Text -- Judges 3:1-16 (NET)

3:1 These were the nations the Lord permitted to remain so he could use them to test Israel– he wanted to test all those who had not experienced battle against the Canaanites. 3:2 He left those nations simply because he wanted to teach the subsequent generations of Israelites, who had not experienced the earlier battles, how to conduct holy war. 3:3 These were the nations: the five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo-Hamath. 3:4 They were left to test Israel, so the Lord would know if his people would obey the commands he gave their ancestors through Moses. 3:5 The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 3:6 They took the Canaanites’ daughters as wives and gave their daughters to the Canaanites; they worshiped their gods as well.

Othniel: A Model Leader

3:7 The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They forgot the Lord their God and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs. 3:8 The Lord was furious with Israel and turned them over to King Cushan-Rishathaim of Aram-Naharaim. They were Cushan-Rishathaim’s subjects for eight years. 3:9 When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, he raised up a deliverer for the Israelites who rescued them. His name was Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. 3:10 The Lord’s spirit empowered him and he led Israel. When he went to do battle, the Lord handed over to him King Cushan-Rishathaim of Aram and he overpowered him. 3:11 The land had rest for forty years; then Othniel son of Kenaz died.

Deceit, Assassination, and Deliverance

3:12 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight. The Lord gave King Eglon of Moab control over Israel because they had done evil in the Lord’s sight. 3:13 Eglon formed alliances with the Ammonites and Amalekites. He came and defeated Israel, and they seized the City of Date Palm Trees. 3:14 The Israelites were subject to King Eglon of Moab for eighteen years. 3:15 When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, he raised up a deliverer for them. His name was Ehud son of Gera the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The Israelites sent him to King Eglon of Moab with their tribute payment. 3:16 Ehud made himself a sword– it had two edges and was eighteen inches long. He strapped it under his coat on his right thigh.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Jdg 3:1

¹ tn Heb “did not know the wars of Canaan.”

NET Notes: Jdg 3:2

¹ tn The Hebrew syntax of v. 2 is difficult. The Hebrew text reads literally, “only in order that the generations of the Israelites might know, to teach them war – only those who formerly did not know them.”

sn The stated purpose for leaving the nations (to teach the subsequent generations…how to conduct holy war) seems to contradict 2:22 and 3:4, which indicate the nations were left to test Israel’s loyalty to the Lord. However, the two stated purposes can be harmonized. The willingness of later generations to learn and engage in holy war would measure their allegiance to the Lord (see B. G. Webb, Judges [JSOTSup], 114-15).

NET Notes: Jdg 3:3

¹ tn The words “These were the nations,” though not present in the Hebrew text, are supplied in the translation for clarity.

² tn Or “the entrance to Hamath.”

NET Notes: Jdg 3:4

¹ tn Heb “to know if they would hear the commands of the Lord which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.”

NET Notes: Jdg 3:6

¹ tn Heb “to their sons.”

² tn Or “served”; or “followed” (this term occurs in the following verse as well).

NET Notes: Jdg 3:7

¹ tn Heb “in the eyes of the Lord.”

² sn The Asherahs were local manifestations of the Canaanite goddess Asherah.

NET Notes: Jdg 3:8

¹ tn Or “The Lord’s anger burned (or raged) against Israel.”

² tn Heb “sold them into the hands of.”

³ tn Or “Cushan the Doubly Wicked.”

⁴ tn Or “they served Cushan-Rishathaim.”

NET Notes: Jdg 3:9

¹ tn Heb “the Lord.”

² tn Or “delivered.”

³ tn “Caleb’s younger brother” may refer to Othniel or to Kenaz (in which case Othniel is Caleb’s nephew).

NET Notes: Jdg 3:10

¹ tn Heb “was on him.”

² tn Heb “his hand was strong against Cushan-Rishathaim.”

NET Notes: Jdg 3:12

¹ tn Heb “in the eyes of the Lord” (also later in this verse).

² tn Heb “strengthened Eglon…against Israel.”

NET Notes: Jdg 3:13

¹ tn Heb “and he gathered to him.”

NET Notes: Jdg 3:14

¹ tn Or “the Israelites served Eglon.”

NET Notes: Jdg 3:15

¹ tn Heb “the Lord.” This has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

² tn The phrase, which refers to Ehud, literally reads “bound/restricted in the right hand,” apparently a Hebrew idiom for a left-handed person. See Judg 20:16, where 700 Benjaminites are described in this way. Perhaps the Benjaminites purposely trained several of their young men to be left-handed warriors by restricting the use of the right hand from an early age so the left hand would become dominant. Left-handed men would have a distinct military advantage, especially when attacking city gates. See B. Halpern, “The Assassination of Eglon: The First Locked-Room Murder Mystery,” BRev 4 (1988): 35.

³ tn Heb “The Israelites sent by his hand an offering to Eglon, king of Moab.”

NET Notes: Jdg 3:16

¹ tn The Hebrew term גֹּמֶד (gomed) denotes a unit of linear measure, perhaps a cubit (the distance between the elbow and the tip of the middle finger – approximately 18 inches [45 cm]). Some suggest it is equivalent to the short cubit (the distance between the elbow and the knuckles of the clenched fist – approximately 13 inches [33 cm]) or to the span (the distance between the end of the thumb and the end of the little finger in a spread hand – approximately 9 inches [23 cm]). See BDB 167 s.v.; HALOT 196 s.v.; B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 142.