Judges 3:1-21

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. 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.

Othniel: A Model Leader

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.

Deceit, Assassination, and Deliverance

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 Lord which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.”

[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 Lord.”

[3:7]  ⁹ sn The Asherahs were local manifestations of the Canaanite goddess Asherah.

[3:8]  ¹⁰ tn Or “The Lord’s anger burned (or raged) against Israel.”

[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]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the Lord.”

[3:9]  ¹⁵ tn Or “delivered.”

[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 Lord” (also later in this verse).

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 This has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[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]  ³⁰ tn Or “idols.”

[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.

[3:19]  ³³ tn Or “Hush!”

[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.”

[3:20]  ³⁶ tn Or “throne.”

[3:21]  ³⁷ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Eglon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.