HarperCollins Study Bible

by Harold W. Attridge

  Israel’s Unfaithfulness

  11Then the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and worshiped the Baals; 12and they abandoned the LORD, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; they followed other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were all around them, and bowed down to them; and they provoked the LORD to anger. 13They abandoned the LORD, and worshiped Baal and the Astartes. 14So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers who plundered them, and he sold them into the power of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. 15Whenever they marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them to bring misfortune, as the LORD had warned them and sworn to them; and they were in great distress.

  16Then the LORD raised up judges, who delivered them out of the power of those who plundered them. 17Yet they did not listen even to their judges; for they lusted after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their ancestors had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the LORD; they did not follow their example. 18Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge, and he delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the LORD would be moved to pity by their groaning because of those who persecuted and oppressed them. 19But whenever the judge died, they would relapse and behave worse than their ancestors, following other gods, worshiping them and bowing down to them. They would not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. 20So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel; and he said, “Because this people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their ancestors, and have not obeyed my voice, 21I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died.” 22In order to test Israel, whether or not they would take care to walk in the way of the LORD as their ancestors did, 23the LORD had left those nations, not driving them out at once, and had not handed them over to Joshua.

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  a OL Vg Compare Gk: Heb sides

  b That is Weepers

  2.1–5 Israel’s failure to obey leads to revision of the Lord’s policy. There will be no more expansionist warfare.

  2.1 The angel of the LORD is a diplomatic envoy from the heavenly court (cf. 6.11; 13.3), often preparing the way for God’s direct appearance and here speaking in unmistakably Deuteronomistic style and theology (see Introduction). This same rhetoric is also present in the speeches of an anonymous prophet (6.8–10) and of the Lord (10.11–14). Gilgal, Israel’s base camp in Josh 4.19–20; 5.9–10; 9.6, reappears abruptly.

  2.2–3 Because Israel has failed to keep separate from the inhabitants of this land (Ex 34.12–13; Deut 7.2, 5), they must suffer the consequences threatened in Josh 23.13.

  2.4–5 The Israelites wept, as they would again at Bethel on the eve of the solution to the problem of finding wives for Benjamin (21.2). The name of Bochim (Hebrew, “Weepers”), an otherwise unknown place of sacrifice, is explained.

  2.6–10 A generation gap triggers the state of affairs described in Judges. These verses seem to conclude the assembly of Josh. 24.1–27 and repeat Josh 24.28–31, thus passing over Judg 1.1–2.5 and connecting directly to the end of Joshua. This indicates that Judg 1.1–2.5 was added as a supplement to the Deuteronomistic History (see Introduction).

  2.8 The title servant of the LORD was first borne by Moses (Josh 1.1), then by Joshua, who left no designated successor. Samson applies the title to himself in 15.18.

  2.9 Timnath-heres, “Portion of the Sun” in Hebrew, lies some fifteen miles (twenty-five kilometers) southwest of Shechem. A transposition of letters converted the name to “Timnath-serah” (“Leftover Portion”) in Josh 19.50; 24.30.

  2.10 The observation that, in contrast to the elders of v. 7, the generation after Joshua did not know the LORD marks the turn of an era, a basic change in situation and relationships.

  2.11–23 These verses set forth a cyclical pattern—apostasy, hardship, crying out to the Lord, and rescue—that provides a framework for the stories of the “major” judges.

  2.13 Baal was the Canaanite storm god and divine warrior; Astarte was the popular fertility goddess. These names are used in the plural to represent Canaanite religion overall (cf. 3.7; 10.6).

  2.14 Enemies all around. The first judges deal with threats posed by neighbors in the immediate vicinity: southern highlanders (3.7–11); Moabite invaders from east of the Jordan (3.12–30); Philistines along the coastal plain (3.31); and a Canaanite coalition (4.1–5.31). Thereafter the enemy comes from farther away (Midianites in chs. 6–8, Ammonites in ch. 11) or arises within Israel itself (Abimelech in ch. 9).

  2.16–19 The judges are local heroes whose military victories (presented generally as results of the Lord’s gracious intervention) earn them widespread renown.

  2.20–23 These verses, from a Deuteronomistic editor (see Introduction), underscore the theme of 2.1–5 (v. 20: have not obeyed my voice; cf. 2.2; 6.10). Disobedience on Israel’s part brings a change in approach from the Lord. Three reasons are given for the survival of remnants of the nations formerly occupying Canaan: as a punishment (vv. 20–21), as a test of obedience (vv. 22–23; 3.1, 4), and to train Israel in the art of war (3.2).

  JUDGES 3

  Nations Remaining in the Land

  1Now these are the nations that the LORD left to test all those in Israel who had no experience of any war in Canaan 2(it was only that successive generations of Israelites might know war, to teach those who had no experience of it before): 3the 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. 4They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their ancestors by Moses. 5So the Israelites lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; 6and they took their daughters as wives for themselves, and their own daughters they gave to their sons; and they worshiped their gods.

  Othniel

  7The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, forgetting the LORD their God, and worshiping the Baals and the Asherahs. 8Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-naharaim; and the Israelites served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. 9But when the Israelites cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the Israelites, who delivered them, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. 10The spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel; he went out to war, and the LORD gave King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram into his hand; and his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. 11So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel son of Kenaz died.

  Ehud

  12The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD strengthened King Eglon of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the LORD. 13In alliance with the Ammonites and the Amalekites, he went and defeated Israel; and they took possession of the city of palms. 14So the Israelites served King Eglon of Moab eighteen years.

  15But when the Israelites cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The Israelites sent tribute by him to King Eglon of Moab. 16Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit in length; and he fastened it on his right thigh under his clothes. 17Then he presented the tribute to King Eglon of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. 18When Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent the people who carried the tribute on their way. 19But he himself turned back at the sculptured stones near Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” So the king said,a “Silence!” and all his attendants went out from his presence. 20Ehud came to him, while he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber, and said, “I have a message from God for you.” So he rose from his seat. 21Then Ehud reached with h
is left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into Eglon’sb belly; 22the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly; and the dirt came out.c 23Then Ehud went out into the vestibule,d and closed the doors of the roof chamber on him, and locked them.

  24After he had gone, the servants came. When they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, “He must be relieving himselfe in the cool chamber.” 25So they waited until they were embarrassed. When he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them. There was their lord lying dead on the floor.

  26Ehud escaped while they delayed, and passed beyond the sculptured stones, and escaped to Seirah. 27When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites went down with him from the hill country, having him at their head. 28He 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 allowed no one to cross over. 29At that time they killed about ten thousand of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; no one escaped. 30So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest eighty years.

  Shamgar

  31After him came Shamgar son of Anath, who killed six hundred of the Philistines with an oxgoad. He too delivered Israel.

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  a Heb he said

  b Heb his

  c With Tg Vg: Meaning of Heb uncertain

  d Meaning of Heb uncertain

  e Heb covering his feet

  3.1–6 Two lists of peoples (vv. 3, 5) in the midst of whom Israel will be tested are introduced by the explanation that Israel has had inadequate experience of warfare.

  3.3 Lords, better “tyrants,” a reference to the political organization newly introduced to the southern coastal cities by the Philistines. Hivites, also relative newcomers, probably from southeastern Asia Minor.

  3.4 This verse echoes the note on which the preceding section ends (2.23) and gives the issue of continued resistance by “the nations” a covenantal setting in terms of the commandments. The presence of these communities makes possible the cyclical alternation of times of crisis and peace, depending upon Israel’s behavior.

  3.5 The list of peoples living among the Israelites includes not only near neighbors (from the geographical perspective of the later nation of Israel), but those living in enclaves in the heart of contested territory. The list is related to Deut 7.1, which mentions seven “nations.” Hittites, descendants of small kingdoms left behind by the once mighty Anatolian empire. Amorites, originally “Westerners” (from the Mesopotamian perspective), appear often in scripture as synonymous with Canaanites. Perizzites. See note on 1.4. Hivites. See note on 3.3. Jebusites, the pre-Israelite inhabitants of Jerusalem.

  3.6 Intermarriage was censured not because it threatened genealogical purity, but because it entangled Israel in idolatry (Deut 7.3–4).

  3.7–11 The brief notice for Othniel, conqueror of Debir (1.13), illustrates the cyclical pattern laid out in (see note on) 2.11–23.

  3.7 The Baals and the Asherahs. The plural implies the worship of these deities at multiple shrines and is used to represent Canaanite religion as a whole. Asherah, represented by a wooden pole (6.25), was viewed as the consort of Baal or Yahweh.

  3.8 Cushan-rishathaim, in Hebrew “Cushan Double-Wickedness,” looks like a distorted name. Aram-naharaim is presumably far-off northwestern Mesopotamia. The judges are unified by a chronological structure (eight years; see v. 11, forty years) that reaches to 1 Kings 6.1.

  3.10 The spirit of the LORD in Judges stands for a power or force sent by the Lord in which a person might be so absorbed or enveloped as to become capable of extraordinary strength and compelling leadership. In the context of this book, judged means mobilizing Israel for successful defensive warfare.

  3.11 The round number forty years may mean a generation and sounds like an editorial construct.

  3.12–30 The swashbuckling story of Ehud, a Benjaminite, unfolds within the cyclical editorial framework (vv. 12–15, 30; see note on 2.11–23). Regarding Ehud, there is no mention of the spirit of the Lord (cf. 3.10).

  3.12–13 The agent of the Lord’s discipline is Eglon (“Young Bull” or “Fat Calf” in Hebrew), king of Moab, with support from his northern neighbors, the Ammonites, and from Israel’s traditional enemies of the wilderness era, the Amalekites (Ex 17.8–16). City of palms, Jericho, as in 1.16.

  3.15–16 Ehud, the deliverer, is remembered as a left-handed man, allowing him to hide his weapon on his right thigh, where it would not be expected. His short sword has two edges for stabbing. Left-handedness was supposedly common in the tribe of Benjamin (see 20.16).

  3.19 Stones near Gilgal (also v. 26). The referent is unclear, but cf. Josh 4.20.

  3.20 Rose from his seat, a sign of respect in anticipation of hearing a message from God.

  3.22 Israelite readers would enjoy this scatological humor at the expense of their enemies and their overweight king.

  3.24–25 Delay gives Ehud a chance to escape and gather troops.

  3.27–28 Ehud rallies forces from the hill country of Ephraim to take control of the fords of the Jordan, preventing the enemy from escaping back to Moab.

  3.30 Eighty years. The chronology of round numbers is an editorial construct.

  3.31 Shamgar is a non-Semitic name. This mysterious figure (cf. 5.6) is not part of the book’s chronological system and interrupts the story of Ehud (cf. 4.1). At the same time, his inclusion rounds out the number of judges to twelve. Son of Anath may indicate that he was a mercenary, part of a military class dedicated to the war goddess Anath.

  JUDGES 4

  Deborah and Barak

  1The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, after Ehud died.2So the LORD sold them into the hand of King Jabin of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-ha-goiim. 3Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD for help; for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and had oppressed the Israelites cruelly twenty years.

  4At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. 5She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgment. 6She sent and summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, “The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you, ‘Go, take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun. 7I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.’” 8Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 9And she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and ten thousand warriors went up behind him; and Deborah went up with him.

  11Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the other Kenites,a that is, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had encamped as far away as Elon-bezaanannim, which is near Kedesh.

  12When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13Sisera called out all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the troops who were with him, from Harosheth-ha-goiim to the Wadi Kishon. 14Then Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day on which the LORD has given Sisera into your hand. The LORD is indeed going out before you.” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand warriors following him. 15And the LORD threw Sisera and all his chariots and all his army into a panicb before Barak; Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot, 16while Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-ha-go
iim. All the army of Sisera fell by the sword; no one was left.

  17Now Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between King Jabin of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite. 18Jael came out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; have no fear.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19Then he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. 20He said to her, “Stand at the entrance of the tent, and if anybody comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’” 21But Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, until it went down into the ground—he was lying fast asleep from weariness—and he died. 22Then, as Barak came in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went into her tent; and there was Sisera lying dead, with the tent peg in his temple.

  23So on that day God subdued King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites. 24Then the hand of the Israelites bore harder and harder on King Jabin of Canaan, until they destroyed King Jabin of Canaan.

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  a Heb from the Kain

  b Heb adds to the sword; compare verse 16

  4.1–5.31 Deborah outshines Barak as the Israelites oppose a superior Canaanite force in the north. The tradition is told first in prose (ch. 4) and then celebrated in poetry, the “Song of Deborah” (ch. 5). Editorial notices (4.1–3; 5.31b) frame the two chapters.

  4.1–24 The exploits of Deborah and Barak.

  4.2 King Jabin of Canaan, an unusual title in an area of many city-states. Jabin is king of Hazor in Josh 11. Sisera is a non-Semitic name.