CLARITY EDITION · OLD TESTAMENT
Judges 3
Chapter 3 of 21
Chapter Overview
What happens in Judges 3
God leaves several nations in Canaan to test Israel. The people fall into idol worship and are conquered by foreign kings, but God raises up three judges to deliver them: Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar.
Scripture
Judges 3
The Nations Left to Test Israel
Study note
God intentionally left several enemy nations in the land so the new generation of Israelites could learn how to fight and so God could test whether they would obey him. These nations included the five Philistine rulers, the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites in the Lebanon mountains. Instead of remaining separate, the Israelites lived among these peoples, married their children, and began worshipping their gods, directly disobeying God's commands.
1 Here are the nations the Lord left in the land as a test for the Israelites who had never been through the battles for Canaan. Now 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;
2 The Lord did this so the younger people of Israel, who had never fought in a war, could learn how to fight. Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof;
3 These nations stayed behind. They were the five Philistine rulers and all the Canaanites. The Sidonians stayed too. So did the Hivites in the Lebanon mountains, from Mount Baal-hermon to Hamath's gate. Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-hermon unto the entering in of Hamath.
4 These nations were left as a test for Israel. They would show whether the people would follow the commands the Lord had given their ancestors through Moses. And 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.
5 So the Israelites settled right next to the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites:
6 The Israelites began marrying the sons and daughters of these nations. They started worshiping their gods. And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
Othniel, the First Judge
Study note
This is the first full cycle of the pattern described in chapter 2. Israel sinned by worshipping Baal and Asherah poles. God allowed Cushan-rishathaim, a king from Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), to conquer them for eight years. When Israel cried out to God, he raised up Othniel, Caleb's nephew, the same man who had captured Debir in chapter 1. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Othniel, he led Israel to victory, and the land had peace for forty years.
7 The Israelites did what the Lord considered evil. They forgot about the Lord their God and turned to worshipping the Baals and Asherah poles instead. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgat the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the groves.
8 This made the Lord so angry with Israel that he let Cushan-rishathaim, the king of Mesopotamia, conquer them. The Israelites lived under this king's control for eight years. Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushan-rishathaim eight years.
9 When the Israelites begged the Lord for help, he raised up a hero to save them: Othniel, the son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz. Othniel delivered them from their enemies. And 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.
10 The Spirit of the Lord filled Othniel with power, and he became Israel's judge. He went to war, and the Lord gave him victory over Cushan-rishathaim, the king of Mesopotamia. And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the LORD delivered Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushan-rishathaim.
11 After that, the land enjoyed peace for forty years. Then Othniel son of Kenaz died. And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.
Ehud Defeats King Eglon of Moab
Study note
After Othniel died, Israel sinned again. God strengthened Eglon, the king of Moab, who conquered Israel and ruled over them for eighteen years. God raised up Ehud, a left-handed man from the tribe of Benjamin. Left-handedness was unusual and gave Ehud a strategic advantage because he could hide a weapon on his right thigh, where guards would not think to check. Ehud assassinated Eglon in his own private room and escaped while the servants waited outside, thinking the king was using the bathroom. Ehud then rallied Israel to defeat the Moabites.
12 The Israelites went right back to doing evil in the Lord's sight. So the Lord made Eglon, the king of Moab, stronger than Israel. And 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.
13 Eglon formed an alliance with the Ammonites and the Amalekites. Together, they invaded Israel and took over the City of Palms. And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees.
14 The Israelites lived under King Eglon of Moab's rule for eighteen years. So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.
15 Once again, the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and he sent them a deliverer. This time it was Ehud, a left-handed man from the tribe of Benjamin. He was the son of Gera. The Israelites chose him to take their required payment to King Eglon of Moab. But 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.
16 Before he went, Ehud made a double-edged dagger about eighteen inches long. He hid it by strapping it under his clothes on his right thigh. But 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.
17 He brought the required payment to King Eglon, who was an extremely heavy man. And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon was a very fat man.
18 After handing over the payment, Ehud dismissed the men who had helped carry it. And when he had made an end to offer the present, he sent away the people that bare the present.
19 But Ehud himself turned back at the carved stones near Gilgal. He returned to the king and said, "Your Majesty, I have a secret message for you." The king ordered everyone to leave the room, and his attendants all stepped out. But 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.
20 Ehud approached Eglon while the king was sitting by himself in his cool rooftop room. Ehud said, "I have a message for you from God." The king rose from his chair. And 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.
21 At that moment, Ehud grabbed the dagger from his right thigh with his left hand and plunged it deep into the king's belly. And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly:
22 The blade went in so deep that even the handle disappeared, and the fat swallowed up the entire weapon. Ehud did not pull it back out. And 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.
23 Ehud then slipped out through the porch, closing and locking the doors of the upper room behind him. Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlour upon him, and locked them.
24 After Ehud was gone, the king's servants returned and found the doors locked. They figured, "He must be using the bathroom in his private room." When 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.
25 They waited and waited until they became worried. Since the king still had not opened the doors, they finally got a key and unlocked them. There was their master, dead on the floor. And 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.
26 While the servants had been standing around waiting, Ehud had gotten away. He slipped past the carved stones and escaped to Seirah. And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped unto Seirath.
27 Once he arrived there, he blew a trumpet throughout the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites came down from the hills to join him, with Ehud at the front. And 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.
28 "Follow me!" he ordered. "The Lord is giving you victory over the Moabites today!" So they went with him and took control of the places where the Jordan River could be crossed into Moab. They blocked every crossing and did not allow anyone to get through. And 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.
29 They killed around ten thousand Moabite soldiers that day, every one of them a strong, capable fighter. Not a single one got away. And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valour; and there escaped not a man.
30 That is how Moab was defeated by Israel, and the land enjoyed peace for the next eighty years. So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years.
Shamgar Defeats the Philistines
Study note
Shamgar is one of the minor judges mentioned only briefly. He killed six hundred Philistines using an ox goad, which was a long wooden stick with a metal tip used to drive oxen. This shows that God could use even simple farm tools and unlikely heroes to deliver his people.
31 The next leader after Ehud was Shamgar son of Anath. He single-handedly killed six hundred Philistines using an ox goad, which is a long pointed stick normally used for herding cattle. He, too, delivered Israel from its enemies. And 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.
Key Themes
Themes in Judges 3
God using unlikely people to accomplish His purposesThe pattern of testing and deliveranceIntermarriage with unbelievers leading to spiritual declineGod's patience in raising up deliverers again and again
Apply This Today
Living Judges 3
Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar were all different kinds of leaders, but God used each of them. Ehud was left-handed in a right-handed world; Shamgar used a farm tool as a weapon. God does not need perfect people or ideal circumstances. He uses whoever is willing to be used, regardless of their background or resources.
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