Judges 3:3

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Judges 3:1-7

We are here told what remained of the old inhabitants of Canaan. 1. There were some of them that kept together in united bodies, unbroken (Jdg. 3:3): The five lords of the Philistines, namely, Ashdod, Gaza, Askelon, Gath, and Ekron, 1 Sam. 6:7. Three of these cities had been in part reduced (Jdg. 1:18), but it seems the Philistines (probably with the help of the other two, which strengthened their confederacy with each other thenceforward) recovered the possession of them. These gave the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 3:3

Namely , five lords of the Philistines ,.... The places they were lords of were Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron; see Joshua 13:3 ; three of these, Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron, had been taken from them by Judah, since the death of Joshua, Judges 1:18 ; but they soon recovered them again, perhaps by the help of the other two. The Philistines were a people originally of Egypt, but came from thence and settled in these parts, and were here as early as in the times of Abraham, and... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Judges 3:3

Lords - Seranim, a title used exclusively of the princes of the five Philistine cities. The title is probably of Phoenician origin.Joshua appears to have smitten and subdued the Hivites as far north as Baal-Gad, in the valley of Lebanon under Mount Hermon Joshua 11:17; Joshua 12:7, but no further Joshua 13:5. There was an unsubdued Hivite population to the north of Baal-hermon (probably Baal-Gad under Hermon, since it is not synonymous with Hermon; see 1 Chronicles 5:23), to the entering in of... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Judges 3:3

Judges 3:3. Five lords of the Philistines See Joshua 13:2-3, and Judges 1:18, where it appears that three of them had been, in some measure, subdued, but had now recovered their country again, in consequence of the slothful conduct of the Israelites. All the Canaanites Properly so called, who were very numerous, and dispersed through several parts of the land, whence they gave denomination to all the rest of the people. Sidonians The people living near Zidon, and subject to its... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Judges 3:1-6

2:11-16:31 RULE OF THE JUDGESPattern of judgment and deliverance (2:11-3:6)When the people of Israel rejected God and began to worship Baal and other gods, God punished them. He allowed them to fall under the power of foreign tribes and nations who seized their property and ruled them cruelly (11-15). When, after many years of suffering, the people finally turned again to God, God gave them deliverers who overthrew the enemy and restored independence to Israel. But as soon as they were living... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Judges 3:3

five lords. See note on Joshua 13:2-6 . entering in = pass. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Judges 3:1-6

3. God’s purposes with Israel 3:1-6The purposes for which God allowed the Canaanites to live among the Israelites were four. He wanted to punish Israel for her apostasy (Judges 2:3), and He wanted to test the Israelites’ faithfulness to and love for Himself (Judges 2:22; Judges 3:4). He also wanted to give the new generation of Israelites experience in warfare (Judges 3:2), namely, how to conduct war (by depending on Yahweh), not just how to fight. Furthermore, God allowed some Canaanites to... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 3:1-4

Introductory (Jdg 1:1 to Jdg 3:4)Division 1, Jdg 1:1 to Judges 2:5.This section of the book contains a brief recapitulation of the early conquest of Palestine, told from a somewhat different point of view from that of Joshua 7-21, and supplying much that is there not mentioned. From these vv. it is clear that Palestine was not conquered in one great invasion; and the whole of the book shows Israel to be only in very precarious possession of the land. The narrative in Joshua emphasises the... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 3:1-31

The Story of the Judges. Othniel. Ehud. Shamgar1-6. Israel’s actual relations with the Canaanites.1. Wars of Canaan] i.e. those waged by Joshua, after whose death (Judges 2:21) the career of victory was made to cease by Jehovah. 2. A third reason for the survival of the heathen in Canaan, in addition to those given in Judges 2:1; and in. Judges 2:22; Judges 3:1. 3. Philistines] see Intro. § 5. The Philistines occupied the lowland in the SW. Their five cities formed a confederacy: see Judges... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Judges 3:3

(3) Five lords of the Philistines.—The princes of the Pentapolis, Gaza, Ashdod, Askelon, Gath, Ekron. The word rendered “lords” is evidently a technical or local title—Seranim. It is rendered by the LXX. “satrapies,” and by the Vulgate, “satraps.” It is variously derived from seren, “a hinge” (comp. “cardinal” from “cardo”); from sar, “a prince,” being interchanged with sarim, in 1 Sam. 13:30; 1 Samuel 29:6 (Ewald, i. 332); and from some Phœnician root. For the Philistines, see Judges 13:1.All... read more

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