Day 70: Judges 1-3

(The second section of the Old Testament was known as the "historical section." This section consisted of twelve books that documented Israel's history from their entry into the Promised Land until Israel's captivity. The Book of Judges was the second book of the historical section and was believed to have been written by Samuel. The previous book documented Israel's entry into the Promised Land and Joshua's time as Judge. God wanted to lead His people through Judges. Moses was the first Judge. Joshua was the second Judge. This book documented the remaining Judges until Israel rejected God by requesting a king like the other nations possessed.)

Judges 1
¹ And it came to pass after the death of Joshua, that the children of Israel asked of Jehovah, saying, Who shall go up for us first against the Canaanites, to fight against them?
² And Jehovah said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.

(Here we see the first step the Israelites made was the right move: consult God. God said the tribe of Judah would go and fight the Canaanites.)

³ And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him.

(The tribe of Simeon agreed to help Judah. Remember, the tribe of Simeon was located within the tribe of Judah.)

⁴ And Judah went up; and Jehovah delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they smote of them in Bezek ten thousand men.
⁵ And they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek; and they fought against him, and they smote the Canaanites and the Perizzites.
⁶ But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.

(After they caught Adoni-bezek, they cut off his thumbs and big toes! This type of mutilation was meant to disable a person from military service in the future.)

⁷ And Adoni-bezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their food under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

(Adoni-bezek recognized that God had requited him, which in this verse meant that God required payment for Adoni-bezek's injustice. Adoni-bezek died in Jerusalem.)

⁸ And the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.

(Judah took Jerusalem. Remember, at this time Jerusalem was still under the Jebusites' authority.)

⁹ And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites that dwelt in the hill-country, and in the South, and in the lowland.
¹⁰ And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron (now the name of Hebron beforetime was Kiriath-arba); and they smote Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.
¹¹ And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir. (Now the name of Debir beforetime was Kiriath-sepher.)
¹² And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kiriath-sepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.
¹³ And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.

(Othniel took Debir. Because of this, Caleb gave Othniel his daughter as his wife. This was covered in Joshua 15.)

¹⁴ And it came to pass, when she came unto him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she alighted from off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wouldest thou?
¹⁵ And she said unto him, Give me a blessing; for that thou hast set me in the land of the South, give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs.
¹⁶ And the children of the Kenite, Moses' brother-in-law, went up out of the city of palm-trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt with the people.

(The "city of palm-trees" was Jericho.)

¹⁷ And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they smote the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah.
¹⁸ Also Judah took Gaza with the border thereof, and Ashkelon with the border thereof, and Ekron with the border thereof.
¹⁹ And Jehovah was with Judah; and drove out the inhabitants of the hill-country; for he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.
²⁰ And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses had spoken: and he drove out thence the three sons of Anak.

(Hebron was given to Caleb. The children of Anak occupied the territory the original spies investigated.)

²¹ And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.
²² And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Beth-el; and Jehovah was with them.
²³ And the house of Joseph sent to spy out Beth-el. (Now the name of the city beforetime was Luz.)
²⁴ And the watchers saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Show us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will deal kindly with thee.
²⁵ And he showed them the entrance into the city; and they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man go and all his family.
²⁶ And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz, which is the name thereof unto this day.

(The house of Joseph conquered the city of Beth-el.)

²⁷ And Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its towns, nor of Taanach and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.
²⁸ And it came to pass, when Israel was waxed strong, that they put the Canaanites to taskwork, and did not utterly drive them out.
²⁹ And Ephraim drove not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.

(Again it was stated that Israel grew strong but Manasseh and Ephraim still did not drive out the Canaanites. They made them tributaries. Megiddo was the site of the future battle of Armageddon.)

³⁰ Zebulun drove not out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became subject to taskwork.

(The Canaanites continued to live with the tribe of Zebulun.)

³¹ Asher drove not out the inhabitants of Acco, nor the inhabitants of Sidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob;
³² but the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out.

(Asher did not take complete possession of their land.)

³³ Naphtali drove not out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth-anath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became subject to taskwork.

(Naphtali compromised their inheritance as well.)

³⁴ And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the hill-country; for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley;
³⁵ but the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became subject to taskwork.
³⁶ And the border of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.

(The tribe of Dan failed to take full possession of their land. It seemed as if every tribe did not drive out all the people that God commanded. The Canaanites would dwell among them.)




Judges 2
¹ And the angel of Jehovah came up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you:
² and ye shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall break down their altars. But ye have not hearkened unto my voice: why have ye done this?

(The angel of the Lord asked Israel why they had not obeyed. Israel made covenants with other gods.)

³ Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.

(God reminded them that He would not drive out the inhabitants of the land. The Israelites would have to live with the consequences of their disobedience. God was Just!)

⁴ And it came to pass, when the angel of Jehovah spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.
⁵ And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto Jehovah.

(Bochim meant "weeping.")

⁶ Now when Joshua had sent the people away, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.
⁷ And the people served Jehovah all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of Jehovah that he had wrought for Israel.
⁸ And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Jehovah, died, being a hundred and ten years old.
⁹ And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill-country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash.
¹⁰ And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, that knew not Jehovah, nor yet the work which he had wrought for Israel.

(Verses 11-23: a summary of Israel's history during this time of the Judges.)

¹¹ And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and served the Baalim;

(This new generation of Israel did evil and served Baalim after Joshua died.)

¹² and they forsook Jehovah, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples that were round about them, and bowed themselves down unto them: and they provoked Jehovah to anger.
¹³ And they forsook Jehovah, and served Baal and the Ashtaroth.

(Baal and Ashtaroth: Baal was the supreme masculine "god" of the Canaanites and Ashtaroth was the supreme feminine "goddess" (fertility goddess) of the Canaanites.)

¹⁴ And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that despoiled them; and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.
¹⁵ Whithersoever they went out, the hand of Jehovah was against them for evil, as Jehovah had spoken, and as Jehovah had sworn unto them: and they were sore distressed.

(Verses 16-19: the cyclical pattern of bondage and deliverance in these days of the Judges.)

¹⁶ And Jehovah raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those that despoiled them.
¹⁷ And yet they hearkened not unto their judges; for they played the harlot after other gods, and bowed themselves down unto them: they turned aside quickly out of the way wherein their fathers walked, obeying the commandments of Jehovah; but they did not so.

(God raised up Judges. However, the people would not listen to the Judges once they were rescued.)

¹⁸ And when Jehovah raised them up judges, then Jehovah was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented Jehovah because of their groaning by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.

(The Lord was with the Judges and rescued the people.)

¹⁹ But it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their doings, nor from their stubborn way.

(When a Judge died the Israelites would get even worse.)

²⁰ And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel; and he said, Because this nation have transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice;
²¹ I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations that Joshua left when he died;
²² that by them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of Jehovah to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.

(God did not drive out any other nations but used them to prove (test, try) the Israelites.)

²³ So Jehovah left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.




Judges 3

(This chapter covered the first three Judges.)

¹ Now these are the nations which Jehovah left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan;
² only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as beforetime knew nothing thereof:

(God taught them war.)

³ namely, the five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-hermon unto the entrance of Hamath.
⁴ And they were left, to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of Jehovah, which he commanded their fathers by Moses.

(The pagan nations were listed.)

(Verses 5-11: the first Judge - Othniel.)

⁵ And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites:
⁶ and they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons and served their gods.
⁷ And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and forgat Jehovah their God, and served the Baalim and the Asheroth.
⁸ Therefore the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years.

(God was angered against Israel for serving other gods so He gave them to King Cushan-rishathaim of Mesopotamia. Israel served Cushan-rishathaim for eight years.)

⁹ And when the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah, Jehovah raised up a saviour to the children of Israel, who saved them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.

(God raised up Othniel to deliver Israel, however, the meaning of "brother" was in doubt. In Numbers 13:6, it was written that Caleb was "the son of Jephunneh." Here it was stated that Othniel was the son of Kenaz and the brother of Caleb. The Hebrew word 'ach was translated as "brother." This word could mean "brother of same parents" or "relative, kinship, same tribe." We know that Caleb was past eighty-five years old. We know that his daughter had to be younger than forty years old and that Othniel had to be less than forty years old in order to live in the Promised Land. All of this strongly pointed to Othniel being a relative of Caleb's, but not his brother.)

¹⁰ And the Spirit of Jehovah came upon him, and he judged Israel; and he went out to war, and Jehovah delivered Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand: and his hand prevailed against Cushan-rishathaim.
¹¹ And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

(The Spirit was upon Othniel and the land had rest for forty years, until he died. Eight years of captivity, followed by forty years of freedom.)

(Verses 12-31: the second Judge - Ehud.)

¹² And the children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah: and Jehovah strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah.

(Israel did evil again, so God strengthened King Eglon of Moab. Moab was from Lot.)

¹³ And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek; and he went and smote Israel, and they possessed the city of palm-trees.
¹⁴ And the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.

(Israel served Eglon for eighteen years, ten more years than the first captivity. Ammon was from Lot. Amalek was from Esau.)

¹⁵ But when the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah, Jehovah raised them up a saviour, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a man left-handed. And the children of Israel sent tribute by him unto Eglon the king of Moab.

(God raised up Ehud, a left-handed man, to deliver Israel. Why would the fact that Ehud was left-handed be mentioned? In ancient times, left-handed people were often forced to become right-handed. This man being left-handed would have been a unique attribute to point out.)

¹⁶ And Ehud made him a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length; and he girded it under his raiment upon his right thigh.
¹⁷ And he offered the tribute unto Eglon king of Moab: now Eglon was a very fat man.

(Eglon was very fat.)

¹⁸ And when he had made an end of offering the tribute, he sent away the people that bare the tribute.
¹⁹ But he himself turned back from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king. And he said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him.
²⁰ And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting by himself alone in the cool upper room. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat.
²¹ And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his body:
²² and the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, for he drew not the sword out of his body; and it came out behind.

(Ehud brought Eglon a message from God. He took his dagger and thrust it into Eglon's belly. The haft (handle) of the dagger went in so deep that he could not take the dagger out. Ehud using his left hand would have been unexpected and may have surprised Eglon since most men would fight using their right hand. The KJV added that "dirt" came out.)

²³ Then Ehud went forth into the porch, and shut the doors of the upper room upon him, and locked them.
²⁴ Now when he was gone out, his servants came; and they saw, and, behold, the doors of the upper room were locked; and they said, Surely he is covering his feet in the upper chamber.

(The term "covering his feet" was also translated as "attending to his needs." This term is commonly believed to imply a person "using the bathroom." This same phrase is used to describe what Saul was doing in the cave in 1 Samuel 24:3 when David cut the corner of his robe.)

²⁵ And they tarried till they were ashamed; and, behold, he opened not the doors of the upper room: therefore they took the key, and opened them, and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth.
²⁶ And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped unto Seirah.

(Ehud escaped before Eglon’s men knew what happened.)

²⁷ And it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the hill-country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel went down with him from the hill-country, and he before them.
²⁸ And he said unto them, Follow after me; for Jehovah hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites, and suffered not a man to pass over.
²⁹ And they smote of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, every lusty man, and every man of valor; and there escaped not a man.
³⁰ So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years.

(The land had rest for eighty years after a captivity of eighteen years.)

(Verse 31: the third Judge - Shamgar.)

³¹ And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who smote of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox-goad: and he also saved Israel.

(Although only one verse was used to describe the rule of Shamgar, he had a great accomplishment of saving Israel from the Philistines.)

(This post covered how Israel did not drive out the Canaanites after Joshua died. Israel went into bondage for eight years and Othniel delivered Israel into forty years of freedom. Next, Israel went into bondage for eighteen years and Ehud delivered Israel into eighty years of freedom. Finally, Shamgar was briefly introduced and described in the final verse.)

Day 71