Judges 3 - Introduction
_A.M. 2598. B.C. 1406._ A general account of Israel's enemies, Judges 3:1. A particular account of Othniel, Judges 3:8. Of Ehud, Judges 3:12; and of Shamgar, Judges 3:31.... [ Continue Reading ]
_A.M. 2598. B.C. 1406._ A general account of Israel's enemies, Judges 3:1. A particular account of Othniel, Judges 3:8. Of Ehud, Judges 3:12; and of Shamgar, Judges 3:31.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now these are the nations_, &c. The sacred historian having declared, in general, that God did not judge it proper to drive out all the Canaanites, because he intended to try the fidelity and zeal of his people in his service, proceeds now to enumerate the particular nations which remained unsubdue... [ Continue Reading ]
_Only that the generations_, &c. Le Clerc and some other versions, instead of _only_ put _and_, this seeming to be a new and additional reason alleged why God left some of the Canaanitish nations in the land, namely, that the Israelites might be inured to war and hardship, and thereby be preserved f... [ Continue Reading ]
_Five lords of the Philistines_ See Joshua 13:2, and Judges 1:18, where it appears that three of them had been, in some measure, subdued, but had now recovered their country again, in consequence of the slothful conduct of the Israelites. _All the Canaanites_ Properly so called, who were very numero... [ Continue Reading ]
_To prove Israel_ That their piety and faithfulness to the one living and true God might appear, if they did not imitate these nations, and relapse into idolatry, and their baseness and degeneracy if they did. _To know whether they would hearken_ That is, that they themselves and others might know b... [ Continue Reading ]
_They took their daughters, and served their gods_ Were drawn to idolatry by the persuasions and examples of their yoke-fellows. _And served Baalim and the groves_ Or, _Baalim in groves;_ that is, false gods, or rather their images, set up under shady trees, contrary to the command given Exodus 34:1... [ Continue Reading ]
_He sold them into the hand of Chushan-rishathaim_ So that the first enemies that oppressed the Israelites were the Syrians; who, either out of hatred, or a desire to enlarge their dominions, came over the Euphrates, and invaded them, and kept them in subjection eight years. _King of Mesopotamia_ Wh... [ Continue Reading ]
_When the children of Israel cried unto the Lord_ When they returned to him in repentance, acknowledged him to be their only Protector and Saviour, and prayed fervently for pardon and deliverance; _the Lord raised up a deliverer_ Qualified a person for, and called him to, the great work of deliverin... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the children of Israel did evil again_ This was the case of the Israelites during all the time of their judges: the same person who freed them from servitude, purified them also from idolatry; but he was no sooner dead than their religion was at an end, though their peace and happiness were sur... [ Continue Reading ]
_City of palm-trees_ That is, Jericho. Not the city which was demolished, but the territory belonging to it. Here he fixed his camp, for the fertility of that soil, and because of its nearness to the passage over Jordan, which was most commodious both for the conjunction of his own forces, which lay... [ Continue Reading ]
_A Benjamite_ This tribe was next to Eglon, and doubtless most afflicted by him; and hence God raised a deliverer. _Left-handed_ Which is here noted as a considerable circumstance in the following story. The Seventy render the word αμφοτεροδεξιον, _who could use both his hands alike_, which is proba... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ehud, made him a dagger_ It is probable that none of the Israelites were suffered to wear arms, and therefore this particular is mentioned of Ehud; and that he wore it under his upper garment to conceal it: for it does not appear that he made it purposely for the occasion, in which we are told in t... [ Continue Reading ]
_He sent away the people_ He accompanied them part of the way, and then dismissed them, and returned to Eglon alone, that so he might have more easy access to him. He himself turned again from the quarries, as if he had forgotten some important business. Houbigant takes the word פשׂילים, _pesilim_,... [ Continue Reading ]
_He was sitting in a summer parlour_ Into which, it is probable, he used to retire from company; which is mentioned as the reason why his servants waited so long ere they went in to him, Judges 3:25. _I have a message from God unto thee_ To be delivered, not in words, but by actions. This was true i... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ehud put forth his hand and took the dagger_ It is justly observed by Dr. Dodd, that this action of Ehud “is certainly among the number of those which are not to be imitated without that which gave it all its sanction; namely, a divine commission. The text expressly says, _The Lord raised up Ehud;_... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the dirt came out_ The Hebrew word פרשׁדנה, _parschedona_, here translated _dirt_, is found only in this place. It is from the Chaldee that it is thus rendered, and all agree that it signifies the excrements.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ehud went forth_ With a composed countenance and motion, being well assured that God, who by his extraordinary call had excited him to this enterprise, would, by his special providence, carry him through it. _And shut the doors upon him_ Upon, or after, himself; _and locked them _ Either pulling th... [ Continue Reading ]
_He covereth his feet_ This phrase is used only here, and 1 Samuel 24:3. A late judicious interpreter expounds it, of composing himself to take a little sleep, as it was very usual to do in the day-time in those hot countries. And when they did so in cool places, such as this summer parlour unquesti... [ Continue Reading ]
_They tarried till they were ashamed_ Till they were in great confusion, not conceiving what could cause him to sleep so much longer than usual; and not knowing what to say or think, afraid that they should either disturb him, or be guilty of neglect toward him. _They took a key and opened them_ Ano... [ Continue Reading ]
_He blew a trumpet_ In order to summon those who were disposed to recover their liberty to take arms and follow him. _And the children of Israel went down with him_ Whom doubtless he had prepared by his emissaries, and gathered together in considerable numbers. With these he attacked the Moabites wh... [ Continue Reading ]
_The land had rest fourscore years_ Not the whole land of Israel, but the eastern part of it, which had thus shaken off the yoke of Moab. For in the mean time the Philistines invaded the western parts, as it here follows, and were repulsed by Shamgar; and Jabin afflicted the northern, as it follows... [ Continue Reading ]
_After him was Shamgar_ He was the third judge of the Israelites, and delivered them from some small oppressions which they suffered from the Philistines. The sacred text gives us no further particulars concerning him than that he slew six hundred of them with an ox-goad; or, as the Latin and Greek... [ Continue Reading ]