Judges 3

Judges 3 is one of the opening chapters of the book of Judges. Judges 2 summarizes the recurring cycle of "sin, oppression, crying out, and deliverance," and in this chapter that cycle first unfolds in actual narratives about the judges.

Outline

• Verses 1–6: The LORD leaves certain nations to test a generation that had not known war: the five lords of the Philistines, the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites. Israel intermarries with these peoples and serves their gods.
• Verses 7–11: Having served the Baals and the Asherahs, Israel serves Chushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, for eight years. The Spirit of the LORD comes upon Othniel, who defeats him, and the land has rest for forty years.
• Verses 12–14: Eglon, king of Moab, joins with Ammon and Amalek and takes the city of palm trees. Israel serves him for eighteen years.
• Verses 15–25: Ehud, a left-handed Benjamite, goes to deliver the tribute. He stabs Eglon in his upper chamber with a dagger a cubit long, locks the doors, and escapes.
• Verses 26–30: Ehud blows a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim and gathers the people. They seize the fords of the Jordan and kill about ten thousand Moabites, and the land has rest for eighty years.
• Verse 31: Shamgar the son of Anath kills six hundred Philistines with an ox goad.

Key Verses

• Judges 3:9: "the LORD raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them." Here the book's basic framework, which presents the judges as "deliverers," appears for the first time.
• Judges 3:10: "And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him." This verse introduces the theme that the judges' strength comes from the Spirit of God.

People and Places

• Othniel: The son of Kenaz, the younger brother of Caleb; the first judge.
• Chushan-rishathaim: The king of Mesopotamia who oppressed Israel for eight years.
• Eglon: The king of Moab. The text describes him as "a very fat man."
• Ehud: The son of Gera, a Benjamite; a left-handed judge.
• Shamgar: The son of Anath. Judges 5 also mentions "the days of Shamgar."
• Moab, Ammon, Amalek, the Philistines: Neighboring peoples who opposed Israel.
• The city of palm trees: Commonly identified as Jericho (compare Deuteronomy 34:3).

Points for Reflection

• Interpretations differ regarding Ehud's use of deception to kill the king. Some read the episode as God's deliverance on behalf of an oppressed people, while others note that the text itself does not evaluate his method. It is also frequently pointed out that, unlike in Othniel's case, the text does not say that the Spirit of the LORD came upon Ehud.
• The name "Benjamin" means "son of the right hand." For this reason, some see an ironic reversal in a left-handed man from that tribe becoming a deliverer.
• The names of Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar do not appear in the list of people of faith in Hebrews 11:32.