Judges 3


Judges 3 is the third chapter of the Book of Judges in the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Samuel, but modern scholars view it as part of the Deuteronomistic History, which spans the books of Deuteronomy to 2 Kings, attributed to nationalistic and devotedly Yahwistic writers during the time of the reformer Judean king Josiah in 7th century BCE. This chapter records the activities of the first three judges, Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar, belonging to a section comprising Judges 3:1 to 5:31.

Text

This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language. It is divided into 31 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis, Aleppo Codex, and Codex Leningradensis. Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls including XJudges with extant verses 23–24.
Extant ancient manuscripts of a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint include Codex Vaticanus and Codex Alexandrinus.

Analysis

A linguistic study by Chisholm reveals that the central part in the Book of Judges can be divided into two panels based on the six refrains that state that the Israelites did evil in Yahweh's eyes:
;Panel One
;Panel Two
Furthermore from the linguistic evidence, the verbs used to describe the Lord's response to Israel's sin have chiastic patterns and can be grouped to fit the division above:
;Panel One
;Panel Two

Nations left to test Israel (verses 1–6)

The introductory section of the chapter lists by name and place the Canaanite nations that the Israelites had to drive out of the land with an additional text that the nations' continued presence in the land was allowed by YHWH so the Israelites as newcomers to the land could sharpen their agonistic skills and capacity to resist idols against some idolatrous enemies.

Verse 1

"To prove": the verb is the same as in Judges 2:22 and Judges 3:4, but here it is used in the meaning "to train ", rendered by Symmachus in Greek as askēsai.
This is directed to many Israelites who 'had not known all the wars of Canaan', implying the "generation after that of Joshua", to prepare them in the struggles of the actual conquest.

Othniel (verses 7–11)

The report concerning the first judge, Othniel, is related to Judges 1:11-15, but here is using a conventionalized pattern with a formulaic language. Othniel had the empowerment of 'the spirit of the Lord' to defeat the enemies of Israel and to have the land rest for forty years.

Verse 8

  • "Cushan-rishathaim" literally, "dark, double wicked", could be a pejorative created from his real name; it rhymes with "Aram-Naharaim", the Hebrew word for "Mesopotamia", meaning "Aram of the Two Rivers".

    Verse 9

  • "Caleb's younger brother": In Judges 1:13, Joshua 15:17, and 1 Chronicles 4:13, Othniel is placed under "the sons of Kenaz," and likely the father of Hathath and Meonothai. The Hebrew grammar could mean that Othniel was the brother of Caleb or that Kenaz, Othniel's father, was the brother of Caleb, thus Othniel was Caleb's nephew, which is more likely since Othniel married Caleb's daughter.

    Ehud (verses 12–30)

The second judge, a trickster-hero Ehud, succeeded through deception and disguise, "a marginal person who uses his wits to alter his status at the expense of those holding power over him". The ruse was made possible by Ehud's left-handedness, using a Hebrew term which is literally
'bound' or 'impaired with regard to the right hand', indicating an unusual or marginal status as the right being the preferred side in other biblical contexts. Judges 20 contains a note that the Benjaminites, Ehud's fellow-tribesmen, were in the tradition predisposed to left-handedness, a trait that makes them especially effective warriors to surprise the enemy and more difficult to defend against. The typical right-handed man would be expected to wear his sword on the left in order to draw with the right hand, thus Ehud could hide his weapon on the opposite side without raising suspicion. The story has word play with images of ritual sacrifice:
the 'tribute' to Eglon as the king of Moab is in the term for sacrificial offering, while Eglon's name plays on the term for 'calf', so he became the 'fatted calf who will be slaughtered'. The phrase translated 'relieving himself' in NRSV literally in Hebrew reads 'pouring out' or 'covering his feet', so it could mean urinating or defecating, in any event, indicating Eglon's vulnerability and unmanning.

Shamgar (verse 31)

The reference to Shamgar, the third judge and liberator of Israel, is brief, lacking the conventional frame in content and language. Similar to Samson, Shamgar was superhumanly able to conquer hundreds of the Philistines with a mere ox-goad, a sign of the agrarian roots of the Israelite at this period of time, a national identity that dominated the book of Judges. The name "Anath" may also refer to a place or the Canaanite goddess Anath, the patroness of warriors.
  • Cross reference: Judges 5:6
  • "The Philistines": the fight against Philistines would continue in Judges 15:14–17 to 2 Samuel 23:8–23.