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Text -- Judges 3:1-30 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
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 .
3:17 He brought the tribute payment to King Eglon of Moab . (Now Eglon was a very fat man .)
3:18 After Ehud brought the tribute payment, he dismissed the people who had carried it.
3:19 But he went back once he reached the carved images at Gilgal . He said to Eglon, “I have a secret message for you, O king .” Eglon said , “Be quiet !” All his attendants left .
3:20 When Ehud approached him, he was sitting in his well-ventilated upper room all by himself . Ehud said , “I have a message from God for you.” When Eglon rose up from his seat ,
3:21 Ehud reached with his left hand , hand , pulled the sword from his right thigh , and drove it into Eglon’s belly .
3:22 The handle went in after the blade , and the fat closed around the blade , for Ehud did not pull the sword out of his belly .
3:23 As Ehud went out into the vestibule , he closed the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.
3:24 When Ehud had left , Eglon’s servants came and saw the locked doors of the upper room . They said , “He must be relieving himself in the well-ventilated inner room .”
3:25 They waited so long they were embarrassed , but he still did not open the doors of the upper room . Finally they took the key and opened the doors. Right before their eyes was their master , sprawled out dead on the floor !
3:26 Now Ehud had escaped while they were delaying . When he passed the carved images , he escaped to Seirah .
3:27 When he reached Seirah, he blew a trumpet in the Ephraimite hill country . The Israelites went down with him from the hill country , with Ehud in the lead .
3:28 He said to them, “Follow me, for the Lord is about to defeat your enemies , the Moabites !” They followed him, captured the fords of the Jordan River opposite Moab , and did not let anyone cross .
3:29 That day they killed about ten thousand Moabites – all strong, capable warriors ; not one escaped .
3:30 Israel humiliated Moab that day , and the land had rest for eighty years .
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
Ehud |
Israel |
JUDGES, PERIOD OF |
Eglon |
MOAB |
God |
Judge |
Moabite |
Deception |
Gilgal |
Othniel |
PARLOR |
Hypocrisy |
Confidence |
Homicide |
Assassination |
Lebanon |
Lies and Deceits |
CRIME; CRIMES |
Regicide |
more
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Jdg 3:1; Jdg 3:2; Jdg 3:2; Jdg 3:3; Jdg 3:3; Jdg 3:4; Jdg 3:6; Jdg 3:6; Jdg 3:7; Jdg 3:7; Jdg 3:8; Jdg 3:8; Jdg 3:8; Jdg 3:8; Jdg 3:9; Jdg 3:9; Jdg 3:9; Jdg 3:10; Jdg 3:10; Jdg 3:12; Jdg 3:12; Jdg 3:13; Jdg 3:14; Jdg 3:15; Jdg 3:15; Jdg 3:15; Jdg 3:16; Jdg 3:18; Jdg 3:19; Jdg 3:19; Jdg 3:19; Jdg 3:19; Jdg 3:19; Jdg 3:19; Jdg 3:20; Jdg 3:20; Jdg 3:20; Jdg 3:21; Jdg 3:22; Jdg 3:22; Jdg 3:23; Jdg 3:24; Jdg 3:24; Jdg 3:24; Jdg 3:25; Jdg 3:25; Jdg 3:27; Jdg 3:27; Jdg 3:27; Jdg 3:28; Jdg 3:28; Jdg 3:28; Jdg 3:29
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NET Notes: Jdg 3:2 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...
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NET Notes: Jdg 3:4 Heb “to know if they would hear the commands of the Lord which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.”
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NET Notes: Jdg 3:9 “Caleb’s younger brother” may refer to Othniel or to Kenaz (in which case Othniel is Caleb’s nephew).
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NET Notes: Jdg 3:16 The Hebrew term גֹּמֶד (gomed) denotes a unit of linear measure, perhaps a cubit (the distance between the elbow a...
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NET Notes: Jdg 3:21 Heb “his”; the referent (Eglon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
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NET Notes: Jdg 3:22 The Hebrew text has “and he went out to the [?].” The meaning of the Hebrew word פַּרְשְׁ&...
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NET Notes: Jdg 3:23 Again the precise meaning of the Hebrew word, used only here in the OT, is uncertain. Since it is preceded by the verb “went out” and the ...
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NET Notes: Jdg 3:24 The Hebrew expression translated “well-ventilated inner room” may refer to the upper room itself or to a bathroom attached to or within it...
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