---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Judges 3"
description: "CHAPTER 3   :-. NATIONS LEFT
TO PROVE ISRAEL. 1. these are the nations which the
Lord left, to prove Israel—This was the special design of these
nations b"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/judges/3"
---

CHAPTER 3

. NATIONS LEFT
TO PROVE ISRAEL.

**1. these are the nations which the
Lord left, to prove Israel**—This was the special design of these
nations being left, and it evinces the direct influence of the
theocracy under which the Israelites were placed. These nations were
left for a double purpose: in the first instance, to be instrumental,
by their inroads, in promoting the moral and spiritual discipline of
the Israelites; and also to subserve the design of making them
acquainted with war, in order that the young, more especially, who
were total strangers to it, might learn the use of weapons and the
art of wielding them.
. BY COMMUNION
WITH THESE THE
ISRAELITES COMMIT
IDOLATRY.

**5-7. the children of Israel dwelt
among the Canaanites**—The two peoples by degrees came to be on
habits of intercourse. Reciprocal alliances were formed by marriage
till the Israelites, relaxing the austerity of their principles,
showed a growing conformity to the manners and worship of their
idolatrous neighbors.
. OTHNIEL
DELIVERS ISRAEL.

**8-11. sold them**—that is,
"delivered them"
**into the hand of
Chushan-rishathaim**—or, Chushan, "the wicked." This
name had been probably given him from his cruel and impious
character.
**served Chushan-rishathaim
eight years**—by the payment of a stipulated tribute yearly, the
raising of which must have caused a great amount of labor and
privation.

**9. when the children of Israel cried
unto the Lord**—In their distress they had recourse to earnest
prayer, accompanied by humble and penitent confession of their
errors.
**Othniel**—(See on ; [Judges 1:13](../../../kjv/judges/1/13)). His
military experience qualified him for the work, while the gallant
exploits he was known to have performed, gained him the full
confidence of his countrymen in his ability as a leader.

**10. The Spirit of the Lord came upon
him and he judged Israel, and went out to war**—Impelled by a
supernatural influence, he undertook the difficult task of government
at this national crisis—addressing himself to promote a general
reformation of manners, the abolition of idolatry, and the revival of
pure religion. After these preliminary measures, he collected a body
of choice warriors to expel the foreign oppressors.
**the Lord delivered
Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand
prevailed against Chushan-rishathaim**—No details are given of
this war, which, considering the resources of so potent a monarch,
must have been a determined struggle. But the Israelitish arms were
crowned through the blessing of God with victory, and Canaan regained
its freedom and independence.

**11. Othniel . . . died**—How
powerful the influence of one good man is, in church or state, is
best found in his loss [BISHOP
HALL].
. EHUD SLAYS
EGLON.

**12-14. the children of Israel did
evil again in the sight of the Lord**—The Israelites, deprived of
the moral and political influences of Othniel, were not long in
following their native bias to idolatry.
**the Lord strengthened Eglon
the king of Moab**—The reigning monarch's ambition was to recover
that extensive portion of his ancient territory possessed by the
Israelites. In conjunction with his neighbors, the Ammonites and the
Amalekites, sworn enemies of Israel, he first subjected the eastern
tribes; then crossing the Jordan, he made a sudden incursion on
western Canaan, and in virtue of his conquests, erected
fortifications in the territory adjoining Jericho [JOSEPHUS],
to secure the frontier, and fixed his residence there. This oppressor
was permitted, in the providence of God, to triumph for eighteen
years.

**15. Ehud the son of Gera**—descended
from Gera, one of Benjamin's sons ().
**left-handed**—This
peculiarity distinguished many in the Benjamite tribe (). But the original word is rendered in some versions
"both-handed," a view countenanced by .
**by him the children of Israel
sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab**—the yearly tribute,
which, according to Eastern fashion, would be borne with ostentatious
ceremony and offered ([Judges 3:18](../../../kjv/judges/3/18))
by several messengers.

**16. Ehud made him a dagger . . . and
he did gird it . . . upon his right thigh**—The sword was usually
worn on the left side; so that Ehud's was the more likely to escape
detection.

**19. quarries**—rather, "graven
images" ([Deuteronomy 7:25](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/7/25); [Jeremiah 8:19](../../../kjv/jeremiah/8/19);
[Jeremiah 51:52](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/52)); statues of Moabite
idols, the sight of which kindled the patriotic zeal of Ehud to
avenge this public insult to Israel on its author.
**I have a secret errand unto
thee, O king: who said, Keep silence**—"Privacy"—a
signal for all to withdraw.

**20. a summer parlour**—*Hebrew,*
"chamber of cooling"—one of those retired edifices which
Oriental grandees usually have in their gardens, and in which they
repose during the heat of the day.

**21-26. Ehud put forth his left
hand**—The whole circumstance of this daring act—the death of
Eglon without a shriek, or noise—the locking of the doors—the
carrying off the key—the calm, unhurried deportment of Ehud—show
the strength of his confidence that he was doing God service.

**27. he blew a trumpet in the
mountain of Ephraim**—summoned to arms the people of that
mountainous region, which, adjoining the territory of Benjamin, had
probably suffered most from the grievous oppression of the Moabites.

**28. they went down after him, and
took the fords**—(See on ).
With the view of preventing all escape to the Moabite coast, and by
the slaughter of ten thousand men [], Ehud rescued his country from a state of ignominious
vassalage.

**31. after him was Shamgar**—No
notice is given of the tribe or family of this judge; and from the
Philistines being the enemy that roused him into public service, the
suffering seems to have been local—confined to some of the western
tribes.
**slew . . . six hundred men
with an oxgoad**—This instrument is eight feet long and about six
inches in circumference. It is armed at the lesser end with a sharp
prong for driving the cattle, and on the other with a small iron
paddle for removing the clay which encumbers the plough in working.
Such an instrument, wielded by a strong arm, would do no mean
execution. We may suppose, however, for the notice is very
fragmentary, that Shamgar was only the leader of a band of peasants,
who by means of such implements of labor as they could lay hold of at
the moment, achieved the heroic exploit recorded.

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