5 Now the children of Israel were living among the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites:
And Canaan was the father of Zidon, who was his oldest son, and Heth, And the Jebusite and the Amorite and the Girgashite, And the Hivite and the Arkite and the Sinite, And the Arvadite and the Zemarite and the Hamathite; after that the families of the Canaanites went far and wide in all directions;
And I have come down to take them out of the hands of the Egyptians, guiding them out of that land into a good land and wide, into a land flowing with milk and honey; into the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.
They did not put an end to the peoples, as the Lord had said; But they were joined to the nations, learning their works. And they gave worship to images; which were a danger to them: They even made offerings of their sons and their daughters to evil spirits, And gave the blood of their sons and their daughters who had done no wrong, offering them to the images of Canaan; and the land was made unclean with blood.
The Kenite, the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite, And the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim, And the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.
And I have said, I will take you up out of the sorrows of Egypt into the land of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, into a land flowing with milk and honey.
When the Lord your God takes you into the land where you are going, which is to be your heritage, and has sent out the nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you;
Now on hearing the news of these things, all the kings on the west side of Jordan, in the hill-country and the lowlands and by the Great Sea in front of Lebanon, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites,
And Ephraim did not make the Canaanites who were living in Gezer go out; but the Canaanites went on living in Gezer among them. Zebulun did not make the people of Kitron or the people of Nahalol go out; but the Canaanites went on living among them and were put to forced work. And Asher did not take the land of the people of Acco, or Zidon, or Ahlab, or Achzib, or Helbah, or Aphik, or Rehob, driving them out; But the Asherites went on living among the Canaanites, the people of the land, without driving them out.
You saw that his heart was true to you, and made an agreement with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Jebusite and the Girgashite, even to give it to his seed, and you have done what you said; for righteousness is yours:
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Judges 3
Commentary on Judges 3 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.