's death. This would leave the exact relationship between Caleb and Othniel uncertain.
10And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the LORD delivered Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim.
And the Spirit, etc. This marks Othniel as one of the extraordinary Shophetim, or judges, Divinely commissioned to save Israel (see Jdg_6:34; Jdg_11:29; Jdg_13:25; Jdg_14:6, Jdg_14:19).
11And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.
And Othniel, etc. The arrangement of this verse suggests that Othniel lived through the whole forty years of rest, but this is highly improbable. The first part of the verse only belongs to the preceding section, which it closes quite naturally. The result of Othniel's victories was a rest of forty years (cf. Jdg_3:30; Jdg_5:31; Jdg_8:28, etc.). The latter half of the verse—And Othniel the son of Kenaz died—begins a new section, and is introductory to the first apostasy, which followed after his death.
12And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD.
Jud 3:12-30. Ehud Slays Eglon.
12-14. the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord--The Israelites, deprived of the moral and political influences of Othniel, were not long in following their native bias to idolatry.
the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab--The reigning monarch's ambition was to recover that extensive portion of his ancient territory possessed by the Israelites. In conjunction with his neighbors, the Ammonites and the Amalekites, sworn enemies of Israel, he first subjected the eastern tribes; then crossing the Jordan, he made a sudden incursion on western Canaan, and in virtue of his conquests, erected fortifications in the territory adjoining Jericho [Josephus], to secure the frontier, and fixed his residence there. This oppressor was permitted, in the providence of God, to triumph for eighteen years.
13And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees.
The children of Ammon. The technical name of the Ammonite people (see Gen_19:38; Deu_2:19, Deu_2:37; Jdg_10:6, Jdg_10:11, Jdg_10:17, etc.). Sometimes, however, they are called Ammon, or Ammonites (see Deu_23:3; 1Sa_11:11, etc.). Amalek, or the Amalekites, were the hereditary enemies of Israel (see Exo_17:8-16; Jdg_5:14; Jdg_6:3, Jdg_6:33; Jdg_7:12; 1Sa_15:2, etc.). The Amalekites appear, from Gen_36:12, to have been a branch of the Edomites, and the latest mention of them in the Bible finds a remnant of them in the neighbourhood of Mount Seir in the days of Hezekiah (1Ch_4:41-43). The city of palm trees, i.e. Jericho, as Deu_34:3; Jdg_1:16. Jericho was the first city in Canaan which any one crossing the fords of the Jordan would come to (see Jos_2:1; Jos_6:1, etc.). Though no longer a fenced city, it was important from the fertility of the plain, and from its commanding the fords.
14So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.
15But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, 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.
15. Ehud the son of Gera--descended from Gera, one of Benjamin's sons (Ge 46:21).
left-handed--This peculiarity distinguished many in the Benjamite tribe (Jud 20:16). But the original word is rendered in some versions "both-handed," a view countenanced by 1Ch 12:2.
by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab--the yearly tribute, which, according to Eastern fashion, would be borne with ostentatious ceremony and offered (Jud 3:18) by several messengers.
Left-handed. It was a peculiarity of the warriors of the tribe of Benjamin to be left-handed (see Jdg_20:16; 1Ch_12:2). A left-handed man wearing no sword or dagger on his left side, and using his right hand for other purposes, would naturally throw a man off his guard. Thus Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him, and then smote him with the sword in his left hand (2Sa_20:10). A deliverer. Hebrew, a saviour (Jdg_3:9). A present, i.e. their tribute.
16But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit length; and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh.
16. Ehud made him a dagger ... and he did gird it ... upon his right thigh--The sword was usually worn on the left side; so that Ehud's was the more likely to escape detection.
17And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon was a very fat man.
18And when he had made an end to offer the present, he sent away the people that bare the present.
19But he himself turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king: who said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him.
19. quarries--rather, "graven images" (De 7:25; Jr 8:19; 51:52); statues of Moabite idols, the sight of which kindled the patriotic zeal of Ehud to avenge this public insult to Israel on its author.
I have a secret errand unto thee, O king: who said, Keep silence--"Privacy"--a signal for all to withdraw.
The quarries. It is uncertain whether this is the meaning of the Hebrew word. Its common meaning is images, as Deu_7:25, and elsewhere.
20And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting in a summer parlour, which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat.
20. a summer parlour--Hebrew, "chamber of cooling"--one of those retired edifices which Oriental grandees usually have in their gardens, and in which they repose during the heat of the day.
For himself alone. It seems to have been Eglon's habit to sit quite alone in this summer parlour for coolness sake, his attendants waiting in the adjoining antechamber. On this occasion he appears to have dismissed them from the antechamber, for greater privacy, while Ehud spake to him.
21And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly:
21-26. Ehud put forth his left hand--The whole circumstance of this daring act--the death of Eglon without a shriek, or noise--the locking of the doors--the carrying off the key--the calm, unhurried deportment of Ehud--show the strength of his confidence that he was doing God service.
22And the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly; and the dirt came out.
The haft, etc. Ehud, feeling the necessity of killing Eglon at one blow, plunged the dagger into his body with such force that the handle went in with the blade, and he was unable to draw it out. Leaving it, therefore, buried in his fat, he went out at once into the parshedon, or antechamber, for so it is best to render the last words of the verse, and thence into the misederon, the outer porch, having first locked the door of the summer chamber. The words parshedon and misederon occur only here, and the former is very variously rendered.
23Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlour upon him, and locked them.
24When he was gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlour were locked, they said, Surely he covereth his feet in his summer chamber.
Covereth his feet, i.e. is asleep (see 1Sa_24:3). The servants, finding the door locked, and all quiet within, coneluded that he was taking his siesta in the heat of the day.
25And they tarried till they were ashamed: and, behold, he opened not the doors of the parlour; therefore they took a key, and opened them: and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth.
26And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped unto Seirath.
The quarries. See above, Jdg_3:19. Seirath, or rather has-seirah, is not known as the name of a place. It seems to mean the rough or woody district, the forest in the hill country of Ephraim, where there was good shelter to hide in.
27And it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and he before them.
27. he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim--summoned to arms the people of that mountainous region, which, adjoining the territory of Benjamin, had probably suffered most from the grievous oppression of the Moabites.
He blew a trumpet. Like Alfred in the marshes of Somerset, he gathered a host around him in the shelter of the forest; and then, full of faith in his Divine mission, "strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might," dashed down boldly into the plain, and, seizing the fords, cut off all communication between the Moabites at Jericho and their countrymen east of the Jordan. They could neither escape into Moab nor get help from Moab. Thrown into confusion by the death of their king and the suddenness of the attack, the Moabites fell to the number of 10,000 men; and so ended the second servitude, to be followed by a rest (if the numeral in the text is sound) of eighty years.
28And he said unto them, Follow after me: for the LORD hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and suffered not a man to pass over.
28. they went down after him, and took the fords--(See on Jos 2:7). With the view of preventing all escape to the Moabite coast, and by the slaughter of ten thousand men [Jud 3:29], Ehud rescued his country from a state of ignominious vassalage.
29And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valour; and there escaped not a man.
30So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years.
31And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel.
31. after him was Shamgar--No notice is given of the tribe or family of this judge; and from the Philistines being the enemy that roused him into public service, the suffering seems to have been local--confined to some of the western tribes.
slew ... six hundred men with an oxgoad--This instrument is eight feet long and about six inches in circumference. It is armed at the lesser end with a sharp prong for driving the cattle, and on the other with a small iron paddle for removing the clay which encumbers the plough in working. Such an instrument, wielded by a strong arm, would do no mean execution. We may suppose, however, for the notice is very fragmentary, that Shamgar was only the leader of a band of peasants, who by means of such implements of labor as they could lay hold of at the moment, achieved the heroic exploit recorded.
Of the Philistines. This is an isolated movement of the Philistines, alluded to in Jdg_10:11, but of which we have no further details. In Jdg_10:6 we read of Israel worshipping the gods of the Phllistines, and of an alliance between the Ammonites and Philistines to vex Israel; but the precise connection between the events of the two chapters, or the exact time when either occurred, cannot be determined with certainty. Nothing more is known of Shamgar, except the mention of him in Deborah's song (Jdg_5:6).
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