Judges 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.

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

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.

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.

9. when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord--In their distress

they had recourse to earnest prayer, accompanied by humble and penitent

confession of their errors.

Othniel--(See on

Jos 15:16;

Jud 1:13).

His military experience qualified him for the work, while the gallant

exploits he was known to have performed, gained him the full confidence

of his countrymen in his ability as a leader.

10. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he judged Israel, and went

out to war--Impelled by a supernatural influence, he undertook the

difficult task of government at this national crisis--addressing

himself to promote a general reformation of manners, the abolition of

idolatry, and the revival of pure religion. After these preliminary

measures, he collected a body of choice warriors to expel the foreign

oppressors.

the Lord delivered Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his

hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushan-rishathaim--No details

are given of this war, which, considering the resources of so potent a

monarch, must have been a determined struggle. But the Israelitish arms

were crowned through the blessing of God with victory, and Canaan

regained its freedom and independence.

11. Othniel . . . died--How powerful the influence of one good man is,

in church or state, is best found in his loss [BISHOP

HALL].

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.

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.

Moab--the yearly tribute, which, according to Eastern fashion, would

be borne with ostentatious ceremony and offered

(Jud 3:18)

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.

19. quarries--rather, "graven images"

(De 7:25;

Jer 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.