Judges 3:9

_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._ 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 the note at Joshua 15:17; Judges 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....

8-11 The first judge was Othniel: even in Joshua's time Othniel began to be famous. Soon after Israel's settlement in Canaan their purity began to be corrupted, and their peace disturbed. But affliction makes those cry to God who before would scarcely speak to him. God returned in mercy to them for their deliverance. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Othniel. The Spirit of wisdom and courage to qualify him for the service, and the Spirit of power to excite him to it. He first judged Israel, reproved and reformed them, and then went to war. Let sin at home be conquered, that worst of enemies, then enemies abroad will be more easily dealt with. Thus let Christ be our Judge and Lawgiver, then he will save us....

Verse Judges 3:9. _RAISED UP - OTHNIEL, THE SON OF KENAZ_] This noble Hebrew was of the tribe of Judah, and nephew and son-in-law to Caleb, whose praise stands without abatement in the sacred records. Othniel had already signalized his valour in taking Kirjath-sepher, which appears to have been a very hazardous exploit. By his natural valour, experience in war, and the peculiar influence of the Divine Spirit, he was well qualified to inspire his countrymen with courage, and to lead them successfully against their oppressors....

Othniel was already distinguished in Joshua’s lifetime as a brave and successful leader. See Joshua 15:16....

EXPOSITION This section introduces us into the actual narrative of the Book of Judges, the prefatory matter being now concluded. The whole book proceeds on the same model as this section does. The apostasy of Israel; their servitude under the oppressor sent to chastise them; their cry of distress and penitence; their deliverance by the judge raised up to save them; the rest which follows their deliverance. There is infinite variety in the details of the successive narratives, but they are all formed on the same plan. JUDGES 3:7 THE GROVES. The _Asheroth_,_ _here and elsewhere (Judges 6:25, Judges 6:26;...

AND WHEN THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL CRIED UNTO THE LORD,.... Towards the close of the eight years' bondage, as it may be supposed, groaning under the oppressive taxes laid upon them, and the bondage they were brought into: and THE LORD RAISED UP A DELIVERER TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL; he heard their cry, and sent them a saviour, whose spirit he stirred up, and whom he qualified for this service: WHO DELIVERED THEM; out of the hands of the king of Mesopotamia, and freed them from his oppressions: [EVEN] OTHNIEL, THE SON OF KENAZ, CALEB'S YOUNGER BROTHER; the same that took Debir, and married Achsah, the daughter of Caleb, Judges 1:12; who now very probably was a man in years....

II. THE DECLENSIONS, PUNISHMENTS AND DELIVERANCES 1. The Sin of Idolatry and Othniel CHAPTER 3:5-11 _ 1. The first declension (Judges 3:5)_ 2. Sold to the king of Mesopotamia (Judges 3:8) 3. The deliverance through Othniel (Judges 3:9) The first declension, bondage and deliverance is briefly related. We see how Israel went from bad to worse. First, the wicked nations they were to exterminate dwelt amongst them. Then the children of Israel established some relationship with them and dwelt amongst these nations. First, the children of Israel permitted them to exist in their midst; then the doomed nations gained the power over Israel and the people of God became dependent on them. The third step dow

OTHNIEL THE KENITE. The brief account of the oppression of Israel by the Aramæ ans, and of their deliverance by Othniel, is the work of D, whose familiar categories apostasy, Divine anger, oppression, repentance, deliverance, peace practically make up the whole narrative. Not a single detail of the conflict is supplied. The statement that the invaders from the far north of Syria were turned back by Othniel, whose seat was at Debir, in the extreme south, is not historically probable. The basis of the narrative may be the tradition of a struggle between Othniel (_i.e._ the Kenizzites) and the Bedouin of the southeast, for Cushan means Lydian. Graetz proposes to read Edom instead of Aram. Judges 3:9. On Othniel, see Judges 1:13....

DELIVERER. saviour. DELIVERED. saved. Compare Luke 1:68. OTHNIEL. Compare Joshua 15:16; Joshua 15:17....

_Othniel delivers Israel from Cushan-rishathaim_ The account of this deliverance is given as a typical illustration of the theory announced in Judges 2:11-19. It is composed almost entirely of the standing formulae of the Deuteronomic editor. The other narratives of the Judges are founded upon some popular story, but there is no story here; the only details preserved are the bare names of the oppressor and the deliverer. As it stands this meagre notice can hardly be historical; but when we go behind it we seem to discover the faint tradition of an actual struggle....