Judges 3

These are the nations the LORD left in the land, to test Israel by them. He left them to test all the Israelites who had not lived through any of the wars in Canaan.

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;

Note"To test" here means to put someone in a situation that reveals what they will actually do, the same word used of assaying metal. It is not a test in the sense of an examination with a score.

2He did this only so that the later generations of Israel would learn about war, at least those who had known nothing about it before.

2Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof;

3The nations were these: the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in the mountains of Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon to the pass that leads into Hamath.

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.

NoteThe Philistines lived on the southern coastal plain in five cities (Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron and Gath) each under its own ruler; the Hebrew title used for these five (seren) is not the ordinary word for king, and the five acted together as a league. The Sidonians were the people of the port city of Sidon, on the coast of what is now Lebanon; their name often stands for the Phoenicians in general. "The entering in of Hamath" (Lebo-hamath) was a pass or town at the far north, used throughout the Old Testament as the standard marker of the northern edge of the land.

4These nations were left to test Israel, to find out whether the people would obey the commands the LORD had given their ancestors through Moses.

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.

5So the Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

5And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites:

NoteThese six names are the conventional list of the peoples already living in Canaan before Israel arrived. Some are known from outside records (the Amorites, the Hittites), others only from the Bible. The Jebusites held Jerusalem, which Israel had not yet taken.

6They married the daughters of those peoples, gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

6And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

NoteMarriage between Israelites and these peoples had been forbidden in the law given to Moses, on the stated grounds that it would lead to worshiping their gods. The verse reports the marriages and the worship in that order deliberately.

7The Israelites did what was evil in the LORD's sight. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baal gods and the wooden poles set up for the goddess Asherah.

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.

Note"The Baals" is plural because Baal ("lord, master") was worshiped in many local forms, each tied to a particular town or shrine. Asherah was a goddess; the objects named here were wooden poles or stylised trees set up beside an altar as her emblem. The King James word "groves" reflects an old guess that these were plantations of trees.

8So the LORD's anger burned hot against Israel, and he sold them into the power of Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia. The Israelites served Cushan-rishathaim for eight years.

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.

Note"He sold them into the power of" is a legal image, handing people over the way an owner transfers a slave for a price. It is used repeatedly in Judges for Israel falling under foreign control. The name Cushan-rishathaim looks like a mocking nickname: the second half means something like "double wickedness." The territory called Mesopotamia here is Aram-naharaim, "Aram of the two rivers," the region of the upper Euphrates in northern Syria, not the whole of what is now Iraq.

9When the Israelites cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a man to rescue them, and he did rescue them. He was Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.

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.

NoteThe Hebrew is ambiguous about who is described as "Caleb's younger brother": it can be read as Kenaz being Caleb's younger brother, or as Othniel himself being younger than Caleb. Both readings are old and neither can be ruled out.

10The Spirit of the LORD came on him, and he judged Israel and went out to war. The LORD handed Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, over to him, and Othniel overpowered him.

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.

Note"Judged Israel" does not mean he sat in a courtroom. The word covers governing, leading and settling disputes; the men and women called judges in this book are chiefly military leaders who then hold authority for life. The book takes its name from this word.

11Then the land had peace for forty years. And Othniel son of Kenaz died.

11And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

Note"The land had rest for forty years" is a recurring formula in Judges marking a period of freedom from foreign attack. Forty is a round figure standing roughly for a generation, as is the eighty of verse 30; these numbers are not necessarily precise counts.

12The Israelites again did what was evil in the LORD's sight. So the LORD made Eglon king of Moab strong against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the LORD's sight.

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.

13Eglon brought the Ammonites and the Amalekites over to his side, then went and attacked Israel and took control of the City of Palms.

13And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees.

NoteThe Ammonites and Amalekites were neighboring peoples east and south of Israel; Moab lay east of the Dead Sea. The City of Palms is Jericho, or the oasis settlement at its site, which controlled the western end of the Jordan crossings.

14So the Israelites served Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years.

14So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.

15But when the Israelites cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a man to rescue them: Ehud son of Gera, from the tribe of Benjamin, a left-handed man. The Israelites sent him with a payment for Eglon king of Moab.

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.

NoteThe Hebrew for "left-handed" is literally "restricted as to his right hand," and the phrase carries a joke: Ehud is a Benjamite, and Benjamin means "son of the right hand." His left-handedness also matters practically, a weapon on the right thigh is where a guard searching a right-handed man would not look. The "present" is tribute: the compulsory payment a subject people made to the ruler who controlled them, delivered by a formal delegation.

16Ehud made himself a dagger with two sharp edges, about a foot and a half long. He strapped it to his right thigh, under his clothes.

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.

NoteThe word translated "cubit" here is a rare one found nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible, and its exact length is uncertain; an ordinary cubit was about eighteen inches, the length of a forearm. Either way the blade is short enough to conceal under clothing.

17He brought the payment to Eglon king of Moab. Eglon was a very fat man.

17And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon was a very fat man.

18When Ehud had finished handing over the payment, he sent away the men who had carried it.

18And when he had made an end to offer the present, he sent away the people that bare the present.

19But when he reached the carved images near Gilgal, he himself turned back and said, "I have a secret message for you, King." The king said, "Quiet," and everyone standing near him left the room.

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.

NoteThe King James "quarries" and the modern "carved images" translate one Hebrew word meaning carved or hewn stones, either standing idols or simply cut boundary stones. Both senses are possible and translators still divide over it. Gilgal was a site near Jericho. The king's "Quiet" (King James "Keep silence") is an order that clears the room so the secret message can be given in private.

20Ehud came up to him while he was sitting alone in his cool upper room, which he kept for himself. Ehud said, "I have a message from God for you." So the king stood up from his seat.

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.

NoteThe room is a chamber built on the flat roof of the house, with latticed openings to catch the breeze, the coolest and most private space in the building, reached by an outside stair. "I have a message from God for you" uses a word that can mean either a spoken message or a thing; Ehud is carrying both.

21Ehud reached with his left hand, pulled the dagger from his right thigh, and drove it into Eglon's belly.

21And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly:

22Even the handle went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, so Ehud could not pull the dagger back out of his belly. And his bowels emptied.

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.

NoteThe last phrase of this verse is one of the most obscure in the Hebrew Bible. The word rendered "the dirt came out" occurs nowhere else and has been taken to mean the contents of the bowels, or the blade coming out the other side, or Ehud going out through an antechamber. Translators pick one and note the doubt.

23Then Ehud went out through the porch. He shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.

23Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlour upon him, and locked them.

24After he had gone, the king's servants came and saw that the doors of the upper room were locked. They said, "He must be relieving himself in the cool room."

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.

Note"He covereth his feet" is a polite Hebrew euphemism for relieving oneself, long robes were drawn down over the legs while squatting. The servants assume the locked door means privacy, not murder.

25They waited until they felt embarrassed, and still he did not open the doors of the upper room. So they took a key and opened them, and there was their master, lying dead on the floor.

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.

Note"They tarried till they were ashamed" is an idiom for waiting past the point of comfort, hanging about until embarrassment turns into worry that something is wrong.

26Ehud got away while they were waiting. He went past the carved images and escaped to Seirah.

26And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped unto Seirath.

NoteSeirah is otherwise unknown; it was somewhere in the hill country north-west of Jericho.

27When he arrived, he blew a ram's horn in the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites came down from the hills with him, and he led the way.

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.

NoteThe horn is a shofar, made from a ram's horn. Blowing it was the standard signal to call fighting men out of their villages, the equivalent of sounding a general alarm across a district. "The hill country of Ephraim" is the high ground of central Canaan.

28He said to them, "Follow me, because the LORD has handed your enemies the Moabites over to you." So they went down after him and took control of the places where people crossed the Jordan River toward Moab, and they let no one cross.

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.

NoteThe fords are the few shallow places where the Jordan could be waded. Holding them sealed the only route by which the Moabite force west of the river could get home, or reinforcements come across.

29At that time they killed about ten thousand Moabites, all of them strong and able fighters. Not one man escaped.

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.

NoteThe King James "lusty" means physically robust, not lustful, the sense of the English word has shifted since 1611. The Hebrew word is literally "fat," the same idea used of Eglon in verse 17.

30So Moab was brought under Israel's power that day, and the land had peace for eighty years.

30So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years.

Note"Fourscore" is the old English for eighty; a score is twenty.

31After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath. He struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad, a long pointed stick used to drive oxen. He too rescued Israel.

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.

NoteShamgar's name is not Hebrew, and Anath was the name of a Canaanite war goddess, so "son of Anath" may be a place name, a title of a warrior, or an ordinary parentage: it is disputed. An oxgoad was a pole roughly eight feet long with a metal point at one end, used for driving plow oxen: a farm tool, not a weapon. Shamgar is given one verse and no dates, and is never said to have judged Israel.