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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
<CENTER>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>J U D G E S</B></FONT>
<BR>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. III.</FONT>
<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
</CENTER>
<FONT SIZE=-1>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
In this chapter,
I. A general account of Israel's enemies is premised, and of the
mischief they did them,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:1-7">ver. 1-7</A>.
II. A particular account of the brave exploits done by the first three
of the judges.
1. Othniel, whom God raised up to fight Israel's battles, and plead
their cause against the king of Mesopotamia,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:8-11">ver. 8-11</A>.
2. Ehud, who was employed in rescuing Israel out of the hands of the
Moabites, and did it by stabbing the king of Moab,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:12-30">ver. 12-30</A>.
3. Shamgar, who signalized himself in an encounter with the
Philistines,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:31">ver. 31</A>.</P>
</FONT>
<A NAME="Jud3_1"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_2"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_3"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_4"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_5"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_6"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_7"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Idolatry of the Israelites.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1406.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>
1 Now these <I>are</I> the nations which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> left, to prove
Israel by them, <I>even</I> as many <I>of Israel</I> as had not known all
the wars of Canaan;
&nbsp; 2 Only that the generations of the children of Israel might
know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing
thereof;
&nbsp; 3 <I>Namely,</I> 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 entering in of
Hamath.
&nbsp; 4 And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they
would hearken unto the commandments of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, which he
commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.
&nbsp; 5 And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites,
Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and
Jebusites:
&nbsp; 6 And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave
their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
&nbsp; 7 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>,
and forgat the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> their God, and served Baalim and the groves.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
We are here told what remained of the old inhabitants of Canaan.
1. There were some of them that kept together in united bodies,
unbroken
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
<I>The five lords of the Philistines,</I> namely, Ashdod, Gaza,
Askelon, Gath, and Ekron,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+6:7">1 Sam. vi. 17</A>.
Three of these cities had been in part reduced
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+1:18"><I>ch.</I> i. 18</A>),
but it seems the Philistines (probably with the help of the other two,
which strengthened their confederacy with each other thenceforward)
recovered the possession of them. These gave the greatest disturbance
to Israel of any of the natives, especially in the latter times of the
judges, and they were never quite reduced until David's time. There was
a particular nation called <I>Canaanites,</I> that kept their ground
with the Sidonians, upon the coast of the great sea. And in the north
the Hivites held much of Mount Lebanon, it being a remote corner, in
which perhaps they were supported by some of the neighbouring states.
But, besides these,
2. There were every where in all parts of the country some scatterings
of the nations
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
Hittites, Amorites, &c., which, by Israel's foolish connivance and
indulgence, were so many, so easy, and so insolent, that the
<I>children of Israel</I> are said to <I>dwell among them,</I> as if
the right had still remained in the Canaanites, and the Israelites had
been taken in by their permission and only as tenants at will.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Now concerning these remnants of the natives observe,</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
I. How wisely God permitted them to remain. It is mentioned in the
close of the foregoing chapter as an act of God's justice, that he let
them remain for Israel's correction. But here another construction is
put upon it, and it appears to have been an act of God's <I>wisdom,</I>
that he let them remain for Israel's real advantage, that those who
<I>had not known the wars of Canaan</I> might <I>learn war,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:1,2"><I>v.</I> 1, 2</A>.
It was the will of God that the people of Israel should be inured to
war,
1. Because their country was <I>exceedingly rich and fruitful,</I> and
abounded with dainties of all sorts, which, if they were not sometimes
made to know hardship, would be in danger of sinking them into the
utmost degree of luxury and effeminacy. They must sometimes wade in
blood, and not always in milk and honey, lest even their men of war, by
the long disuse of arms, should become as soft and as nice as the
<I>tender and delicate woman, that would not set so much as the sole of
her foot to the ground for tenderness and delicacy,</I> a temper as
destructive to every thing that is good as it is to every thing that is
great, and therefore to be carefully watched against by all God's
Israel.
2. Because their country lay very much in the midst of enemies, by whom
they must expect to be insulted; for God's heritage was a <I>speckled
bird; the birds round about were against her,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:9">Jer. xii. 9</A>.
It was therefore necessary they should be well disciplined, that they
might defend their coasts when invaded, and might hereafter enlarge
their coast as God had promised them. The art of war is best learnt by
experience, which not only acquaints men with martial discipline, but
(which is no less necessary) inspires them with a martial disposition.
It was for the interest of Israel to breed soldiers, as it is the
interest of an island to breed sea-men, and therefore God left
Canaanites among them, that, by the less difficulties and hardships
they met with in encountering them, they might be prepared for greater,
and, by <I>running with the footmen,</I> might learn <I>to contend with
horses,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:5">Jer. xii. 5</A>.
Israel was a figure of the church militant, that must fight its way to
a triumphant state. The soldiers of Christ must endure hardness,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ti+2:3">2 Tim. ii. 3</A>.
Corruption is therefore left remaining in the hearts even of good
Christians, that they may learn war, may keep on the <I>whole armour of
God,</I> and stand continually upon their guard. The learned bishop
Patrick offers another sense of
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>:
<I>That they might know to teach them war,</I> that is, they shall know
what it is to be left to themselves. Their fathers fought by a divine
power. God taught their hands to war and their fingers to fight; but
now that they have forfeited his favour let them learn what it is to
fight like other men.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. How wickedly Israel mingled themselves with those that did remain.
One thing God intended in leaving them among them was <I>to prove
Israel</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
that those who were faithful to the God of Israel might have the honour
of resisting the Canaanites' allurements to idolatry, and that those
who were false and insincere might be discovered, and might fall under
the shame of yielding to those allurements. Thus in the Christian
churches there must needs be heresies, <I>that those who are perfect
may be made manifest,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+11:19">1 Cor. xi. 19</A>.
Israel, upon trial, proved bad.
1. They joined in marriage with the Canaanites
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
though they could not advance either their honour or their estate by
marrying with them. They would mar their blood instead of mending it,
and sink their estates instead of raising them, by such marriages.
2. Thus they were brought to join in worship with them; they served
their <I>gods</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
<I>Baalim and the groves</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
that is, the images that were worshipped in groves of thick trees,
which were a sort of natural temples. In such unequal matches there is
more reason to fear that the bad will corrupt the good than to hope
that the good will reform the bad, as there is in laying two pears
together, the one rotten and the other sound. When they inclined to
worship other gods they <I>forgot the Lord their God.</I> In
complaisance to their new relations, they talked of nothing by Baalim
and the groves, so that by degrees they lost the remembrance of the
true God, and forgot there was such a Being, and what obligations they
lay under to him. In nothing is the corrupt memory of man more
treacherous than in this, that it is apt to forget God; because out of
sight, he is out of mind; and here begins all the wickedness that is in
the world: they <I>have perverted their way,</I> for they have
<I>forgotten the Lord their God.</I></P>
<A NAME="Jud3_8"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_9"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_10"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_11"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Government of Othniel.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1336.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>8 Therefore the anger of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> was hot against Israel, and
he sold them into the hand of Chushan-rishathaim king of
Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushan-rishathaim
eight years.
&nbsp; 9 And when the children of Israel cried unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered
them, <I>even</I> Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.
&nbsp; 10 And the Spirit of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came upon him, and he judged
Israel, and went out to war: and the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> delivered
Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand
prevailed against Chushan-rishathaim.
&nbsp; 11 And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of
Kenaz died.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
We now come to the records of the government of the particular judges,
the first of which was Othniel, in whom the story of this book is knit
to that of Joshua, for even in Joshua's time Othniel began to be
famous, by which it appears that it was not long after Israel's
settlement in Canaan before their purity began to be corrupted and
their peace (by consequence) disturbed. And those who have taken pains
to enquire into the sacred chronology are generally agreed that the
Danites' idolatry, and the war with the Benjamites for abusing the
Levite's concubine, though related in the latter end of this book,
happened about this time, under or before the government of Othniel,
who, though a judge, was not such a king in Israel as would keep men
from doing what was <I>right in their own eyes.</I> In this short
narrative of Othniel's government we have,</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
I. The distress that Israel was brought into for their sin,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
God being justly displeased with them for plucking up the hedge of
their peculiarity, and laying themselves in common with the nations,
plucked up the hedge of their protection and laid them open to the
nations, set them to sale as goods he would part with, and the first
that laid hands on them was Chushan-rishathaim, king of that Syria
which lay between the two great rivers of Tigris and Euphrates, thence
called <I>Mesopotamia,</I> which signifies <I>in the midst of
rivers.</I> It is probable that this was a warlike prince, and, aiming
to enlarge his dominions, he invaded the two tribes first on the other
side Jordan that lay next him, and afterwards, perhaps by degrees,
penetrated into the heart of the country, and as far as he went put
them under contribution, exacting it with rigour, and perhaps
quartering soldiers upon them. Laban, who oppressed Jacob with a hard
service, was of this country; but it lay at such a distance that one
could not have thought Israel's trouble would come from such a far
country, which shows so much the more of the hand of God in it.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. Their return to God in this distress: <I>When he slew them, then
they sought him</I> whom before they had slighted. The <I>children of
Israel,</I> even the generality of them, <I>cried unto the Lord,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
At first they made light of their trouble, and thought they could
easily shake off the yoke of a prince at such a distance; but, when it
continued eight years, they began to feel the smart of it, and then
those cried under it who before had laughed at it. Those who in the day
of their mirth had cried to Baalim and Ashtaroth now that they are in
trouble cry to the Lord from whom they had revolted, whose justice
brought them into this trouble, and whose power and favour could alone
help them out of it. Affliction makes those cry to God with importunity
who before would scarcely speak to him.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
III. God's return in mercy to them for their deliverance. Though need
drove them to him, he did not therefore reject their prayers, but
graciously raised up a deliverer, or <I>saviour,</I> as the word is.
Observe,
1. Who the deliverer was. It was Othniel, who married Caleb's daughter,
one of the old stock that had <I>seen the works of the Lord,</I> and
had himself, no question, kept his integrity, and secretly lamented the
apostasy of his people, but waited for a divine call to appear publicly
for the redress of their grievances. He was now, we may suppose, far
advanced in years, when God raised him up to this honour, but the
decays of age were no hindrance to his usefulness when God had work for
him to do.
2. Whence he had his commission, not of man, nor by man; but <I>the
Spirit of the Lord came upon him</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
the spirit of wisdom and courage to qualify him for the service, and a
spirit of power to excite him to it, so as to give him and others full
satisfaction that it was the will of God he should engage in it. The
Chaldee says, <I>The spirit of prophecy remained on him.</I>
3. What method he took. He first judged Israel, reproved them, called
them to account for their sins, and reformed them, and then went out to
war. This was the right method. Let sin at home be conquered, that
worst of enemies, and then enemies abroad will be the more easily dealt
with. Thus let Christ be our Judge and Law-giver, and then <I>he will
save us,</I> and on no other terms,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+33:22">Isa. xxxiii. 22</A>.
4. What good success he had. He prevailed to break the yoke of the
oppression, and, as it should seem, to break the neck of the oppressor;
for it is said, <I>The Lord delivered Chushan-rishathaim into his
hand.</I> Now was Judah, of which tribe Othniel was, <I>as a lion's
whelp gone up from the prey.</I>
5. The happy consequence of Othniel's good services. The land, though
not getting ground, yet had rest, and some fruits of the reformation,
forty years; and the benefit would have been perpetual if they had kept
close to God and their duty.</P>
<A NAME="Jud3_12"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_13"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_14"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_15"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_16"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_17"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_18"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_19"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_20"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_21"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_22"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_23"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_24"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_25"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_26"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_27"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_28"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_29"> </A>
<A NAME="Jud3_30"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Israel Oppressed by Eglon; Eglon Slain by Ehud.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1336.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>12 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of
the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: and the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> strengthened Eglon the king of Moab
against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
&nbsp; 13 And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek,
and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees.
&nbsp; 14 So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab
eighteen years.
&nbsp; 15 But when the children of Israel cried unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, the
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a
Benjamite, a man left-handed: and by him the children of Israel
sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab.
&nbsp; 16 But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit
length; and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right
thigh.
&nbsp; 17 And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab: and
Eglon <I>was</I> a very fat man.
&nbsp; 18 And when he had made an end to offer the present, he sent
away the people that bare the present.
&nbsp; 19 But he himself turned again from the quarries that <I>were</I> by
Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king: who
said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him.
&nbsp; 20 And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting in a summer
parlour, which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said, I have a
message from God unto thee. And he arose out of <I>his</I> seat.
&nbsp; 21 And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from
his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly:
&nbsp; 22 And the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat
closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out
of his belly; and the dirt came out.
&nbsp; 23 Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors
of the parlour upon him, and locked them.
&nbsp; 24 When he was gone out, his servants came; and when they saw
that, behold, the doors of the parlour <I>were</I> locked, they said,
Surely he covereth his feet in his summer chamber.
&nbsp; 25 And they tarried till they were ashamed: and, behold, he
opened not the doors of the parlour; therefore they took a key,
and opened <I>them:</I> and, behold, their lord <I>was</I> fallen down dead
on the earth.
&nbsp; 26 And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the
quarries, and escaped unto Seirath.
&nbsp; 27 And it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew a
trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim, and the children of Israel
went down with him from the mount, and he before them.
&nbsp; 28 And he said unto them, Follow after me: for the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath
delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went
down after him, and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and
suffered not a man to pass over.
&nbsp; 29 And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men,
all lusty, and all men of valour; and there escaped not a man.
&nbsp; 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And
the land had rest fourscore years.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Ehud is the next of the judges whose achievements are related in this
history, and here is an account of his actions.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
I. When Israel sins again God raises up a new oppressor,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:12-14"><I>v.</I> 12-14</A>.
It was an aggravation of their wickedness that they did evil again
after they had smarted so long for their former iniquities, promised so
fair when Othniel judged them, and received so much mercy from God in
their deliverance. What, and after all this, again to break his
commandments! Was the disease obstinate to all the methods of cure,
both corrosives and lenitives? It seems it was. Perhaps they thought
they might make the more bold with their old sins because they saw
themselves in no danger from their old oppressor; the powers of that
kingdom were weakened and brought low. But God made them know that he
had variety of rods wherewith to chastise them: He <I>strengthened
Eglon king of Moab against them.</I> This oppressor lay nearer to them
than the former, and therefore would be the more mischievous to them;
God's judgments thus approached them gradually, to bring them to
repentance. When Israel dwelt in tents, but kept their integrity, Balak
king of Moab, who would have strengthened himself against them, was
baffled; but now that they had forsaken God, and worshipped the gods of
the nations round about them (and perhaps those of the Moabites among
the rest), here was another king of Moab, whom God strengthened against
them, put power into his hands, though a wicked man, that he might be a
scourge to Israel. The staff in his hand with which he beat Israel was
God's indignation; <I>howbeit he meant not so, neither did his heart
think so,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:6,7">Isa. x. 6, 7</A>.
Israelites did ill, and, we may suppose, Moabites did worse; yet
because God commonly punishes the sins of his own people in this world,
that, the flesh being destroyed, the spirit may be saved, Israel is
weakened and Moab strengthened against them. God would not suffer the
Israelites, when they were the stronger, to distress the Moabites, nor
give them any disturbance, though they were idolaters
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+2:9">Deut. ii. 9</A>);
yet now he suffered the Moabites to distress Israel, and strengthened
them on purpose that they might: <I>Thy judgments, O God! are a great
deep.</I> The king of Moab took to his assistance the Ammonites and
Amalekites
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
and this strengthened him; and we are here told how they prevailed.
1. They beat them in the field: They <I>went and smote Israel</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
not only those tribes that lay next them on the other side Jordan, who,
though first settled, being frontier-tribes, were most disturbed; but
those also within Jordan, for they made themselves masters of <I>the
city of palm-trees,</I> which, it is probable, was a strong-hold
erected near the place where Jericho had stood, for that was so called
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+34:3">Deut. xxxiv. 3</A>),
into which the Moabites put a garrison, to be a bridle upon Israel, and
to secure the passes of Jordan, for the preservation of the
communication with their own country. It was well for the Kenites that
they had left this city
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+1:16"><I>ch.</I> i. 16</A>)
before it fell into the hands of the enemy. See how quickly the
Israelites lost that by their own sin which they had gained by miracles
of divine mercy.
2. They made them to serve
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
that is, exacted tribute from them, either the fruits of the earth in
kind or money in lieu of them. They neglected the service of God, and
did not pay him his tribute; thus therefore did God recover from them
that <I>wine and oil,</I> that silver and gold, which they prepared for
Baal,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+2:8">Hos. ii. 8</A>.
What should have been paid to the divine grace, and was not, was
distrained for, and paid to the divine justice. The former servitude
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>)
lasted but eight years, this eighteen; for, if less troubles do not do
the work, God will send greater.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. When Israel prays again God raises up a new deliverer
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>),
named <I>Ehud.</I> We are here told,</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
1. That he was a Benjamite. The city of palm-trees lay within the lot
of this tribe, by which it is probable that they suffered most, and
therefore stirred first to shake off the yoke. It is supposed by the
chronologers that the Israelites' war with Benjamin for the wickedness
of Gibeah, by which that whole tribe was reduced to 600 men, happened
before this, so that we may well think that tribe to be now the weakest
of all the tribes, yet out of it God raised up this deliverer, in token
of his being perfectly reconciled to them, to manifest his own power in
ordaining strength out of weakness, and that he might bestow <I>more
abundant honour upon that part which lacked,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+12:24">1 Cor. xii. 24</A>.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
2. That he was left-handed, as it seems many of that tribe were,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+20:16"><I>ch.</I> xx. 16</A>.
Benjamin signifies <I>the son of the right hand,</I> and yet multitudes
of them were left-handed; for men's natures do not always answer their
names. The LXX. say he was an <I>ambi-dexter,</I> one that could use
both hands alike, supposing that this was an advantage to him in the
action he was called to; but the Hebrew phrase, that he was <I>shut of
his right hand,</I> intimates that, either through disease of disuse,
he made little or no use of that, but of his left hand only, and so was
the less fit for war, because he must needs handle his sword but
awkwardly; yet God chose this left-handed man to be the man of his
right hand, whom he would <I>make strong for himself,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+80:17">Ps. lxxx. 17</A>.
It was <I>God's right hand</I> that gained Israel the victory
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:3">Ps. xliv. 3</A>),
not the right hand of the instruments he employed.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
3. We are here told what Ehud did for the deliverance of Israel out of
the hands of the Moabites. He saved the oppressed by destroying the
oppressors, when the measure of their iniquity was full and the set
time to favour Israel had come.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
(1.) He put to death Eglon the king of Moab; I say, <I>put him to
death,</I> not murdered or assassinated him, but as a judge, or
minister of divine justice, executed the judgments of God upon him, as
an implacable enemy to God and Israel. This story is particularly
related.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
[1.] He had a fair occasion of access to him. Being an ingenious active
man, and fit to stand before kings, his people chose him to carry a
present in the name of all Israel, over and above their tribute, to
their great lord the king of Moab, that they might find favour in his
eyes,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
The present is called <I>mincha</I> in the original, which is the word
used in the law for the offerings that were presented to God to obtain
his favour; these the children of Israel had not offered in their
season to the God that loved them; and now, to punish them for their
neglect, they are laid under a necessity of bringing their offerings to
a heathen prince that hated them. Ehud went on his errand to Eglon,
offered his present with the usual ceremony and expressions of dutiful
respect, the better to colour what he intended and to prevent
suspicion.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
[2.] It should seem, from the first, he designed to be the death of
him, God putting it into his heart, and letting him know also that the
motion was from himself, by the Spirit that came upon him, the impulses
of which carried with them their own evidence, and so gave him full
satisfaction both as to the lawfulness and the success of this daring
attempt, of both which he would have had reason enough to doubt. If he
be sure that God bids him do it, he is sure both that he may do it and
that he shall do it; for a command from God is sufficient to bear us
out, and bring us off, both against our consciences and against all the
world. That he compassed and imagined the death of this tyrant appears
by the preparation he made of a weapon for the purpose, a short dagger,
but half a yard long, like a bayonet, which might easily be concealed
under his clothes
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
perhaps because none were suffered to come near the king with their
swords by their sides. This he wore on his right thigh, that it might
be the more ready to his left hand, and might be the less
suspected.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
[3.] He contrived how to be alone with him, which he might the more
easily be now that he had not only made himself known to him, but
ingratiated himself by the present, and the compliments which perhaps,
on this occasion, he had passed upon him. Observe, how he laid his
plot. <I>First,</I> He concealed his design even from his own
attendants, brought them part of the way, and then ordered them to go
forward towards home, while he himself, as if he had forgotten
something behind him, went back to the king of Moab's court,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
There needed but one hand to do the execution; had more been engaged
they could not so safely have kept counsel, nor so easily have made an
escape. <I>Secondly,</I> He returned from the quarries by Gilgal
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
from the <I>graven images</I> (so it is in the margin) which were with
Gilgal, set up perhaps by the Moabites with the twelve stones which
Joshua had set up there. Some suggest that the sight of these idols
stirred up in him such an indignation against the king of Moab as put
him upon the execution of that design which otherwise he had thought to
let fall for the present. Or, perhaps, he came so far as to these
images, that, telling from what place he returned, the king of Moab
might be the more apt to believe he had a message from God.
<I>Thirdly,</I> He begged a private audience, and obtained it in a
withdrawing-room, here called a <I>summer parlour.</I> He told the king
he had a secret errand to him, who thereupon ordered all his attendants
to withdraw,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
Whether he expected to receive some private instructions from an
oracle, or some private informations concerning the present state of
Israel, as if Ehud would betray his country, it was a very unwise thing
for him to be all alone with a stronger and one whom he had reason to
look upon as an enemy; but those that are marked for ruin are
infatuated, and their <I>hearts hid from understanding;</I> God
deprives them of discretion.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
[4.] When he had him alone he soon dispatched him. His summer parlour,
where he used to indulge himself in ease and luxury, was the place of
his execution. <I>First,</I> Ehud demands his attention to <I>a message
from God</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>),
and that message was a dagger. God sends to us by the judgments of his
hand, as well as by the judgments of his mouth. <I>Secondly,</I> Eglon
pays respect to a message from God. Though a king, though a heathen
king, though rich and powerful, though now tyrannizing over the people
of God, though a fat unwieldy man that could not easily rise nor stand
long, though in private and what he did was not under observation, yet,
when he expected to receive orders form heaven, he rose out of his
seat; whether it was low and easy, or whether it was high and stately,
he quitted it, and stood up when God was about to speak to him, thereby
owning God his superior. This shames the irreverence of many who are
called Christians, and yet, when a message from God is delivered to
them, study to show, by all the marks of carelessness, how little they
regard it. Ehud, in calling what he had to do <I>a message from
God,</I> plainly avouches a divine commission for it; and God's
inclining Eglon to stand up to it did both confirm the commission and
facilitate the execution. <I>Thirdly,</I> The message was delivered,
not to his ear, but immediately, and literally, to his heart, into
which the fatal knife was thrust, and was left there,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:21,22"><I>v.</I> 21, 22</A>.
His extreme fatness made him unable to resist or to help himself;
probably it was the effect of his luxury and excess; and, when <I>the
fat closed up the blade,</I> God would by this circumstance show how
those that pamper the body do but prepare for their own misery.
However, it was an emblem of his carnal security and senselessness. His
heart was a fat as grease, and in that he thought himself enclosed. See
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+119:70,Ps+17:10">Ps. cxix. 70; xvii. 10</A>.
Eglon signifies a <I>calf,</I> and he fell like a fatted calf, by the
knife, an acceptable sacrifice to divine justice. Notice is taken of
the coming out of the dirt or dung, that the death of this proud tyrant
may appear the more ignominious and shameful. He that had been so very
nice and curious about his own body, to keep it easy and clean, shall
now be found wallowing in his own blood and excrements. Thus does God
pour contempt upon princes. Now this act of Ehud's may justify itself
because he had special direction from God to do it, and it was
agreeable to the usual method which, under that dispensation, God took
to avenge his people of their enemies, and to manifest to the world his
own justice. But it will by no means justify any now in doing the like.
No such commissions are now given, and to pretend to them is to
blaspheme God, and made him patronize the worst of villanies. Christ
bade Peter sheathe the sword, and we find not that he bade him draw it
again.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
[5.] Providence wonderfully favoured his escape, when he had done the
execution. <I>First,</I> The tyrant fell silently, without any shriek
or out-cry, which might have been overheard by his servants at a
distance. How silently does he go down to the pit, choked up, it may
be, with his own fat, which stifled his dying groans, though he had
made so great a noise in the world, and had been <I>the terror of the
mighty in the land of the living! Secondly,</I> The heroic executioner
of this vengeance, with such a presence of mind as discovered not only
no consciousness of guilt, but a strong confidence in the divine
protection, shut the doors after him, took the key with him, and passed
through the guards with such an air of innocence, and boldness, and
unconcernedness, as made them not at all to suspect his having done any
thing amiss. <I>Thirdly,</I> The servants that attended in the
antechamber, coming to the door of the inner parlour, when Ehud had
gone, to know their master's pleasure, and finding it locked and all
quiet, concluded he had lain down to sleep, had covered his feet upon
his couch, and gone to consult his pillow about the message he had
received, and to dream upon it
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>),
and therefore would not offer to open the door. Thus by their care not
to disturb his sleep they lost the opportunity of revenging his death.
See what comes of men's taking state too much, and obliging those about
them to keep their distance; some time or other it may come against
them more than they think of. <I>Fourthly,</I> The servants at length
opened the door, and found their master had <I>slept indeed his long
sleep,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
The horror of this tragical spectacle, and the confusion it must needs
put them into, to reflect upon their own inconsideration in not opening
the door sooner, quite put by the thoughts of sending pursuers after
him that had done it, whom now they despaired of overtaking.
<I>Lastly,</I> Ehud by this means made his escape to Sierath, <I>a
thick wood;</I> so some,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
It is not said anywhere in this story what was the place in which Eglon
lived now; but, there being no mention of Ehud passing and repassing
Jordan, I am inclined to think that Eglon had left his own country of
Moab, on the other side Jordan, and made his principal residence at
this time in the city of palm-trees, within the land of Canaan, a
richer country than his own, and that there he was slain, and then the
quarries by Gilgal were not far off him. There where he had settled
himself, and thought he had sufficiently fortified himself to lord it
over the people of God, there he was cut off, and proved to be fed for
the slaughter <I>like a lamb in a large place.</I></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
(2.) Ehud, having slain the king of Moab, gave a total rout to the
forces of the Moabites that were among them, and so effectually shook
off the yoke of their oppression.
[1.] He raised an army immediately in Mount Ephraim, at some distance
form the headquarters of the Moabites, and headed them himself,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
The trumpet he blew was indeed a jubilee-trumpet, proclaiming liberty,
and a joyful sound it was to the oppressed Israelites, who for a long
time had heard no other trumpets than those of their enemies.
[2.] Like a pious man, and as one that did all this in faith, he took
encouragement himself, and gave encouragement to his soldiers, from the
power of God engaged for them
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>):
"<I>Follow me, for the Lord hath delivered your enemies into your
hands;</I> we are sure to have God with us, and therefore may go on
boldly, and shall go on triumphantly."
[3.] Like a politic general, he first secured the fords of Jordan, set
strong guards upon all those passes, to cut off the communications
between the Moabites that were in the land of Israel (for upon them
only his design was) and their own country on the other side Jordan,
that if, upon the alarm given them, they resolved to fly, they might
not escape thither, and, if they resolved to fight, they might not have
assistance thence. Thus he shut them up in that land as their prison in
which they were pleasing themselves as their palace and paradise.
[4.] He then fell upon them, and put them all to the sword, 10,000 of
them, which it seems was the number appointed to keep Israel in
subjection
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>):
<I>There escaped not a man</I> of them. And they were the best and
choicest of all the king of Moab's forces, all lusty men, men of bulk
and stature, and not only able-bodied, but high spirited too, and men
of valour,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>.
But neither their strength nor their courage stood them in any stead
when the set time had come for God to deliver them into the hand of
Israel.
[5.] The consequence of this victory was that the power of the Moabites
was wholly broken in the land of Israel. The country was cleared of
these oppressors, and <I>the land had rest eighty years,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>.
We may hope that there was likewise a reformation among them, and a
check give to idolatry, by the influence of Ehud which continued a good
part of this time. It was a great while for the land to rest, fourscore
years; yet what is that to the saints' everlasting rest in the heavenly
Canaan?</P>
<A NAME="Jud3_31"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Shamgar Slays Six Hundred Philistines.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1316.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>31 And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of
the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also
delivered Israel.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
When it is said <I>the land had rest eighty years,</I> some think it
meant chiefly of that part of the land which lay eastward on the banks
of Jordan, which had been oppressed by the Moabites; but it seems, by
this passage here, that the other side of the country which lay
south-west was in that time infested by the Philistines, against whom
Shamgar made head.
1. It seems Israel needed deliverance, for <I>he delivered Israel;</I>
how great the distress was Deborah afterwards related in her song
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:6"><I>ch.</I> v. 6</A>),
that <I>in the days of Shamgar the highways were unoccupied,</I> &c.;
that part of the country which lay next to the Philistines was so
infested with plunderers that people could not travel the roads in
safety, but were in danger of being set upon and robbed, nor durst they
dwell in the unguarded villages, but were forced to take shelter in the
fortified cities.
2. God raised him up to deliver them, as it should seem, while Ehud was
yet living, but superannuated. So inconsiderable were the enemies for
number that it seems the killing of 600 of them amounted to a
deliverance of Israel, and so many he slew with an ox-goad, or, as some
read it, <I>a plough-share.</I> It is probable that he was himself
following the plough when the Philistines made an inroad upon the
country to ravage it, and God put it into his heart to oppose them; the
impulse being sudden and strong, and having neither sword nor spear to
do execution with, he took the instrument that was next at hand, some
of the tools of his plough, and with that killed so many hundred men
and came off unhurt. See here,
(1.) That God can make those eminently serviceable to his glory and his
church's good whose extraction, education, and employment, are very
mean and obscure. He that has the residue of the Spirit could, when he
pleased, make ploughmen judges and generals, and fishermen apostles.
(2.) It is no matter how weak the weapon is if God direct and
strengthen the arm. An ox-goad, when God pleases, shall do more than
Goliath's sword. And sometimes he chooses to work by such unlikely
means, that the excellency of the power may appear to be of God.</P>
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