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OET GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL YHN MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD 1 YHN 2 YHN 3 YHN REV
JDG Intro C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21
3 The following are the kingdoms which Yahweh allowed to remain so as to test the newer generations of Yisrael who hadn’t experienced the battles in Canaan 2 (if only for the sake of teaching warfare to those generations who hadn’t experienced it): 3 the five Philistine rulers and the Canaanites, the Sidonians, the Hivites that live on Mt. Lebanon between Mt. Baal-Hermon and Lebo-Hamat.[fn] 4 They were left to test Yisrael to find out if they would obey Yahweh’s instructions that had been given through Mosheh to their ancestors, 5 and so the Israelis lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Yebusites. 6 They took their daughters as wives, and gave their own daughters to be married to their sons, and they worshipped their gods.
3:7 Otniel
7 So the Israelis did things considered evil by Yahweh and they forgot about their god Yahweh, instead serving the Baal and Asherot idols. 8 Because of that, Yahweh was very angry with Yisrael, so he handed them over to King Cushan-Rishathaim of Aram-Naharaim (Mesopotamia). The Israelis served him for eight years 9 but when they cried out to Yahweh, he sent them a leader to rescue them: Otniel, son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz. 10 Yahweh’s spirit empowered him and he led Yisrael. He led them into battle against King Cushan-Rishathaim of Aram, and Yahweh helped them defeat him. 11 So the region had peace for forty years, and then Otniel (Kenaz’s son) died.
3:12 Ehud
12 Once again the Israelis started doing things considered evil by Yahweh, so because of that, he strengthened King Eglon of Moab against Yisrael. 13 King Eglon enlisted warriors from the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and they attacked Yisrael and captured Yericho, the city of palm trees, 14 so the Israelis served him for eighteen years.
15 But the Israelis cried out to Yahweh, he sent them a leader to rescue them: the left-hander Ehud, son of Gera the Benyamite. The Israelis sent him to carry the tribute payment to King Eglon of Moab. 16 Now Ehud had made himself a double-edged sword—a short one about half a metre long—and he strapped it to his right thigh beneath his clothes. 17 Then he presented the tribute to King Eglon of Moab, who was a very fat man, 18 and after leaving for home, he sent off the people who’d actually carried it all. 19 Then from the stone quarries that they’d reached near Gilgal, he returned and told the king that he had a private message for him. The king told his attendants to be quiet then sent them out of the room.
20 So Ehud approached where the king was sitting alone in the coolness of his upper room and told him, “I have a message for you from God.” The king stood up from his seat 21 and then Ehud reached with his left hand and pulled the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king’s belly. 22 Even the handle went in after the blade and the fat closed up over the handle because Ehud didn’t pull the sword out of his belly. Then he went out to the passage[fn] 23 and closed and locked the rooms of the upper room and exited through the porch.[fn] 24 After he’d left, the servants came and found the doors locked, so they thought the king must be relieving himself in there. 25 They waited until they became worried that he hadn’t opened the doors, so they got a key and opened them, only to find their master lying dead on the floor.
26 While the servants had been waiting, Ehud had escaped and passed beyond the quarries, then fleeing to Seirah. 27 When he got there, he blew a trumpet throughout the Efrayimite hill country, and so the Israelis assembled under his direction down in the valley. 28 “Follow after me,” he told them, “because Yahweh will enable you all to defeat your enemies, the Moabites.” So they followed him down to the Yordan river and captured the fords opposite Moab, thus preventing anyone from crossing. 29 Then they attacked Moab and killed around ten thousand men—all strong and capable yet none of them escaped. 30 So Moab was subdued that day by the Israelis, and there was peace in the region for eighty years.
3:31 Shamgar
31 After Ehud came Shamgar (Anat’s son), and he rescued Yisrael by killing six hundred Philistines with a cattle prod.
3:25 OSHB note: Marks a place where we agree with BHQ against BHS in reading L.
3:25 OSHB note: Marks an anomalous form.
3:25 OSHB note: We read one or more vowels in L differently from BHS.
3:25 OSHB note: Marks a place where we agree with BHQ against BHS in reading L.
3:25 OSHB note: We read one or more accents in L differently than BHS. Often this notation indicates a typographical error in BHS.
Joshua 15:13-19; Judges 1:11-15; 3:8-11
Though Scripture affords Othniel son of Kenaz a mere six verses to detail his accomplishments, the significance of what he accomplished should not be underestimated. Othniel is first mentioned during the initial conquest of the land, and it is noted that he was the son of Kenaz, the younger brother of Joshua. As the Israelites were seeking to capture Kiriath-sepher (later renamed Debir), Caleb offered the reward of his daughter Achsah (Othniel’s cousin) as a wife for whoever could take the town. Othniel took the town and received Achsah as his wife, and Caleb also granted him the nearby springs. After this, the writer of Judges recounts how the Israelites lived among the pagan inhabitants of the land, intermarried with them, and worshiped their gods. Therefore the Lord became angry with them, and he allowed them to be dominated by King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-naharaim, who ruled over most of northwest Mesopotamia. This was the same land where Abraham lived before journeying on to Canaan (Genesis 11:27-31; also see “The World of the Patriarchs” map), the homeland of Isaac’s wife Rebekah (Genesis 24:10), the land to which Jacob fled to escape the wrath of his twin brother Esau (Genesis 28; also see “Jacob Goes to Paddan-Aram” map), and the homeland of Balaam son of Beor (Numbers 22:4-5; also see “Balaam Blesses Israel” map). As the first judge of Israel, Othniel led Israel from about 1374-1334 B.C., so it is likely that the kingdom of Cushan-rishathaim was the Mitanni kingdom, which ruled Aram-naharaim from about 1600-1260 B.C. If this is true, it is likely that Cushan-rishathaim was Eriba-Adad I, who ruled Mitanni from about 1390–1366 B.C. The name Cushan-rishathaim, meaning “Cush of the two wickednesses,” may have been an intentional corruption in Hebrew of an otherwise unknown name of Eriba-Adad I. By Othniel’s time, the Mitanni kingdom was beginning a period of decline, so their oppression of the newly established Israelite tribes may have been an attempt to reestablish their dominance throughout the region. Scripture succinctly notes that “the spirit of the Lord came upon [Othniel],” and he waged war against Cushan-rishathaim and defeated him, and the land of Israel had rest for forty years (Judges 3:10-11). Othniel’s bravery during this early period of Israel’s settlement in Canaan ultimately led the nation to victory and survival during a very vulnerable period of their history. And although the Mitanni kingdom continued to rule Aram-naharaim for another century, Othniel’s actions undoubtedly contributed to its continued decline and eventual collapse.
JDG Intro C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21