The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV

by John MacArthur

  55And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed, every man to his 15place.

  56oThus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father by killing his seventy brothers.

  57And all the evil of the men of Shechem God returned on their own heads, and on them came pthe curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

  Judges 10

  Tola

  1After Abimelech there aarose to save Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in the mountains of Ephraim.

  2He judged Israel twenty-three years; and he died and was buried in Shamir.

  Jair

  3After him arose Jair, a Gileadite; and he judged Israel twenty-two years.

  4Now he had thirty sons who brode on thirty donkeys; they also had thirty towns, cwhich are called 1“Havoth Jair” to this day, which are in the land of Gilead.

  5And Jair died and was buried in Camon.

  Israel Oppressed Again

  6Then dthe children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, and eserved the Baals and the Ashtoreths, fthe gods of Syria, the gods of gSidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the people of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him.

  7So the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and He hsold them into the hands of the iPhilistines and into the hands of the people of jAmmon.

  8From that year they 2harassed and oppressed the children of Israel for eighteen years—all the children of Israel who were on the other side of the Jordan in the kland of the Amorites, in Gilead.

  9Moreover the people of Ammon crossed over the Jordan to fight against Judah also, against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed.

  10lAnd the children of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, “We have msinned against You, because we have both forsaken our God and served the Baals!”

  11So the LORD said to the children of Israel, “Did I not deliver you nfrom the Egyptians and ofrom the Amorites and pfrom the people of Ammon and qfrom the Philistines?

  12“Also rthe Sidonians sand Amalekites and 3Maonites toppressed you; and you cried out to Me, and I delivered you from their hand.

  13u“Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods. Therefore I will deliver you no more.

  14“Go and vcry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress.”

  15And the children of Israel said to the LORD, “We have sinned! wDo to us whatever seems best to You; only deliver us this day, we pray.”

  16xSo they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD. And yHis soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel.

  17Then the people of Ammon gathered together and encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled together and encamped in zMizpah.

  18And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said to one another, “Who is the man who will begin the fight against the people of Ammon? He shall abe head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

  Judges 11

  Jephthah

  1Now aJephthah the Gileadite was ba mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a harlot; and Gilead begot Jephthah.

  2Gilead’s wife bore sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You shall have cno inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.”

  3Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and dwelt in the land of dTob; and eworthless men banded together with Jephthah and went out raiding with him.

  4It came to pass after a time that the fpeople of Ammon made war against Israel.

  5And so it was, when the people of Ammon made war against Israel, that the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.

  6Then they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our commander, that we may fight against the people of Ammon.”

  7So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, g“Did you not hate me, and expel me from my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in 1distress?”

  8hAnd the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we have iturned2 again to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the people of Ammon, and be jour head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

  9So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you take me back home to fight against the people of Ammon, and the LORD delivers them to me, shall I be your head?”

  10And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, k“The LORD will be a witness between us, if we do not do according to your words.”

  11Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him lhead and commander over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words mbefore the LORD in Mizpah.

  12Now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon, saying, n“What do you have against me, that you have come to fight against me in my land?”

  13And the king of the people of Ammon answered the messengers of Jephthah, o“Because Israel took away my land when they came up out of Egypt, from pthe Arnon as far as qthe Jabbok, and to the Jordan. Now therefore, restore those lands peaceably.” The Geography of the Judges

  14So Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon,

  15and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: r‘Israel did not take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the people of Ammon;

  16‘for when Israel came up from Egypt, they walked through the wilderness as far as the Red Sea and scame to Kadesh.

  17‘Then tIsrael sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please let me pass through your land.” uBut the king of Edom would not heed. And in like manner they sent to the vking of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel wremained in Kadesh.

  18‘And they xwent along through the wilderness and ybypassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab, came to the east side of the land of Moab, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab.

  19‘Then zIsrael sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, “Please alet us pass through your land into our place.”

  20b‘But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So Sihon gathered all his people together, encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.

  21‘And the LORD God of Israel cdelivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they ddefeated3 them. Thus Israel gained possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country.

  22‘They took possession of eall the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.

  23‘And now the LORD God of Israel has 4dispossessed the Amorites from before His people Israel; should you then possess it?

  24‘Will you not possess whatever fChemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever gthe LORD our God takes possession of before us, we will possess.

  25‘And now, are you any better than hBalak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel? Did he ever fight against them?

  26‘While Israel dwelt in iHeshbon and its villages, in jAroer and its villages, and in all the cities along the banks of the Arnon, for three hundred years, why did you not recover them within that time?

  27‘Therefore I have not sinned against you, but you wronged me by fighting against me. May the LORD, kthe Judge, lrender judgment this day between the children of Israel and the people of Ammon.’ ”

  28However, the king of the people of Ammon did not heed the words which Jephthah sent him.

  Jephthah’s Vow and Victory

  29Then mthe Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and passed through Mizpah of Gilead; and from Mizpah of Gilead he advanced toward the people of Ammon.

  30And Jephthah nmade a vow to the LORD, and said, “If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands,

  31“then it will be that whatever co
mes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, oshall surely be the LORD’s, pand I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”

  32So Jephthah advanced toward the people of Ammon to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his hands.

  33And he 5defeated them from Aroer as far as qMinnith—twenty cities—and to 6Abel Keramim, with a very great slaughter. Thus the people of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

  Jephthah’s Daughter

  34When Jephthah came to his house at rMizpah, there was shis daughter, coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing; and she was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter.

  35And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he ttore his clothes, and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low! You are among those who trouble me! For I uhave 7given my word to the LORD, and vI cannot 8go back on it.”

  36So she said to him, “My father, if you have given your word to the LORD, wdo to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, because xthe LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the people of Ammon.”

  37Then she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: let me alone for two months, that I may go and wander on the mountains and 9bewail my virginity, my 10friends and I.”

  38So he said, “Go.” And he sent her away for two months; and she went with her friends, and bewailed her virginity on the mountains.

  39And it was so at the end of two months that she returned to her father, and he ycarried out his vow with her which he had vowed. She 11knew no man. And it became a custom in Israel

  40that the daughters of Israel went four days each year to 12lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

  Judges 12

  Jephthah’s Conflict with Ephraim

  1Then athe men of Ephraim 1gathered together, crossed over toward Zaphon, and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the people of Ammon, and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house down on you with fire!”

  2And Jephthah said to them, “My people and I were in a great struggle with the people of Ammon; and when I called you, you did not deliver me out of their hands.

  3“So when I saw that you would not deliver me, I btook my life in my hands and crossed over against the people of Ammon; and the LORD delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?”

  4Now Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. And the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, because they said, “You Gileadites care fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites and among the Manassites.”

  5The Gileadites seized the dfords of the Jordan before the Ephraimites arrived. And when any Ephraimite who escaped said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead would say to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,”

  6then they would say to him, “Then say, e‘Shibboleth’!”2 And he would say, “Sibboleth,” for he could not 3pronounce it right. Then they would take him and kill him at the fords of the Jordan. There fell at that time forty-two thousand Ephraimites.

  7And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in among the cities of Gilead.

  Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon

  8After him, Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.

  9He had thirty sons. And he gave away thirty daughters in marriage, and brought in thirty daughters from elsewhere for his sons. He judged Israel seven years.

  10Then Ibzan died and was buried at Bethlehem.

  11After him, Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel. He judged Israel ten years.

  12And Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried at Aijalon in the country of Zebulun.

  13After him, Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel.

  14He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who frode on seventy young donkeys. He judged Israel eight years.

  15Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, gin the mountains of the Amalekites.

  Judges 13

  The Birth of Samson

  (cf. Num. 6:1–21)

  1Again the children of Israel adid evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD delivered them binto the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

  2Now there was a certain man from cZorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children.

  3And the dAngel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.

  4“Now therefore, please be careful enot to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean.

  5“For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no frazor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be ga Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall hbegin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”

  6So the woman came and told her husband, saying, i“A Man of God came to me, and His jcountenance1 was like the countenance of the Angel of God, very awesome; but I kdid not ask Him where He was from, and He did not tell me His name.

  7“And He said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Now drink no wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’ ”

  8Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, and said, “O my Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born.”

  9And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came to the woman again as she was sitting in the field; but Manoah her husband was not with her.

  10Then the woman ran in haste and told her husband, and said to him, “Look, the Man who came to me the other day has just now appeared to me!”

  11So Manoah arose and followed his wife. When he came to the Man, he said to Him, “Are You the Man who spoke to this woman?” And He said, “I am.”

  12Manoah said, “Now let Your words come to pass! What will be the boy’s rule of life, and his work?”

  13So the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful.

  14“She may not eat anything that comes from the vine, lnor may she drink wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean. All that I commanded her let her observe.”

  15Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, “Please mlet us detain You, and we will prepare a young goat for You.”

  16And the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Though you detain Me, I will not eat your food. But if you offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to the LORD.” (For Manoah did not know He was the Angel of the LORD.)

  17Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, “What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass we may honor You?”

  18And the Angel of the LORD said to him, n“Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?”

  19So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, oand offered it upon the rock to the LORD. And He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on—

  20it happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar—the Angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar! When Manoah and his wife saw this, they pfell on their faces to the ground.

  21When the Angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, qthen Manoah knew that He was the Angel of the LORD.

  22And Manoah said to his wife, r“We shall surely die, because we have seen God!”

  23But his wife said to him, “If the LORD had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have told us such things as these at this time.”

  24So the woman bore a son and called his name sSamson; and tthe child grew, and the LORD blessed him.

  25uAnd the Spirit of the LORD began to move upon him at 2Mahaneh Dan vbetween Zorah and wEshtaol.
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br />   Judges 14

  Samson’s Philistine Wife

  1Now Samson went down ato Timnah, and bsaw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines.

  2So he went up and told his father and mother, saying, “I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, cget her for me as a wife.”

  3Then his father and mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of dyour brethren, or among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the euncircumcised Philistines?” And Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for 1she pleases me well.”

  4But his father and mother did not know that it was fof the LORD—that He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time gthe Philistines had dominion over Israel.

  5So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah.

  Now to his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him.

  6And hthe Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.

  7Then he went down and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.

  8After some time, when he returned to get her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion. And behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion.

  9He took some of it in his hands and went along, eating. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them, and they also ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the icarcass of the lion.

  10So his father went down to the woman. And Samson gave a feast there, for young men used to do so.

  11And it happened, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.

  12Then Samson said to them, “Let me jpose a riddle to you. If you can correctly solve and explain it to me kwithin the seven days of the feast, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty lchanges of clothing.