18. so. And when the LORD raised them up judges, RD then the LORD was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge for it repented the LORD because of their

groaning by reason of them that oppressed them and 19. vexed them. 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; 1 they ceased not from their doings, nor from their stubborn way. 20. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel; E3 and he said, Because this nation have transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and 21. have not hearkened unto my voice; I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the na

1 Heb. they let nothing fall of their doings.

people. This relationship is especially set forth in the prophecy of Hosea.

18. It repented the Lord. Jehovah, moved by their groaning, changed from his purpose of punishment to one of deliverance.

19. When the judge was dead, that they turned back. Such backsliding is recorded after the judgeship and implied death of Othniel (3: 11 f.), Ehud (4: 1), Barak and Deborah (5:31b; 6: 1), and Gideon (8:33).

2:20-3:6. These verses are clearly composite. In 2:20-22 Jehovah is angry with Israel because they have transgressed his covenant, therefore he will not drive out the nations left by Joshua. They are to prove whether Israel will keep the way of Jehovah. In 223-32 Jehovah does not drive out the nations that Israel might be disciplined in war. These verses appear originally to have been the conclusion of chapter 1, since that chapter knows nothing of any sin of Israel as a cause of the retention of the nations. V. 3 is an appended list of nations.

21. I also will not henceforth drive out. The fulfilment of the

RD 22. tions which Joshua left when he died: that by them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of

the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, J 23. or not. So the LORD left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.

E2

R

J

E2

3.

Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to prove Israel by them, even as many as had not known 2. all the wars of Canaan; only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as beforetime knew nothing thereof; 3. namely, the five lords of the Philistines, and all the

divine promises was dependent upon obedience to the divine commands.

22. The Deuteronomic editor here accounts for Jehovah's action on the ground that he desired to test the faithfulness of his people in the presence of the idolatrous practices of their heathen neighbors. Keep the way of the Lord. I.e. be faithful to both the moral and ceremonial laws of his religion.

23. This verse presents an earlier point of view (J). The passage is continued in 3: 2, which is from the same source.

3: 1. The first half of v. 1 is introductory to the list of nations which appears in v. 3, and is doubtless from the same source.

2. The Hebrew text of this verse is corrupt. Taken with 2: 23, the sense certainly is that Jehovah left those nations in order that the later generations of Israel might learn war.

3. An enumeration of the peoples within whose boundaries Israel lived. The five lords of the Philistines. The Philistines dwelt in five cities, from the north southward, Ekron, Ashdod, Gath, Ashkelon, and Gaza, in the maritime plain east of Judah. They were a warlike, non-Semitic people of uncertain origin, either immigrants from Crete or the southern coast of Asia Minor, or descendants of Egyptian mercenaries who had seized those cities. They appeared in Palestine about the time of the Exodus. Until the reign of David they were generally actively hostile toward

Canaanites, and the Zidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-hermon 4. unto the entering in of Hamath. And they were for to RD prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. 5. And the children of Israel dwelt among 1 the Canaan- J ites; the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, 6. and the Hivite, and the Jebusite: and they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

1 Or, the Canaanites, the Hittites &c.

1

Israel. For some years before the reign of Saul and immediately after his death they dominated Western Palestine. All the Canaanites. The unsubdued inhabitants of the lowlands from Philistia to Phoenicia. The Zidonians. The Phoenicians, named from their oldest city, Zidon. The Hivites. An error of transcription for Hittites, since these people and not the Hivites (see v. 5) dwelt in mount Lebanon, from Baal-hermon unto the entering in of Hamath, i.e. their southern boundary was from Baalhermon, same as Baal-gad, a town on the western slope of Mt. Hermon, to the approach of Hamath from the south. The entering in of Hamath is a frequent designation of the northern boundary of Israel. The modern plain of Homs is meant. Hamath is the modern Hama on the Orontes.

4. The proving of this verse differs from that of v. 3. It is of the spirit of Deuteronomy.

5. Dwelt among the Canaanites. Cf. the description of I: 27-36. These Canaanites are now enumerated. Hittite. A powerful people who dwelt north of Israel. Their southern boundary has been given in v. 3. Their mention among the inhabitants of Canaan in this and similar lists implies that some of them lived in Palestine. Tradition placed them among the inhabitants of Hebron. Amorite. See 1: 34. Perizzite. See 15. Hivite. A petty people of Central Palestine. The

II. THE JUDGES, 3:7-16:31

1. Othniel, 3:7-11

RD 7. And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgat the LORD their God, 8. and served the Baalim and the Asheroth. Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king

name is of uncertain derivation.
villagers, others connect it with a root meaning
hence "Snake tribe." Jebusite.

Some give it the meaning of
serpent,"

See 1: 21.

7-11. The children of Israel do evil in serving foreign gods (v. 7), and are delivered for eight years into the power of the Cushan, King of Mesopotamia (v. 8); then on their cry Jehovah raises up a deliverer, Othniel, the son of Kenaz, who successfully wages war against Cushan, and the land enjoys security forty years until Othniel dies. The narrative has no element beyond the Deuteronomic framework, a story of any exploit by Othniel being entirely lacking; hence this judge did not appear in the original Book of Judges, but only in the Deuteronomic edition. Othniel as a judge was apparently created out of Othniel the conqueror of Debir (1:13) from the desire to furnish the tribe of Judah with a great judge and to make the number equal to six. Whether Israel was dominated at this early period by a force from Mesopotamia is entirely unknown. The name Cushanrishathaim, meaning "Cushite of double wickedness," looks like an appellative of folk-lore.

7. The usual formula for introducing a judgeship (see 2: 11, 13). Baalim. See 2:11. Asheroth. Probably originally Ashteroth (see v. 13). Asheroth (the plural of Asherah) were wooden pillars erected near altars in the Canaanite places of worship. Their exact significance is unknown. The word (singular or plural) was used sometimes for a goddess or her image.

8. Cushan-rishathaim. See above. Mesopotamia. Aram-naharaim, " Aram of two rivers."

Heb.

of 1 Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served 9. Cushan-rishathaim eight years. And when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised up

a saviour to the children of Israel, who saved them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger 10. brother. And the spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel; and he went out to war, and the LORD delivered Cushan-rishathaim king of 2 Mesopotamia into his hand and his hand prevailed against II. Cushan-rishathaim. And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

9. Cried unto the Lord.. The usual formula (v. 15; 4:3; 6: 7; 10: 10). Saviour (v. 15; the verb 2: 16). Synonymous with judge (2:16, 18). Othniel. See 1: 13.

10. The spirit of the Lord came upon him. All extraordinary endowments were in general assigned to the spirit of God or Jehovah; the valor of the judges (6:34; 11: 29; 13: 25; 14:6, 19; 15:14), the wisdom of rulers (Gen. 41: 38; Num. 11:16 ff.; 27:18), the skill of an artisan (Exod. 31:3; 36: 1), etc. He judged in going to war (see 2: 16).

12-30. After the death of Othniel the people backslid and for eighteen years suffered under the lordship of Eglon, King of Moab; but on their cry to Jehovah he raised up Ehud the Benjamite as their deliverer, vv. 12-15. These verses are the Deuteronomic introduction to the story of Ehud, which now follows. Ehud, sent with a present to the king of Moab, contrives to obtain a private audience with him on the pretence of communicating a divine revelation and assassinates the monarch, vv. 16–26. He then rouses the people and the Moabites in Israel are slain and the land has peace eighty years, vv. 27-30. There is no reason to doubt the historicity of this story. In general outline it is entirely probable. After the children of Israel had crossed over the Jordan, other tribes from the east, like the Moabites, might well in a few years have followed their example, and the