Judges 3:1-3 explain why _Jehovah left_ THESE _nations_(Judges 2:23); _it was merely to teach succeeding generations of Israelites the practice of war_(Judges 3:2 in the main). The idea is obviously an ancient one, and belongs to the same historical stand-point as ch. 1. This nucleus has been adapte... [ Continue Reading ]
_might know_ The verb, instead of governing a direct object, is followed by a fresh clause _to teach them war_; the LXX relieves the awkwardness by omitting _might know_, -only for the sake of the generations … to teach them war." The incompleteness of the conquest was not a punishment for Israel's... [ Continue Reading ]
This verse should be compared with Joshua 13:2-6 D. The nations here are those occupying particular districts in W. Palestine; contrast Judges 3:5, and the races mentioned in ch. 1. _the five lords of the Philistines_ Probably one for each of the five cities named in 1 Samuel 6:17, cf. Joshua 13:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
_to prove Israel_ leads back to the thought of Judges 2:22 and Judges 3:1, and prepares the way for Judges 3:5. The verse seems to be a later editorial adaptation.... [ Continue Reading ]
In contrast to Judges 3:3 the nations here represent the _entire_population of W. Palestine. Such is the significance of this conventional list of the six (Exodus 3:8 + 8 times) or the seven (with the Girgashites, +Deuteronomy 7:12 times) races of Canaan, in JE and the Deut. writers. The connexion o... [ Continue Reading ]
_they took their daughters_ Cf. Genesis 34:9; Genesis 34:16; Exodus 34:16; Deuteronomy 7:3. According to the ideas of the ancient world, it was impossible for the Israelites to maintain any religious exclusiveness when they intermarried with the heathen nations (cf. Judges 2:1); the connubium carrie... [ Continue Reading ]
_did that which was evil_ See Judges 2:11 _n._; _forgat_, cf. Deuteronomy 6:12; Deuteronomy 8:11 etc.; 1 Samuel 12:9; Hosea 2:13; Jeremiah 3:21. _the Baalim and the Asheroth_ For _the Baalim_see Judges 2:13 _n._The word rendered _groves_by AV. (from the LXX ἄλσος, Vulgate lucus) is in Hebr. _ashçrot... [ Continue Reading ]
_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... [ Continue Reading ]
_sold them_ See Judges 2:14 _n._ Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia The rendering _Mesopotamia_, i.e. the vast region between the Euphrates and Tigris, comes from the LXX; the Hebr. is _Aram-naharaim_-Syria of the two rivers," usually held to designate the country between the Euphrates and the Ḥ... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse is composed of the standing phrases of the Dtc. compiler: _cried unto the Lord Judges 3:15_, Judges 4:3; Judges 6:6-7; Judges 10:10; _raised up … saved Judges 3:15_, see Judges 2:16 _n._ Othniel See Judges 1:13 _n._... [ Continue Reading ]
_the spirit of the Lord came upon him_ So the spirit _came_upon Jephthah Judges 11:29, and clothed _itself with_Gideon Judges 6:34, and _impelled_(Judges 13:25) or _rushed upon_Samson Judges 14:6; Judges 14:19; Judges 15:14, and Saul 1 Samuel 11:6. These heroes seemed to be possessed; their extraord... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the land had rest forty years_ A formula of the editor, to whom the chronological scheme of the Book is due; cf. Judges 3:30; Judges 5:31; Judges 8:28; and Joshua 11:23; Joshua 14:15.... [ Continue Reading ]
_again did that which was evil_ The introduction to the story is made up of the familiar phrases of Rd, see Judges 2:11-19; the special details are derived from the story itself. For _strengthened_cf. Ezekiel 30:24. _Eglon the king of Moab_ Elsewhere Eglon (_calf_) is the name of a town in Judah, Jo... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ehud delivers Israel from Moab_ The story of Ehud is furnished by the editor with an introduction (Judges 3:12 a) and conclusion (Judges 3:30) in his usual manner. The narrative thus enclosed is one of the oldest in the Book; it has the freshness and vigour which belong to the best style of Hebrew... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ammon and Amalek_ Moab and Ammon appear in alliance against Israel in 2 Chronicles 20:1; Psalms 83:6 f. includes Amalek also. The Amalekites were Bedouin of the deserts S. of Palestine, in the N. of the Sinaitic peninsula, cf. Numbers 13:29 and ch. Judges 1:16 _n._, Judges 6:3. The Dtc. editor gene... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ehud the son of Gera_ Both names occur in the Benjamite genealogies, Genesis 46:21 1 Chronicles 7:10; 1 Chronicles 8:3; 1Ch 8:5; 1 Chronicles 8:7; it has been suggested that both belonged to clans and not to individuals. Gera was certainly a clan, 2 Samuel 16:5 (-Shimei ben Gera"); but the Chronicl... [ Continue Reading ]
_a sword … of a cubit length_ The measure, a _gômed_, does not occur again in the O.T.; Jewish interpreters explain it as a short cubit, i.e. the length from the elbow to the knuckles, about 13½ in. (Gk. πυγμή). This is the measure required; Ehud's weapon was a short two-edged sword, or long dagger,... [ Continue Reading ]
_he offered the present_ The place is not mentioned; we are to think of some royal city in Moab, rather than of Jericho.... [ Continue Reading ]
_he sent away_ From the foll. verse it seems that Ehud accompanied the carriers (cf. the same vb. in Genesis 18:16 -to bring them on the way") until they were at a safe distance, and then returned to the king's house alone. Judging from the analogy quoted in the footnote (p. 39) the carriers were Is... [ Continue Reading ]
_the quarries_ Everywhere else (e.g. Isaiah 21:9; Micah 5:13 etc.), and in the margin of A. and RV. here, the word (_pesîlîm_) is rendered _graven images_(cf. _pesel_-graven image"), and such is the meaning in this place; IDOLS, or perhaps in a more general sense, SCULPTURED STONES (Moore). They wer... [ Continue Reading ]
_and it came out behind_ i.e. the sword; but this is hardly grammatical, for _sword_is fem. and _came out_is mas. The marg. _he went out into the ante-chamber_is merely based upon a guess of the LXX (τὴν προστάδα). The AV. renders _and the dirt came out_, so Vulgate statimque per secreta naturae alv... [ Continue Reading ]
_into the porch_ The rendering is a guess; the Hebr. word _misděron_, perhaps = -a row" of pillars, must denote the part of the building to which Ehud went out when he left the -upper chamber," but the precise meaning is unknown; -colonnade," -vestibule," have been suggested. _upon him_ i.e. Eglon;... [ Continue Reading ]
_his servants came_. It is implied that Eglon's servants saw Ehud go out by the usual way, for they evidently believe their master to be alone, clause b; Moore. _he covereth his feet_ An euphemism, cf. 1 Samuel 24:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
_till they were ashamed_ Cf. 2 Kings 2:17; 2 Kings 8:11; an idiom expressive of surprise and perplexity. _the key, and opened them_ The lock or bolt was constructed most likely in the same fashion as the wooden locks still used in Palestine; the bolt is shot by hand, the key is used only for unlock... [ Continue Reading ]
_and passed beyond the quarries_ lit. _he having passed the sculptured stones_. The construction in Hebr. (a circumstantial clause dependent on the preceding) is harsh and awkward: it is accounted for if we may suppose that clause b (-and passed … unto Seirah") is a doublet of clause a. The repetiti... [ Continue Reading ]
_when he was come_ If Se-îrah was meant, -thither" should have been written. Some indication of the place is needed; the LXX. cod. B adds -unto the land of Israel," shewing that the obscurity was felt. Perhaps the simplest course is to suppose that the original order of words has been disturbed, and... [ Continue Reading ]
_Follow after me_ lit. _pursue after me_; the slight correction of the LXX _come down after me_, cf. clause b, is generally accepted. _against the Moabites_ Cf. Judges 7:24; Judges 12:5, i.e. so as to prevent the Moabites on the west side of the river (Judges 3:13) from crossing to their own countr... [ Continue Reading ]
_ten thousand_ A round number, Judges 1:4 _n._The Moabites who formed the army of occupation were all picked men.... [ Continue Reading ]
_was subdued_ Similarly in the conclusions to the other stories, Judges 4:23; Judges 8:28, Jdg 11:33; 1 Samuel 7:13. The expression, which seems to form a more integral part of the narrative proper than the rest of the recurring phrases, "may mark the portions due to the pre-Deuteronomic compiler,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Shamgar the son of Anath_ was unknown to the author of Judges 4:1, who passes at once from Ehud to Deborah. Shamgar is often reckoned as one of the minor Judges, but the account given of him is not modelled on the form of Judges 10:1-5; Judges 12:8-15; no date is attached to the period of his activ... [ Continue Reading ]