Discovery BoxJudges 3:1-21
Context3:1 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. 1 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. 2 3:3 These were the nations: 3 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. 4 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. 5
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; 6 they worshiped 7 their gods as well.
3:7 The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. 8 They forgot the Lord their God and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs. 9 3:8 The Lord was furious with Israel 10 and turned them over to 11 King Cushan-Rishathaim 12 of Aram-Naharaim. They were Cushan-Rishathaim’s subjects 13 for eight years. 3:9 When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, he 14 raised up a deliverer for the Israelites who rescued 15 them. His name was Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. 16 3:10 The Lord’s spirit empowered him 17 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. 18 3:11 The land had rest for forty years; then Othniel son of Kenaz died.
3:12 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight. 19 The Lord gave King Eglon of Moab control over Israel 20 because they had done evil in the Lord’s sight. 3:13 Eglon formed alliances with 21 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 22 King Eglon of Moab for eighteen years.
3:15 When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, he 23 raised up a deliverer for them. His name was Ehud son of Gera the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. 24 The Israelites sent him to King Eglon of Moab with their tribute payment. 25 3:16 Ehud made himself a sword – it had two edges and was eighteen inches long. 26 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. 27 3:19 But he went back 28 once he reached 29 the carved images 30 at Gilgal. He said to Eglon, 31 “I have a secret message for you, O king.” Eglon 32 said, “Be quiet!” 33 All his attendants left. 3:20 When Ehud approached him, he was sitting in his well-ventilated 34 upper room all by himself. Ehud said, “I have a message from God 35 for you.” When Eglon rose up from his seat, 36 3:21 Ehud reached with his left hand, pulled the sword from his right thigh, and drove it into Eglon’s 37 belly.
[3:1] 1 tn Heb “did not know the wars of Canaan.”
[3:2] 2 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.”
[3:3] 3 tn The words “These were the nations,” though not present in the Hebrew text, are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[3:3] 4 tn Or “the entrance to Hamath.”
[3:4] 5 tn Heb “to know if they would hear the commands of the
[3:6] 6 tn Heb “to their sons.”
[3:6] 7 tn Or “served”; or “followed” (this term occurs in the following verse as well).
[3:7] 8 tn Heb “in the eyes of the
[3:7] 9 sn The Asherahs were local manifestations of the Canaanite goddess Asherah.
[3:8] 10 tn Or “The
[3:8] 11 tn Heb “sold them into the hands of.”
[3:8] 12 tn Or “Cushan the Doubly Wicked.”
[3:8] 13 tn Or “they served Cushan-Rishathaim.”
[3:9] 16 tn “Caleb’s younger brother” may refer to Othniel or to Kenaz (in which case Othniel is Caleb’s nephew).
[3:10] 17 tn Heb “was on him.”
[3:10] 18 tn Heb “his hand was strong against Cushan-Rishathaim.”
[3:12] 19 tn Heb “in the eyes of the
[3:12] 20 tn Heb “strengthened Eglon…against Israel.”
[3:13] 21 tn Heb “and he gathered to him.”
[3:14] 22 tn Or “the Israelites served Eglon.”
[3:15] 23 tn Heb “the
[3:15] 24 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.
[3:15] 25 tn Heb “The Israelites sent by his hand an offering to Eglon, king of Moab.”
[3:16] 26 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.
[3:18] 27 tn Heb “the tribute payment.”
[3:19] 28 tn Or “returned” (i.e., to Eglon’s palace).
[3:19] 29 tn The words “when he reached” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Hebrew text simply reads “from.”
[3:19] 31 tn The words “to Eglon” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[3:19] 32 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eglon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[3:20] 34 tn Or “cool.” This probably refers to a room with latticed windows which allowed the breeze to pass through. See B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 144.
[3:20] 35 tn Heb “word of [i.e., from] God.”
[3:21] 37 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Eglon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
