Daniel P. Barron

Judges 3

Monday, March 29, 2021 

1 And these nations that Yehvah gave rest to test Israel in them, all who did not know all wars of Canaan, 2 only so that generations of sons of Israel might know, to teach them war, only who before did not know them, i 3 five lords of Philistines, and every one of the Canaanite, and the Sidonian, and the Hivite inhabiting mount Lebanon, from mount Baal Hermon unto entrance of Hamath. 4 And they were to test Israel in them to know if they will hear commandents of Yehvah which he commanded their fathers in hand of Moses. 5 And sons of Israel dwelt in the midst of the Canaanite, the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

6 And they took their daughters to them for women, and their daughters they gave to their sons; ii and they served their gods. iii 7 And sons of Israel did the bad in eyes of Yehvah and forgot Yehvah their Gods. And they served the Baals and the Asherahs. iv 8 And anger of Yehvah burned against Israel, and he sold them into hand of Cushan Rishathaim, v king of vi Aram of Two Rivers, vii and sons of Israel served Cushan Rishathaim eight years.

9 And sons of Israel cried out to Yehvah, and Yehvah raised up a savior viii for sons of Israel. And Othniel, son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, saved them. 10 And spirit of Yehvah was upon him, and he judged Israel. And he went out to war, and Yehvah gave in his hand Cushan Rishathaim, king of Aram; ix and his hand was strong upon Cushan Rishathaim. 11 And the land was quiet forty years. And Othniel, son of Kenaz, died.

12 And sons of Israel again did the bad in eyes of Yehvah. And Yehvah made Eglon, king of Moab, strong against Israel, because they did the bad in eyes of Yehvah. 13 And he gathered to himself sons of Ammon and Amalek, and he went and struck Israel and took possession of the city of the Palm Trees. x 14 And sons of Israel served Eglon, king of Moab, eighteen years.

15 And sons of Israel cried out to Yehvah, and Yehvah raised up for them a savior, Ehud, xi son of Gera, the Benjamite, xii a man, his right hand bound. xiii And sons of Israel sent in his hand a gift to Eglon, king of Moab. 16 And Ehud made for himself a sword, and to her was two mouths, xiv her length a short cubit. xv And he girded her underneath his clothes upon his right thigh. 17 And he brought the gift to Eglon, king of Moab, and Eglon was a very fat man.

18 And it was, when he finished to offer the gift, and he sent away the people carrying the gift, 19 and he turned from the idols at the Gilgal, so he said, “I have a secret word for you, the king.” And he said, “Hush.” xvi And all those standing by him went out from by him. 20 And Ehud came to him, and he was sitting in his cool upper room xvii by himself And Ehud said, “I have a word of Gods.” And he arose from upon the throne. xviii 21 And Ehud reached with his left hand and took the sword from upon his right thigh and thrust her in his belly. 22 And the handle xix also went in after the blade. And the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the sword out from his belly. And the guts xx came out. 23 And Ehud went out the porch xxi and closed and locked the doors of the upper room behind him. 24 And he went out.

And his servants came and looked and behold, the doors of the upper room were locked. And they said, “Surely, he is covering his feet xxii in the cool room.” 25 And they anxiously waited xxiii until ashamed. And behold, he did not open the doors of the upper room. And they took the key and opened and behold, their Lords, xxiv he was fallen on the ground dead. 26 And Ehud escaped during their delay, and he passed by the idols and escaped to the Female Goat. xxv

27 And it was, in his arrival, so he blew in the horn in mountain of Ephraim, and sons of Israel came down with him from the mountain and he before them. 28 And he said to them, “Pursue after me, for Yehvah has given your enemies, Moab, in your hand.” And they went down after him and captured the fords of the Jordan to Moab. And they did not allow a man to cross over. 29 And they struck Moab at that time about 10,000 men all fat xxvi and all men of valor, and not a man escaped. 30 And Moab was subdued that day under hand of Israel. And the land was quiet eighty years. 31 And after him was Shamgar, xxvii son of Anath, xxviii and he struck six hundred men, xxix Philistines, with the cattle prod. xxx And he also saved Israel.

Judges 2 - Judges 4

Translated by Darwin Fish. See original pdfs here and here.

  1. עום ידדע) yedâ`um) “know them” - “them” refers to the “wars” of verse 1. ^
  2. This was explicitly forbidden in Deuteronomy 7:3. ^
  3. This is exactly what God said would happen in Deuteronomy 7:4. ^
  4. See footnote for Deuteronomy 16:21. ^
  5. םם ייִםשדעעת ר יןִכוש) kushan Rish`âtaiym) “Cushan Rishathaim” - found also in Judges 3:10. ^
  6. “king of” - Cushan Rishathaim is noted as king of “Aram of Two Rivers” (vs 8) and king of “Aram” (vs 10). ^
  7. םם י רע הר יִנ ם יִר אר') aram naharâyim) “Aram of Two Rivers” = “Mesopotamia” (NKJV) = “land of the Chaldeans” (Acts 7:2, 4) = “Syria” - see footnotes for Genesis 10:22; 24:10. ^
  8. יִםיע מוש)moshiy`a) “savior” CJB, GNV, GW, NOG, WEB - “saviour” YLT; “deliverer” NKJV, KJV, NAS – see footnote for Deuteronomy 22:27. ^
  9. אררעם') arâm) “Aram” = “Mesopotamia” NKJV – see footnote for Genesis 24:10. ^
  10. City of the Palm Trees = Jericho. See Deuteronomy 34:3. ^
  11. אוההוד') êhud) “Ehud” - found also in Judges 3:16, 20-21, 23, 26; 4:1; 1 Chronicles 7:10 (son of Bilhan). There is also “Ehud” (NKJV) in 1 Chronicles 8:6, but that is a different name spelled slightly different וד חו אוה') êchud) "Echud." ^
  12. “.hand-right of son “means) binyâmiyn (ב ם נדיעמ ם ין “Benjamin” - “Benjamite the) “hayemiyniy-ben (בן ן־הִי ידמ ם ינ םי  ^
  13. ינו ם יד־ידמִי ר טוה ם א יש ם א') iysh 'itêr yad-yemiyno) more literally, “a man his right-hand bound” = “a left-handed man”  ^
  14. יות פוה נוהי שד) shenêy phêyot) “two mouths” = double-edged ^
  15. ד גממן) gomed) “a short cubit” - BDB “fr. elbow to knuckles of clenched (contracted) hand” - NKJV, etc. “cubit,” yet the word for “cubit” is ה מע יִא') ammâh) e.g. Genesis 6:16. ד מן גממ) gomed) “a short cubit” is only found here. ^
  16. העס) hâs) “Hush” YLT, CEB - “Keep silence” NKJV, KJV, NAS ^
  17. תִי ם ל ער`) aliyyat) “upper room” ASV, ERV, EXB, LEB, NET, NIV, OJB, WEB - “upper chamber” YLT; “roof chamber” NAS, BDB; “parlour” KJV – found also in Judges 3:23-25; 2 Samuel 18:33(H19:1); 1 Kings 17:19, 23; 2 Kings 1:2; 4:10-11; 23:12; 1 Chronicles 1:51; 28:11; 2 Chronicles 3:9; 9:4; Nehemiah 3:31-32; Psalm 104:3, 13; Jeremiah 22:13-14. ^
  18. םסוהא כ) kissê') “throne” YLT, CSB, CEB, DRA, ERV, EHV, GNV, GW, HCSB, NOG, TLV, WYC - “seat” NKJV, KJV, NAS – same word for “throne” e.g. in Genesis 41:40; Exodos 11:5; 12:29; Deuteronomy 17:18; 1 Samuel 2:8; etc.. Also, used for “seat” e.g. in 1 Samuel 1:9; 4:13, 18; . There is also )וושעבֹמ) moshâv) for “seat” e.g. 1 Samuel 20:18, 25(2x) and שןבןת (shevet) e.g. 1 Kings 10:19; 2 Chronicles 9:18. ^
  19. ב נ) netsâv) “handle” NAS; λαβὴν (labên) “handle” LXX; “hilt” NKJV [“the handle of a sword or dagger” MW]; “haft” KJV [“the handle of a weapon or tool” MW]; – only found here. ^
  20. ה דמנע שד רד יִפ) parshedonâh) “guts” CEB - “intestines” VOICE; “dirt” KJV; “entrails” NKJV; “refuse” NAS; “turds of the womb” WYC; “excrements of the belly” DRA; “bowels” EHV; “dung” ESV; “waste” CSB; “insides” HCSB; “stomach” NLV – only found here. The possibly related word פןרןש) peresh) is a word for “dung.” See footnotes for Exodus 29:14 and Leviticus 4:11. ^
  21. ה רונע דד סד ם מ) misdderonâh) - “porch” NKJV – only found here, exact meaning unknown. ^
  22. ו לע גד יִת־ר אן וא הו יך ם ס מוה) mêsiykh hu' 'et-raglâyv) “he is covering his feet” ASV; DARBY; WEB; Green; “He is . . . attending to his needs” NKJV; “He is . . . relieving himself” NAS; “He is . . . covering his feet” YLT; “he covereth his feet” KJV = he is pooping, e.g. same phrase in 1 Samuel 24:3(H4) more literally, “Saul went in to cover his feet” i.e. to go poop. In contrast, Qr (Kt ם ינוהיהן שוה] shêynêyhem] “their urine”) for 2 Kings 18:27 and Isaiah 36:12 reads ם יהן לוה גד יִר י ימוה מוה) mêymêy raglêyhem) “waters of their feet” for urination (see also 1 Samuel 25:22 “pisseth against the wall” KJV). ^
  23. ו יעח) yâchiylu) “anxiously waited” - BDB “anxious longing”; NKJV, NAS “waited” - used similarly in Micah 1:12 “becomes weak waiting” NAS – used elsewhere for dancing (Judges 21:21), be in anguish (Deuteronomy 2:25), writhing in pain (Isaiah 26:17), etc.. ^
  24. ארדמנוהיהןםם') adonêyhem) “their lords” - plural noun with plural pronominal suffix (their) with the singular verb “fallen.” ^
  25. ה תע ירע ם ע שד יִה) hase`iyrâtâh) “to the Female Goat” - NKJV, NAS “to Seirah”; KJV “unto Seirath” - only found here for a location. This word, ה ירע ם ע שד) se`iyrâh), is used for a female goat in Leviticus 4:28; 5:6. ^
  26. ןן ממֵשן) shâmên) “fat” DARBY, JUB - “lusty” KJV, Green; “robust” NAS, YLT; “stout” NKJV; “big” CEB; “fed” GNV; “well-fed” MSG; “strong” NET, etc.. This word is used in the feminine in a similar context in Ezekiel 34:16 (“fat” NKJV, KJV, NAS, YLT). ^
  27. ר( גגּרמ( ש) shamgar) “Shamgar” - found also in Judges 5:6. ^
  28. תֵננןָע`) anât) “Anath” - found also in Judges 5:6. There is also the location, “House of Anath” in Joshua 19:38 and Judges 1:33. ^
  29. Shamgar is among the mighty men of Scripture, like Samson (Judges 15:15), and David's men (2 Samuel 23:8-21). ^
  30. ד( גמּרל( מ) malmad) “prod” CSB, CEB, ISV - “goad” NKJV, KJV- only here – related to the word for “teach,” ד ן מ ר( ל גּמ (melammêd) e.g. Deuteronomy 4:1. ^

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