Judges 3

CHAPTER 3

The Nations Left in Canaan (3:1–6)

1–4 In these verses we are given yet one more reason why God allowed some Canaanites to remain in the promised land: He wanted to teach warfare to the younger Israelites who had not fought in any of Joshua’s battles¹⁹ (verse 2). We must understand that God considered the conquest of Canaan and the driving out of the Canaanites to be His war, a holy war, and He chose to wage it by military means.

According to verse 3, the nations left in Canaan included the five rulers of the Philistines, who ruled over the five major cities in southwestern Israel; all the Canaanites, that is, all the various tribes which have been listed earlier (Genesis 15:19–21; Deuteronomy 7:1); and the Sidonians and Hivites living in Lebanon.

5–6 These verses tell us that the Israelites failed God’s testing (verse 4)—not just once, but repeatedly throughout the period of the judges. Once again we see the three stages of the Israelites’ sin: they lived among the Canaanites, they took their daughters in marriage, and finally they served their gods.²⁰

Othniel (3:7–11)

7–8 After the background summary given in the first two chapters, the writer of Judges now begins the main part of his book: the accounts of individual judges. The first account is that of Othniel.

Common to most of the accounts is the opening line: The Israelites did evil . . . (verse 7). The evil was usually the worshiping of the Baals and Asherahs, Canaan’s gods and goddesses.²¹ As a result of this evil, the Lord sold (handed over) the Israelites to the king of Aram Naharaim (present-day Syria).

9–11 When the Israelites cried out, the Lord sent them a deliverer, Othniel, an already successful warrior (see Joshua 15:1517). The Spirit of the LORD (the Holy Spirit) came upon him to enable him to accomplish the work God assigned him to do.²² Othniel overpowered the king of Syria, and Israel had peace (verses 10–11)—as long as Othniel lived (see Judges 2:18).

Ehud and Shamgar (3:12–31)

12–14 When the Israelites again did evil, the Lord gave Eglon king of Moab power over them.²³ Eglon and his army crossed the Jordan and captured Jericho, the City of Palms (verse 13); from there, Eglon was able to rule over Israel for many years (verse 14).

15–19 When the Israelites cried out, the Lord sent Ehud to deliver them. The Israelites had been required to send annual tribute to Eglon, so Ehud made a plan to accompany the men carrying the tribute, which most likely consisted of food, clothing, and precious metals. After the tribute was delivered, Ehud returned with the men as far as the idols²⁴ (verse 19), but then he turned back to Eglon’s palace alone. He had a short sword strapped to his leg under his clothing. The fact that Ehud was left-handed (verse 15) allowed him to conceal his sword on the side where it would not be expected. Ehud then told the king he had a secret message for him, and so the king dismissed all of his attendants (verse 19).

20–25 The message from God was Ehud’s sword (verses 20–21). The writer does not comment on whether or not God approved of Ehud’s method of delivering Israel; however, God certainly did approve of putting Israel’s hardened enemies to death, even when they were not Canaanites (see Deuteronomy 20:12–13). The killing of Eglon was essentially an act of divine judgment.

26–30 Ehud cleverly made his escape. He knew the death of Eglon would throw the Moabites into confusion, so he at once rallied the Israelites by sounding a trumpet (see Numbers 10:9). The Israelites first blocked the escape route of the Moabite army by taking possession of the fords (crossing places) of the Jordan River (verse 28). Then the Israelites destroyed Moab’s army, with the result that Moab was made subject to Israel (verses 29–30).

31 Here brief mention is made of the next judge, Shamgar, who used an oxgoad²⁵ to kill six hundred Philistines. Even the humblest “weapon” can be effective when God strengthens the arm of the one using it.