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Matthew Henry

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

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Judges 3:8-11

We now come to the records of the government of the particular judges, the first of which was Othniel, in whom the story of this book is knit to that of Joshua, for even in Joshua's time Othniel began to be famous, by which it appears that it was not long after Israel's settlement in Canaan before their purity began to be corrupted and their peace (by consequence) disturbed. And those who have taken pains to enquire into the sacred chronology are generally agreed that the Danites? idolatry,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 3:7

And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord ,.... Both by marrying with Heathens, and worshipping their gods: and forgot the Lord their God ; as if they had never heard of him, or known him, their Maker and Preserver, who had done so many great and good things for them: and served Baalim, and the groves ; of Baalim, see Judges 2:11 ; the groves mean either idols worshipped in groves, as Jupiter was worshipped in a grove of oaks, hence the oak of Dodona; and Apollo... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 3:8

Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel ,.... Because of their idolatry; see Judges 2:14 , and he sold them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim, king of Mesopotamia ; or Aramnaharaim; that is, Syria, between the two rivers, which were Tigris and Euphrates; hence the Greek name of this place is as here called Mesopotamia. Josephus F12 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 3. sect. 2. calls him king of Assyria, and gives him the name of Chusarthus; and indeed Chushanrishathaim seems to be... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 3:9

And when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord ,.... Towards the close of the eight years' bondage, as it may be supposed, groaning under the oppressive taxes laid upon them, and the bondage they were brought into: and the Lord raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel ; he heard their cry, and sent them a saviour, whose spirit he stirred up, and whom he qualified for this service: who delivered them ; out of the hands of the king of Mesopotamia, and freed them from his... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 3:10

And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him ,.... Moved him to engage in this work of delivering Israel, inspired him with courage, and filled him with every needful gift, qualifying him for it; the Targum interprets it the spirit of prophecy; it seems father to be the spirit of counsel and courage, of strength and fortitude of body and mind: and he judged Israel ; took upon him the office of a judge over them, and executed it; very probably the first work he set about was to reprove them... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 3:11

And the land had rest forty years ,.... As it should seem from the time of this deliverance; though, according to Ben Gersom and Abarbinel, the eight years' servitude are to be included in them; and Bishop Usher F18 Anual. Vet. Test. p. 42. reckons these forty years from the rest first settled in the land by Joshua; but the former sense seems best: and Othniel the son of Kenaz died : not at the end of the forty years; it is not likely he should live so long, but when he died is not... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 3:7

Served Baalim and the groves - No groves were ever worshipped, but the deities who were supposed to be resident in them; and in many cases temples and altars were built in groves, and the superstition of consecrating groves and woods to the honor of the deities was a practice very usual with the ancients. Pliny assures us that trees, in old times, served for the temples of the gods. Tacitus reports this custom of the old Germans; Quintus Curtius, of the Indians; and Caesar, and our... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 3:8

Chushan-rishathaim - Kushan, the wicked or impious; and so the word is rendered by the Chaldee Targum, the Syriac, and the Arabic, wherever it occurs in this chapter. King of Mesopotamia - King of נהרים ארם Aram naharayim , "Syria of the two rivers;" translated Mesopotamia by the Septuagint and Vulgate. It was the district situated between the Tigris and Euphrates, called by the Arabian geographers Maverannaher, "the country beyond the river," it is now called Diarbek. See the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 3:9

Raised up - Othniel , the son of Kenaz - This noble Hebrew was of the tribe of Judah, and nephew and son-in-law to Caleb, whose praise stands without abatement in the sacred records. Othniel had already signalized his valor in taking Kirjath-sepher, which appears to have been a very hazardous exploit. By his natural valor, experience in war, and the peculiar influence of the Divine Spirit, he was well qualified to inspire his countrymen with courage, and to lead them successfully... read more

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