Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded

What does Judges Chapter 3 mean?

Judges 2 ended with God’s explanation for why He had not given Joshua victory over all the nations in and around the Promised Land. He intended to use those nations to test Israel to see whether the people would follow the Lord or not. God’s original instructions were for Israel to completely purge the land of the depraved, evil Canaanites (Deuteronomy 20:16–17). This was partly to prevent Israel from imitating those wicked actions (Deuteronomy 20:18). It was also a judgment, from God, against the heinous sin of those cultures (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4–5).

Judges 3 begins by identifying those undefeated nations that would test Israel’s reliance on the Lord. Specifically, they would be used to test new generations of Israelites who grew up without knowing war. These nations included the five Philistine lords, the various Canaanite nations, the Sidonians, and the Hivites. These unconquered enemies would be a source of attack and struggle for Israel for years to come (Judges 3:1–4).

Further, the people of Israel choose to disobey God by living alongside the Canaanites in captured territories. This becomes a source of temptation to idolatry, and all that comes with it. Worship of these false gods included sexual acts, as well as human and child sacrifice. Despite strong warnings, the Israelites of the generation after Joshua intermarried with the other nations and served their gods (Judges 3:5–6).

True to His own Word, God judges His people for doing this evil. When the people forget Him and serve the false gods known as Baal and Asheroth, God sells them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim, the king of Mesopotamia. That king rules over the Israelites for eight years. Finally, the people cry out to the Lord and He raises up the first of many judges who will deliver the nation over the coming centuries. The first judge is Othniel, the son of Caleb’s younger brother, and he was already introduced in Judges 1. Othniel captured a city from the Canaanites on behalf of Caleb. In return, Caleb gave Othniel his daughter in marriage (Judges 1:12–13). Now Othniel is used by God to lead the Israelites into battle against the Mesopotamians and to defeat them. Israel is at peace for forty 40 years—a full generation—until Othniel dies (Judges 3:7–11).

After Othniel’s death, a new generation of Israelites once again turns from God, following the temptations of the local Canaanite culture. They worship and serve false gods. This time, the Lord enables the king of the Moabites to grow strong enough to defeat His own people for their rebellion. King Eglon makes an alliance with the Ammonites and the Amalekites and defeats Israel, enslaving the people for eighteen 18 years (Judges 3:12–14).

Finally, the people cry out to the Lord for help, and He raises up a new deliverer. Ehud is identified as a Benjaminite. That Ehud, of the tribe of Benjamin, commits an act of predatory savagery against his enemy echoes Jacob’s predictions about the tribe of Benjamin being a “wolf.” Ehud is also said to be a left-handed man. The tribe of Benjamin will eventually become known for their mighty left-handed warriors. Since ancient peoples tended to view pure-left-handedness with suspicion, it’s possible these biblical references imply persons who are ambidextrous: equally adept with both right and left hands (Judges 3:15).

Ehud leads a delegation sent to present a tribute to Eglon, king of Moab, at his palace in Jericho. Ehud makes a special dagger and secures it to his thigh, under his clothes. This object was about the length of a man’s forearm, and probably looked like a sharply pointed spike with a handle. After presenting the tribute, Ehud leaves with the group and then doubles back on his own. He tells the king of Moab he has a secret message for him. Eglon sends all his servants out of the room. Ehud pulls out his dagger and stabs the king, who is enormously fat, leaving the sword buried in his belly. The result of the wound is a gory mess, and Eglon apparently drops dead without making a sound (Judges 3:16–22).

After the killing blow, Ehud simply locks the chamber doors and walks away. Eglon’s servants see the locked doors, and—possibly due to the odor of Eglon’s death—assume he is using the toilet. After enough time passes, they overcome embarrassment and find the king’s corpse. By now, it’s too late to catch Ehud, who rallies the troops of Israel. He gathers an army of Israelite fighters and leads them to take strategic crossings of the Jordan River. Once the Moabites’ escape route is cut off, the Israelite army kills every single Moabite soldier in the land. The Lord has given Israel victory, and peace returns to the land for eighty years (Judges 3:26–30).

The last verse of this chapter gives almost no details about a figure named Shamgar. Scholars note this name might imply a Canaanite or Egyptian, rather than an Israelite. The verse does not explicitly say that Shamgar knowingly fought on behalf of Israel. The timing of his work is also unclear, but it may have overlapped that of Ehud. All that’s certain is that Shamgar’s actions saved Israel somehow, perhaps by staving off a Philistine invasion from the north. Shamgar’s weapon was an oxgoad, used to control cattle. These were spear-like tools not intended for war, but which would have been reasonably effective weapons. Either all at once, or over time, Shamgar kills several hundred Philistines (Judges 3:31).

After the curious note about Shamgar, the book of Judges returns to the more familiar pattern. The next judges of Israel include one of the most famous women in all of Scripture, the prophetess and judge Deborah (Judges 4:4).

Chapter Context
After Israel’s failure to complete their mission, as described in chapters 1 and 2, chapter 3 begins by describing the idolatrous nations God left intact to test Israel. In the first of many such cycles, the people sin, are conquered, then are rescued by a “judge.” This chapter describes the victories of Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar. Chapter 4 mentions the first of the truly famous names among the judges, describing the careers of Deborah and Barak. This is followed in chapter 6, which introduces Gideon.

Verse by Verse

Verse 1. Now these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan.

Chapter 3 begins with a reference to a statement made by the Lord at the end of chapter 2, “Because this people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the Lord as their fathers did, or not” (Judges 2:20–22).

This means God intentionally allowed specific nations to continue to exist in and around Israel—despite having earlier commanded Israel to utterly destroy them (Deuteronomy 20:16–18). This was in response to Israel’s failure to complete that task, through indifference and disobedience. Over time, the presence of these depraved nations would “test” Israel’s faithfulness. In truth, God already knew exactly what would happen; this “test” is really more of a “demonstration,” for the people’s own sake.

This verse narrows those God intends to test by using these other nations against His people. He will test all in Israel who had not experienced the wars in Canaan. In other words, these tests are intended for the generations of Israelites who followed the time of Joshua. Joshua’s generation experienced war in the great initial conquest of Canaan after the Israelites entered the Promised Land.

The following generations were meant to experience war in driving the remaining Canaanites from the land in each territory, but they had failed to do so. God would now use war to test these new generations, to see if they would return to Him in times of great need, as the previous generations had done when going to war against the Canaanites the first time.

Context Summary
Judges 3:1–6 names the nations the Lord leaves in existence in and around the Promised Land. These nations will plague future generations of Israelites to see if they will be faithful. Some of these represent unconquered territories whose inhabitants will raid and oppress Israel: the Philistines, Canaanites, Sidonians, and Hivites. Groups living amongst the captured regions will tempt Israel in different ways. These are listed as Canaanite, Hittite, Amorite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite peoples. Starting with the very first generation after Joshua, the people betray God, intermarrying with these depraved nations and serving their gods.

Verse 2. It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before.

The Lord said He would leave specific nations to exist in and around Israel. The presence of these wicked cultures would “test” the Israelites to see if they will be faithful to Him. As God is all-knowing, this testing is more of a “demonstration,” proving that which the Lord already sees. He warned the people of Israel not to let the depraved Canaanite culture survive (Deuteronomy 20:16–18). When the people disobeyed, God chose to use their own sin as a source of punishment. God will use these nations to attack and harm Israel to see if they will begin to obey Him once more.

The purpose, then, is to “teach war” to new generations of Israelites who have not had to rely on God during war as the previous generations did. In this context, the writer does not mean teaching strategies of attack and defense, or the methods of subduing an enemy. God literally means to teach the Israelites to trust Him, to obey Him, and to rely on Him, as they experience what it means to be at war.

Verse 3. These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath.

The Lord has said that He has left the nations that remained in existence at the time Joshua died. God has not brought these nations to an end or driven them out of the region of Canaan. That was God’s command to Israel (Deuteronomy 20:16–17), so the people would not follow the horrific evil of those cultures (Deuteronomy 20:18). But Israel disobeyed the Lord and stopped well short of their goal (Judges 2:20). And so, God intends to use these nations against His rebellious people. He will demonstrate by example; God will “test” Israel for their response to the hardships of war (Judges 2:21–22).

Reading the book of Judges, it seems the Canaanites plagued Israel in two primary ways. One was through temptation to idolatry (Judges 2:11–13), coming from those the people of Israel allowed to remain in the land (Judges 3:5). The others, listed here, are the nations living in areas not fully conquered by Israel.

The Philistines, known for their five lords, were sometimes called the Sea Peoples. Said to have originated on the island of Crete, they had migrated to the shores of the Mediterranean in Palestine at some point. They eventually came to hold five city-states in Canaan, including Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, Gath, and Gaza. Together, these were called the Pentapolis and were ruled by the five chieftains mentioned in this verse. The Philistines became longtime enemies of Israel in the region.

“All the Canaanites” seems to be a general term for all the non-specific people groups in Canaan that would war against Israel in the coming generations. The Sidonians may have eventually been better known as the Phoenicians. The Hivites are identified as occupying a mountainous region north of the Sea of Galilee. While they live in their own territories, the reach of these nations covered the entire Promised Land. All of Israel would be impacted by the wars they would bring against God’s people.

Verse 4. They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.

This verse restates again why the Lord allowed all the nations listed in the previous verse to continue to exist. His original command to Israel was to entirely remove those cultures from the region (Deuteronomy 20:16–17). This was, in part, to prevent Israel from imitating those depraved, evil practices (Deuteronomy 20:18). Another was to punish the Canaanites for those very sins (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4–5). Since Israel refused to complete their mission (Judges 2:20), God chose to use the remaining Canaanites to serve His own plans (Judges 2:21–23). Even in their battles and wars against Yahweh’s people Israel, they would prove and accomplish God’s purposes.

God intended to use these nations and their oppression of His people as a test. When faced with oppression by foreign enemies, would God’s people turn to Him in faithfulness for help or would they continue to stubbornly turn to false gods in hopes of being rescued by them? Naturally, God already knew the outcome of those events. This “testing” is in the sense of a demonstration: repeatedly showing the truth about how Israel would respond to their own sin and God’s correction.

Verse 5. So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

This and the following verse conclude the second introduction to the book of Judges. These two verses reiterate how catastrophically Israel failed to obey the commands of the Lord after moving into the Promised Land. The first and most glaring problem is that they failed to obey God’s command to drive out all the other inhabitants of the land. God explicitly told them not to allow the wicked, depraved Canaanite culture to persist (Deuteronomy 20:16–18). And yet, Israelites settled among the occupants of the land.

Those occupants—the cultures allowed to co-exist alongside Israel in the territories they captured—included the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These are not precisely the same nations listed earlier (Judges 3:3). The prior nations are those living in unconquered territory, who would plague Israel with raids and military oppression. This verse lists the residents of Canaan who continue to exist within Israel’s own borders, because the Israelites disobeyed God’s direct commands to get rid of them.

God’s warning to Israel was clear: that the Canaanites were deeply evil. The Lord intended to use Israel to bring about the Savior of the entire world (Luke 2:11; Genesis 12:3). A major reason God commanded a purging of the Promised Land was the combination of those two facts (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4–5). Casual readers might be confused as to why God seems so intensely concerned that Israel remove these people from the land. History tells us that Canaanite religion involved depraved practices like temple prostitution. They also participated in human and child sacrifice.

Had the Canaanites been eradicated from the Promised Land, they would not have become such a persistent negative influence on their loyalty to God (Judges 3:6).

Verse 6. And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods.

This verse completes the reintroduction begun in Judges 2:6. The writer is summing up how Israel failed to obey the Lord once the people settled into the land of Canaan. They left many areas unconquered, and the existing kingdoms there would become a source of raids and oppression in the years to come (Judges 3:3). In the previous verse (Judges 3:5), Scripture emphasized that the Israelites settled among the peoples of the land instead of driving them out, as God commanded (Deuteronomy 20:16–18).

Here, it’s pointed out that the Israelites intermarried with the people of the land. They gave their Israelite daughters to be married to Canaanite sons and took Canaanite daughters for their own sons. This was another direct violation of God’s commands to Israel:

“You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly” (Deuteronomy 7:3–4).

This intermarriage was not a concern about ethnicity, or race. Rather, as explained here, widespread intermarriage was a sign of the two cultures blending. Despite God’s warnings, Israelites served the gods of the Canaanites and adopted their immoral and depraved worship practices. These practices included having sex with temple prostitutes and even sacrificing children on altars. What follows in the book of Judges are the consequences of Israel’s association with deep, moral evil.

Verse 7. And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth.

The main body of the book of Judges begins with this verse. The writer has established all the reasons for what will happen in the stories to follow (Judges 1—2). Key details are that Israel disobeyed God by not removing all the wicked Canaanites from the Promised Land, so God will allow those remaining influences to harass Israel (Judges 2:20–23). In fact, this first verse is almost identical to the statement in Judges 2:11–13.

God’s reasons for wanting to remove the Canaanites were moral, rather than racial or ethnic. Israel’s evil, as condemned here, is directly tied to imitating the lifestyles of the local cultures (Deuteronomy 20:16–18). Israel not only failed to destroy these nations, but they even endorsed their culture by common marriages. They abandoned faithfulness to the Lord and served idols.

Worship of false gods is, of course, a grievous sin in and of itself. Deities associated with names like Ba’al, Asheroth, and Ashtaroth were fertility gods who promised wealth and abundance in return for worship. The worship of the Baals and the Asheroth, though, involved great evil on top of spiritual adultery against God. Worshipers of these gods participated in gross sexual immorality, debauchery, and even child sacrifices, in hopes of receiving blessings from these false deities.

Israel’s fall into sin will result in oppression (Judges 3:8), and the rise of the first judge: Othniel (Judges 3:9).

Context Summary
Judges 3:7–11 describes Israel’s first cycle of rebellion and rescue. The very first generation after Joshua forgets the Lord and serves the Canaanite gods known as Baals and Asheroth. In anger, God allows them to be conquered and enslaved by the king of Mesopotamia. The people cry out to God eight years later, and He raises up the first “judge:” Othniel, Caleb’s nephew. He leads the people to victory over the Mesopotamians. This is followed by forty years of peace.

Verse 8. Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years.

This sounds very familiar to what was written in the previous chapter (Judges 2:11–15). This time, a specific oppressor is described. God’s anger burns for Israel’s betrayal of Him by serving other gods (Judges 3:7). In response, God sets out to harm them as He said He would.

The Lord sells His people into the hands of the Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, also known as Aram Naharaim. This king reigned over the Arameans. Their large territory began north of the Sea of Galilee and extended far into the north. Bible scholars speculate on what ruler in the history of this region this king might be, but he remains something of a mystery. His empire must have been quite strong to control Canaan from that far north for eight years. Centuries later, the prophet Habakkuk would refer to “Cushan” when speaking of Israel disrupting the peace of the Canaanites after the exodus (Habakkuk 3:7).

During those eight years, the people of Israel were slaves to his kingdom, likely alongside the other Canaanite peoples of the land. This does not mean the people were in literal, personal chains or held as prisoners. Rather, it would mean their nation was occupied and controlled by the foreign nation.

Verse 9. But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb ‘s younger brother.

In great anger against His own people for their wickedness and faithlessness, the Lord allowed them to be enslaved by a foreign king called Cushan-rishathaim (Judges 3:8). At this time, national slavery would not have meant things like imprisonment and chains. It would, however, have meant the nation was controlled by a foreign power. They would have had to pay tributes and taxes, forfeit land, and permit the enemy to house troops.

Israel’s subjection under this king and his kingdom must have been harsh. At some point, the people would begin to realize that the false gods they served would do nothing for them (Judges 3:7). Eventually, the Israelites humbled themselves enough to turn back to the Lord and cry out for His help.

And so, God raises up the first of 12 judges described in this book. The English term “judge” is an awkward fit for the role played by these God-empowered men and women. The original Hebrew word includes concepts related to rescue, vengeance, and leadership. This verse refers to the judge as a “deliverer,” which is the role he will serve.

This is the second mention of this man in Judges. He is Othniel, the son of Kenaz and nephew of Caleb. He is also Caleb’s son-in-law and married to Caleb’s daughter Achsah (Judges 1:11–15). His role as Israel’s deliverer in this moment comes many years after his capture of Debir for Caleb and his wedding day. That time has not lessened his ability as a warrior, it seems. God uses Othniel to save Israel from their eight-year captivity.

Verse 10. The Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim.

Israel has fallen into captivity under a foreign king because of their sinfulness and unfaithfulness to God (Judges 3:7–8). Finally, after eight years of slavery, the people cried out to the Lord for help. The Lord has raised up a “deliverer” (Judges 3:9) to save Israel from this foreign king. The role of these figures is described using the Hebrew root word shaphat, implying vindication and judgment, as well as governance. The English term “judge” is a loose fit for this concept, but works well enough.

Readers may wonder how a single person could save a nation in slavery. The answer is in this verse: The Spirit of the Lord was on Othniel. God could have simply engineered events and circumstances to free Israel without working through an individual. He chose, instead, to exercise His power and might and will through a mere human being by way of the Holy Spirit.

God the Holy Spirit is the third member of the Trinity, along with God the Father and God the Son. Every person who comes to faith in Christ receives the Holy Spirit from God (John 14:16–17). In that way, God exercises His power through people in the church in this age. In the Old Testament, God is said to do this only in exceptional circumstances. God’s word in Israel through the Judges is one such situation.

Empowered by God in this way, the warrior-judge Othniel goes to war with Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia. The Lord gives Othniel and Israel the victory. The people are released from their slavery and suffering.

Verse 11. So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

God has empowered the first of what will be 12 named judges—deliverers, serving as military and civic leaders—in this book. God uses Othniel (Judges 3:9–10) to free Israel from eight years of suffering under the rule of a foreign king. God does this by placing the Spirit of the Lord on Othniel to empower him to do what would normally be impossible for one mere mortal man.

Now we’re told that a time of rest followed this great victory. This is the pattern of the era of the judges: so long as the judge lived, the land continued to be protected (Judges 2:18). Othniel lived another 40 years after the struggle against Cushan-rishathaim, and the people of Israel had peace for those four decades. Forty years was often used as a way of saying “one generation.” After Othniel died, however, the pattern repeated.

Verse 12. And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

Earlier Scripture established the pattern to be followed by the rest of the book (Judges 2:6—3:6). Each cycle begins as shown here, demonstrating Israel’s crippling faithlessness to the Lord God. Despite His faithfulness to the people, rescuing them time and again, they always end up back to doing evil in the sight of the Lord. Mostly, that evil takes the form of worshiping the gods of the Canaanites and forgetting Yahweh. While this verse doesn’t specify, that seems to be the overall theme of Israel’s sinful habits.

This time, the Lord will use the Moabites to punish His people. Moab was an incestuous son of Lot, Abraham’s nephew (Genesis 19:36–37), so the Moabites were distantly related to Israel. God has specifically forbidden Israel from trying to take Moab’s land, east of the Dead Sea, which He had provided for them (Deuteronomy 2:9).

Now, in fact, God will use Moab against Israel for their faithlessness to Him. He strengthens Eglon, the king of Moab, to give him the ability to defeat and enslave Israel.

Context Summary
Judges 3:12–30 describes another phase of sin, judgment, and deliverance in Israel. The people again provoke God’s anger, so He strengthens Eglon, the king of Moab, to defeat and enslave them. After eighteen years, He raises up Ehud as the deliverer. In an infamously graphic assassination, Ehud kills Eglon in his palace in Jericho, then leads an army of Ephraim fighters to take the fords of the Jordan River. Having cut off the Moabites’ escape route, the Israelites wipe out the Moabite army, leading to eighty years of peace.

Verse 13. He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of the city of palms.

Once again, Israel is participating in sin and evil. This time, the writer of Judges doesn’t specify exactly what evil the Israelites are committing. It’s safe to assume it follows the pattern of worshiping and serving the gods of the Canaanites (Judges 3:12).

Once again, the Lord acts to express His anger and hold Israel accountable for breaking their covenant with Him. This time, the Lord strengthens an ancient relative of Israel. The Moabites are descended from Abraham’s nephew Lot (Genesis 19:36–37). God strengthens the political might and will of the king of Moab to defeat Israel. He does so by joining forces with the Ammonites and Amalekites to attack the Israelites.

The Ammonite people, located to the east of the Promised Land, are also descended from Lot (Genesis 19:36–38), giving them a natural connection to the Moabites. The Amalekites were longtime enemies of Israel (Deuteronomy 25:17–19) to the south and east. Working together, the three nations were able to overcome and defeat Israel’s forces and make the people slaves once again.

This verse adds that Moab took possession of “the city of palms,” a name used to describe the fallen walled city of Jericho (Deuteronomy 34:3; Judges 1:16). A new city had been built on or near that spot, despite Joshua’s curse (Joshua 6:26). Apparently, the king of Moab liked to rule from there at times.

Verse 14. And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.

With God helping Moab’s king Eglon, along with the combined forces of the Ammonites and Amalekites, Israel has been thoroughly defeated and enslaved. This would have taken the form of occupation and dominion: the nation of Moab controlling Israel as a conquering invader. Israel has been so subjugated that they linger under the rule of Eglon and Moab for eighteen years.

In the prior cycle, the people turned to God after eight years (Judges 3:8–9). Scripture does not specify why Israel waited more than twice as long before crying out to the Lord. Perhaps their suffering was not as dire as it had been under the Mesopotamians. Perhaps they willfully resisted reaching out to Yahweh. They might have been waiting on the false gods they served to finally deliver them. Or, it might be that their cries to God were insincere, at first, and only reached a critical point after so many years. The Bible does not say; all we know is the length of time it took before God heard Israel’s pleas.

Verse 15. Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab.

The people of Israel have served under the oppressive rule of Eglon, king of Moab, for eighteen years. They were defeated by the combined armies of Moab, Ammon, and the Amalekites, all empowered by the punishing hand of God (Judges 3:12–14).

At last, their misery reaches the point where the people cry out to God for help. The text does not suggest the Israelites repented of sin, or made promises to God. They simply ask for help, and God helps.

In this case, God raises up a new judge to deliver the people from their captivity to Moab. Ehud, son of Gera, is described vaguely as being of the tribe of Benjamin and left-handed. The writer may be pointing to some irony here. The name Benjamin means “son of the right hand,” while Ehud is left-handed. Also noteworthy is that Ehud’s infamous act against the Moabite king, described later, parallels Jacob’s depiction of the tribe of Benjamin. Jacob referred to Benjamin as a “ravenous wolf” (Genesis 49:27).

In the ancient world, being fully left-handed—dominant with that side, rather than the right hand—was actively discouraged. Some cultures even saw it as a sign of evil: the Latin term sinister means both “unlucky” and “from the left side.” For that reason, some scholars believe this reference implies Ehud was actually ambidextrous: able to use both of his hands with equal skill. Later in Judges, 700 men of Benjamin will be similarly described as left-handed, a point tied closely to extreme skill at slinging stones in combat (Judges 20:16). Another group of Benjaminites who served as David’s mighty men were bowman described as being able to shoot arrows or sling stones with both hands equally well (1 Chronicles 12:1–2). It’s possible that Ehud’s “left-handedness” is being extolled as an addition to his “right-handedness.”

The Bible does not explicitly indicate the Spirit of the Lord came on Ehud, as it does with other judges (Judges 3:10; 6:34; 11:29). Instead, he seems to have been a clever man who recognized an opportunity. He maneuvers to gain the advantage over Moab by attacking King Eglon directly. This opportunity came when the Israelites sent Ehud to deliver their required tribute to the king in Jericho (Judges 3:16–21).

Verse 16. And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes.

God has raised up a new “judge,” a national deliverer, to save His people Israel from their Moabite oppressors. Ehud has been selected to deliver Israel’s tribute to the king of Moab, Eglon, at the king’s palace in Jericho. He sees an opportunity to save Israel by assassinating the enemy king.

To prepare for the moment when he might be alone with the king, Ehud makes for himself a two-edged sword. This verse describes a weapon only one cubit long. This is typically measured as the distance from a man’s elbow to the tip of his middle finger. This sword is therefore more of a dagger, and probably designed as a piercing weapon. Medieval warriors might have named Ehud’s weapon a rondel; modern persons might describe it as an oversized ice pick.

The fact that Ehud made the weapon himself also suggests a compact, thin, stabbing weapon. The “shank” style of weapon is common in situations where resources or tools are limited; Ehud was not likely a metalworker. This blade is short enough to be strapped to Ehud’s thigh under his clothes, without being noticed by anyone. Because Ehud is unusually capable with his left hand (Judges 3:15) he can secure the weapon in an unexpected place: his right thigh, deploying it with his left hand, making the attack all the more unexpected.

Verse 17. And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man.

Hearing the people’s cries for help from the oppression of their captivity under Moab, God has raised up a new judge to deliver them (Judges 3:12–16). Ehud has been selected to deliver Israel’s required tribute to Moab in Jericho, where the king is staying. He has made what the Bible describes as a short, two-edged blade. In medieval times, such a weapon might have been called a rondel: a stabbing weapon with a thin point. Ehud conceals this homemade blade under his robes, on his right thigh. This is the opposite of where such a hidden weapon would normally be carried, but Ehud is proficient with his left hand (Judges 3:15).

When the day comes, Ehud presents the tribute to Eglon at the king’s palace in Jericho. The writer of Judges indicates, rather bluntly, that Eglon was a very fat man. Modern readers might think this detail means to mock the Moabite king. That might be, but in the ancient world, being overweight was rare and often considered a sign of prestige. More importantly, the description adds context to a graphic moment in the verses to come.

Verse 18. And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute.

Ehud (Judges 3:15–17) and those with him have delivered their tribute to Eglon, the king of Moab, who has been described as morbidly obese. We’re not told what the required tribute from the Israelites to the king consisted of, whether food or material goods or tradable precious metals. It is not important to the story. This would have been common for subjugated people. Being “enslaved,” as a nation, would not have meant chains and imprisonment. Rather, it would be mostly a matter of taxes, tributes, seizure of land and property, and oppression of the people.

The tribute party has left the king’s palace and have headed back toward home. However, Ehud sends the others away and prepares to head back to Eglon’s residence at Jericho (Judges 3:19). This will be just one of the risks taken in Ehud’s plan. The king is not expecting him.

Verse 19.
But he himself turned back at the idols near Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he commanded, “Silence.” And all his attendants went out from his presence.

Ehud (Judges 3:15–18) is on a mission to kill the king of Moab. As the one selected to bring Israel’s tribute to the king, Ehud has gained an audience with Eglon at his palace in Jericho. That has already taken place, and Ehud has begun the journey back home with those who carried the tribute. This is not a missed opportunity, but the exact situation for which Ehud has planned.

He stops, sending the others on their way. Ehud turns back toward Eglon’s palace at a place where some idols stood near Gilgal. These idols may have been part of the pagan worship that had taken root in Israel (Judges 3:6). In any case, they had become a landmark in the region. Gilgal was only about two miles from Jericho. Archaeologists in the 1930s uncovered the remains of a large structure in Jericho now believed to be the palace of Eglon. The dimensions were about 40 by 50 feet, or 12 by 15 meters, and the site included expensive pottery and a cuneiform tablet.

Ehud gains another audience with the king by reporting that he has a secret message for Eglon. This, apparently, is how he explains returning to the palace after leaving with his companions earlier in the day. Eglon wants to know the message. He commands “silence;” in this context, that means leaving the room empty so no one else can hear the secret. Attendants and guards leave the room and, apparently, close the door behind them. This leaves Ehud alone with Eglon the king.

Verse 20. And Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat.

Israel’s judge and deliverer, raised up by God to save the people from their captivity to the Moabites, is on a mission to kill the king of Moab (Judges 3:12–15). Ehud gained a second audience with the king and has succeeded in getting Eglon to clear everyone out of the room so that Ehud can deliver a secret message. What Eglon does not know is that Ehud has concealed a stabbing weapon under his robes (Judges 3:16).

The two men are meeting in Eglon’s “cool roof chamber.” Some commentators explain that this is a room situated on the roof, so people can escape the heat of the inner rooms in this desert location. Other scholars suggest the text should be translated as “throne room.” In any case, Eglon and Ehud are alone in this room with the doors shut.

Ehud tells Eglon he has a secret message from God for the king. This was why the king cleared the room (Judges 3:18–19). He expects to hear an oracle or prophecy from Israel’s God. Eglon rises from his seat or throne to hear this important revelation.

Verse 21. And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly.

This is the moment Ehud, Israel’s deliverer by the hand of God, has been waiting for (Judges 3:15–16). He has gained an audience with the king of Moab, Israel’s oppressor, by telling King Eglon that he has a secret message from God. In response, Eglon has cleared the room of all attendants and guards. He has stood up to receive the message (Judges 3:18–20). This act virtually seals his fate, giving Ehud an open path for attack.

Ehud is proficient with his left hand: either entirely left-handed or ambidextrous. He has concealed a specially made weapon under his robes, on his right thigh. He now reaches underneath his clothes with his left hand, grabs the sword, and thrusts it directly into Eglon’s midsection, catching the morbidly obese king (Judges 3:17) completely off guard. The blow is devastatingly effective, as the next verse describes in graphic detail (Judges 3:22).

Verse 22. And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out.

Ehud has done what he came to do. The Lord has raised Ehud up as Israel’s deliverer (Judges 3:15–16), and now Ehud has thrust his sword into the obese guts of Israel’s enslaver, King Eglon of Moab (Judges 3:18–21). The two are alone in a room in the king’s palace with the doors closed.

Here, the writer of Judges adds detail to the stabbing that evokes both disgust and a vivid ring of truth. This is sometimes referred to as one of the “grossest” or most graphic statements in the Bible. We’ve been told the king is a very fat man (Judges 3:17). Ehud stabs his homemade blade, about the length from a man’s elbow to the tip of the fingers, into the king’s belly. The blow is so powerful, and the wound so deep, that the fat of the king’s stomach closes around the hilt, swallowing the sword whole.

The text is simultaneously unclear and explicit about what happens next. Out of Eglon’s body comes something described using the term parshadon, which is obscure. The word includes the idea of “scattering,” and seems to be associated with filth. Given the massive injury and Eglon’s enormous obesity, it’s possible Ehud’s attack literally disemboweled the Moabite king. Or, that death caused his bowels to empty themselves. At the very least, the wound immediately proves fatal. Given that Ehud can escape secretly (Judges 3:23–26), Eglon appears to have dropped dead without a sound.

Verse 23. Then Ehud went out into the porch and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them.

In modern English slang, someone who is emotionless, capable, and ruthless in what they do is referred to as “an assassin.” In this notably graphic episode from Scripture, Ehud fits such a description in every possible way. He has just killed the king of Moab, in the king’s own palace, using a hidden, handmade stabbing weapon (Judges 3:16–21). Ehud’s strike buried the entire forearm-length weapon into the king’s stomach, resulting in a messy, graphic, and fatal injury (Judges 3:22).

With level-headed calm, it seems, Ehud now walks out of the room, closing and locking the doors behind him. The king’s attendants were ordered to leave; no one is there to know what has happened. Presumably, Ehud simply walks away from the palace before anyone even suspects the king, Eglon, is dead. This calm exit is all the more effective because the attendants assume their king wants to be left alone. They delay a long time before unlocking the doors to find his corpse (Judges 3:24–25).

Instead of starting off by leading Israel’s armies into battle, this deliverer raised up by God (Judges 2:16) walked into the enemy king’s palace and killed him outright. Ehud’s bravery takes the form of both deception and bold action.

There is a battle still to come, however, and Ehud will be leading that charge (Judges 3:26–29).

Verse 24. When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, “Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.”

The servants had been ordered to leave the chamber of Eglon, the Moabite king, prior to this incident (Judges 3:18–19). Since they have not been summoned back, they interpret the locked doors as a sign the king wants privacy. As time drags on, they begin to think he might be relieving himself—that he is emptying his bowels. Ironically, the king’s bowels have been “emptied” in a much more permanent fashion. Ehud struck a graphic blow to the enemy ruler, leaving him on the floor, dropping dead without apparently a sound. Ehud was then able to leave, locking the doors behind him (Judges 3:20–23).

The aftermath of Ehud’s successful assassination is not so graphic as the killing itself. Still, there is an uncomfortable aspect, as reflected in this verse. The next verse adds to the awkwardness of the servants’ situation. They know they must respect the king’s privacy; yet they become concerned about how long he seems to be taking to use the restroom. Once they pass the point of embarrassment, they decide to come in anyway and find Eglon’s body on the floor (Judges 3:25).

Verse 25. And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor.

Ehud has left the servants of the king of Moab with an awkward predicament. The judge of Israel (Judges 2:16) closed and locked the doors to the king’s room after killing the enemy king with a single, gory blow (Judges 3:20–23). After Ehud left, the servants came back to the king’s roof chamber or throne room to find the doors locked. They assumed the king was going to the bathroom in his inner closet; so, they decided to respect his privacy. They likely assumed he would call them when he was ready for them. Given the gory aftermath of Eglon’s death, they might have detected an odor that would have added to their mistake.

Then the waiting started. They waited and waited to hear from the king, but he never called for them. The writer of Judges says that they waited until they were embarrassed. One can only imagine the servants being torn between awkward concern, and the fear of angering the king by interrupting his private moment. Finally, they decided they had waited long enough and used a key to open the door. There, they find the king’s corpse lying on the ground.

Verse 26. Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond the idols and escaped to Seirah.

In an act of savage deception, Ehud succeeded both in killing the king of Moab and getting away without being caught. Some commentators note the echo of Jacob’s description of the tribe of Benjamin (Genesis 49:27). Ehud, of that tribe (Judges 3:15), certainly acts with the ferocious efficiency of a wolf. After burying his dagger in the king’s enormous belly, Ehud calmly locked the door behind him and walked away (Judges 3:17–23). The king’s servants, perhaps smelling the unpleasant results of the killing, imagined the door was locked because the king was going to the bathroom (Judges 3:24–25).

This verse says that the servants “delayed,” which could also be read as “dallied.” They were torn between interrupting the king and a growing sense that something was wrong. When they finally did unlock the door and find the king’s body, Ehud had already covered a lot of ground. He had passed “beyond the idols” near Gilgal mentioned in verse 19. These idols were likely enormous statutes, perhaps of the king himself, that served as local landmarks. They stood a safe enough distance from the palace and Ehud could not be chased down at this point.

Ehud made his way to a place called Seirah in the hill country of Ephraim, north and west of Jericho. Once there, Ehud will gather an army of Israelites to attack the now leaderless Moabites.

Verse 27. When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim. Then the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader.

Up until this point, Ehud’s career as a deliverer and judge of Israel (Judges 2:16) involved working alone. After the Lord raised him up to save Israel from the Moabites, Ehud helped to deliver a tribute to the Moabite king before doubling back and killing the enemy ruler on his own (Judges 3:19–23).

As crucial as it would be to kill the enemy’s king, that act alone will not necessarily set Israel free. The people need to press their advantage while they still can. So, Ehud rallies the people of Israel to follow him into battle against the Moabites. He sounds a ram’s horn trumpet as a signal to the fighting men of the region to join him. Perhaps they had already heard of his daring slaughter of the enemy king. Together, they follow Ehud out of the hill country and towards the Jordan River to attack the Moab army and keep them from regrouping in their home territory to launch reprisal attacks.

Verse 28.And he said to them, “Follow after me, for the Lord has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over.

Ehud has gathered an army from the men of the tribe of Ephraim. After killing the king of Moab in the royal palace (Judges 3:19–23), Ehud is leading Israelite fighters into battle to defeat the Moabites and free the nation from their oppressive rule (Judges 3:12–14).

Before the battle, Ehud gives a speech that makes it clear that the ultimate victory will be won by the Lord. He declares confidence in their success because God Himself will provide victory.

The military strategy at work here is simple: Ehud and his men take control of the crossing points of the Jordan River near the Dead Sea. These are the locations where soldiers and other land traffic would have been able to cross back and forth over the Jordan. Once the Israelites had possession of these “fords,” they could keep any Moabite soldiers in Israel from escaping. They can also prevent reinforcements from crossing over the Jordan into Israel. Both will be crucial in preventing Moab from launching any revenge attacks.

Verse 29. And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped.

Soon after the assassination of the Moabite king (Judges 3:19–23), Ehud and the army of Ephraimite fighters secured tactical locations long the Jordan River (Judges 3:28). By controlling the crossing point between Israel and Moab, they were positioned to keep the Moabites from escaping and any reinforcements from crossing over to help them. This not only gave Israel’s fighters a tactical advantage, but it also allowed for an immediate follow-up strike against their enemy. This would have been crucial to prevent Moab from being able to regroup and launch revenge assaults against Israel.

It’s possible that the number of those reported as killed uses a literary device common to ancient literature. Much as the number “a million” is often used figuratively in English, so too was “ten thousand” sometimes used in a non-literal way. Along the same lines, the term for “thousand,” ‘eleph, can also refer to divisions or groups.

As Ehud emphasized in the previous verse, the Lord gave Israel success. Regardless of the exact number of men defeated, Israel achieves more than a mere victory. They completely wiped out the Moabite army, with special note being made of the fact that not a single Moabite soldier escaped. Despite what’s seen in movies and television, most battles in the ancient world rarely resulted in a large percentage of the losing side killed. It would have been abnormal for most, let alone all enemy combatants to die. That Israel kills every soldier is not simply a victory, it is an obliteration of the Moabite army.

This is another decisive victory in Israel’s history. Along with other such events, these moments should have made it clear to the people that when the Lord fights for them, they cannot lose.

Verse 30. So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years.

This verse brings the repeated pattern of the book of Judges (Judges 2:16–19) back to its starting place. In this cycle, Israel begins in a right relationship with God, and in state of freedom and peace. The judge whom God used to save Israel dies. Lacking that influence, the people turn from God into sin and idolatry. So, the Lord allows another foreign nation to oppress them. The Israelites eventually cry out to the Lord for help. He sends a new judge to save them. Peace is restored until that judge dies. Then the pattern is repeated once more.

Through Ehud’s leadership (Judges 3:14–15), God freed Israel from the rule of the Moabites (Judges 3:26–29) and returned peace and security to Israel. This time, the Israelites remained unconquered and at peace in the land for eighty years, suggesting that Ehud enjoyed a long life. Eighty years may have indicated the passing of two generations. Often, it is children or grandchildren of those who have been powerfully rescued by God who stop being faithful to the Lord and bring on a new round of judgment by their sinfulness.

Verse 31. After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel.

The event described in this verse does not fit the typical pattern of the book of Judges. It reads more like a minor episode, and not much detail is provided. However, Shamgar is listed as one of Israel’s deliverers during this era. The unique nature of this event suggests that the judges who served in Israel may not have formed a perfect, linear chain. Shamgar, for instance, may well have rescued Israel during the eighty years of peace secured by Ehud (Judges 3:30). That, as well, suggests that the exploits of each judge likely did not cover the entire nation of Israel, but only certain areas.

Shamgar came “after” Ehud in some way, either after the victory over the Moabites or after Ehud’s death. Either option is possible. Shamgar is described as the son of Anath. Some scholars suggest certain Egyptian or Canaanite soldiers served under the banner of the goddess of war, known as Anath. In that case, it would mean Shamgar was not an Israelite, but used by God all the same to provide some deliverance to Israel.

The details here are so sparse it’s not even clear Shamgar intended to fight on behalf of Israel. He may simply have been used by God to deliver Israel from local oppression. His act, or acts, might have somehow prevented a threat from the Philistines in the north. All the Bible implies is that Shamgar was in the right place and time to obtain victory over 600 Philistines. Whether this was all in a single battle, or over some period, is not clear. Whatever the exact circumstances, Shamgar’s success provided deliverance for Israel.

An oxgoad was a long stick used to direct cattle. This was hardly a flimsy object. Oxgoads were typically longer than a person was tall, made of thick wood, with a point on one end and a flat shovel-like blade at the other. These were not as long, sharp, or powerful as a full-fledged spear, but in the right hands it could be a potent weapon.

The more familiar pattern of Judges picks up again in the beginning verses of chapter four.

Context Summary
Judges 3:31 occupies an interesting place in this part of Israel’s history. While some of Israel’s judges are described over the course of several chapters, this solitary verse covers the entire work of Shamgar. Though he is later mentioned in Deborah’s song (Judges 5:6), the Bible says little about him. Likely, his time as a judge overlapped that of Ehud. All we know, for sure, is that he killed several hundred Philistines with a plowman’s pole.

End of Judges 3

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