= Judges 3 * Please see [[nsv:license|License]] for Copyright notice and Licensing information. * [ [[Judges_2|Previous]] | [[Judges_4|Next]] ] == Judges 3 1 Now these are the nations which the Lord left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan; 2 Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof; 3 Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baalhermon unto the entering in of Hamath. 4 And they were to 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 the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites: 6 And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods. 7 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgat the Lord their God, and served Baalim and the groves. 8 Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushanrishathaim eight years. 9 And when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. 10 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the Lord delivered Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim. 11 And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died. 12 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. 13 And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees. 14 So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. 15 But when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab. 16 But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit length; and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh. 17 And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon was a very fat man. 18 And when he had made an end to offer the present, he sent away the people that bare the present. 19 But he himself turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king: who said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him. 20 And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting in a summer parlour, which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat. 21 And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly: 22 And the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly; and the dirt came out. 23 Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlour upon him, and locked them. 24 When he was gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlour were locked, they said, Surely he covereth his feet in his summer chamber. 25 And they tarried till they were ashamed: and, behold, he opened not the doors of the parlour; therefore they took a key, and opened them: and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth. 26 And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped unto Seirath. 27 And it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and he before them. 28 And he said unto them, Follow after me: for the Lord hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and suffered not a man to pass over. 29 And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valour; and there escaped not a man. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years. 31 And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel. == Notes == Cross Reference == Commentary == Rashi ==== Verse 1 So that Yisroel would be tested through them. This was a different generation, ignorant of the miracles of the Canaanite wars, and not having witnessed the great deeds, they rebelled, and betrayed the Omnipresent. ==== Verse 2 Only so that they should know. For this alone, He permitted these nations to remain, so that future generations of the Bnei Yisroel might grasp the consequence of iniquity—for it was now necessary for them to undergo martial training. Whereas earlier when they stood worshiping Adonoy. This was unknown. These wars and the art of battle. It was unnecessary. ==== Verse 3 Five Pelishtite sovereignties. These were the nations whom He permited to remain as a test. ==== Verse 10 The Divine spirit visited him. R' Tanchuma expounded: He studied the statement of the Holy One, blessed is He, to Moshe in Mitzrayim, "I have surely seen (lit. 'seeing, I have seen') the tribulation of my people."1 Shemos, 3:7. What are the two sights?2‘Seeing’ I have ‘seen’. He said to him, "I see that they are destined to err with the golden calf—nevertheless, 'I have seen the tribulation of my people.'" Asniel expounded upon this, saying, whether innocent or guilty, He is obliged to save them.3Shemos Rabah, 3:2. Accordingly, “He judged Yisroel” in our passage does not refer to Asniel’s adjudication of litigation in the courtroom, but to his exposition of “I have seen” in his prayer before Adonoy. In his “judgement”, Yisroel was to be saved. (Radal there, 5) ==== Verse 13 The city of dates. Yericho. ==== Verse 15 Whose right arm was immobile. Yonasan renders "A man whose right arm was shrunken." "Gamid" in the Aramaic always indicates something shrunken by disease, "retrait", "shrunk" in old French. He could not utilize his right arm. In Hebrew, "closed", as in "Let not the well close its mouth over me."4Tehilim, 69:16. His right arm was "closed"—he could not utilize it. ==== Verse 16 One gomed long. An abridged amoh.5The length of the forearm. (Rashbam to Bava Basra, 100:a). In German, 'daumen lang'. In old French, 'espan courte'. Over his right thigh. Since he was able to utilize his left hand, he would grasp it with the left hand. ==== Verse 17 Obese. Fat. ==== Verse 18 He escorted the people. He turned back to accompany the delegation of Yisroelites who came with him to bear the gift. He escorted them until Gilgal. ==== Verse 19 He then returned alone. From the quarries. An area where stones were excavated from the mountain. Similarly, Yonasan renders "from the quarries." Then he went to Eglon,6Ehud’s return to Eglon is not actually discussed in the text. Rashi mentions the return for the sake of clarification. and declared to him.7“…I have a matter, etc.”. He said, "Hsst." Eglon said, "Silence everyone near me!" Yonasan renders, "Leave!"—remove everyone. Still, the term connotes silence.8Silence them by removing them. ==== Verse 20 In his penthouse veranda. In the summer penthouse which was airy and cool. I have a Divine message for you! Thus, you are required to rise. He rose from the throne. He therefore merited that Rus was descended from him. ==== Verse 22 The hilt. The iron into which the blade is inserted, called 'hulot' in old French. This balances the sword in its scabbard. The blade. The sharpened section, called "brant" and "lama" in old French. The fat closed. His fat. He was extremely corpulent, so that he enclosed the entire length of the dagger. Waste matter oozed. Yonasan renders, "Spilled waste matter oozed." He reads this as a contraction of two words with the 'shin' serving both.9 פַּרְשְׁדֹֽנׇה is read as פֶּרֶשׁ־שְׁדוֹנׇא, “spilled waste matter”, with the middle ש serving as the last letter of פֶּרֶשׁ and the first letter of שְׁדוֹנׇא. "spilled waste matter" [oozed].10The waste matter first spilled from the abdomen into the body, then it oozed from the wound. (Ralbag).שְׁפַךְ, "spilled", is the translation of שְׁדָא11Or שְׁדוֹנׇא. according to Yonasan. ==== Verse 23 And Ehud went out to the hallway. From the penthouse to the מסדרונה, translated by Targum Yonasan as 'hallway'. And locked With the key. ==== Verse 24 As he left. Ehud left, and Eglon's servants came. Relieving himself [lit. 'covering his legs']. Performing his necessary bodily functions. This refers to a bowel movement.12When the legs are covered as a matter of modesty. (Metzudas). ==== Verse 25 A considerable time. [lit.] Until [it constituted] delay, as if to say, a considerable time. ==== Verse 26 Escaped. Fled, "eschamocier" in old French. While [lit. until] they tarried. As in,13Rashi cites these quotations to demonstrate that עַד, lit. “until”, may be translated as while”. "While the king lounged,"14Shir Hashirim, 1:12. "Affection, while still desired"15Ibid, 2:7.—while we both desire it. In the underbrush. A thin-branched, heavily wooded forest, called "brousaille", brush, in old French, excellent for concealment. Frequently, in the order of Zeraim, thin branches are called "sa'ar"—"[He] overturned the branches,"16Kilayim, 4:9. "If the branches meshed."17Peah, 2:3. ==== Verse 27 It happened that, when he arrived. He crossed the Yardein, and arrived at his place in the land of Canaan.18The text omits Ehud’s crossing of the Yardein andhis arrival in Canaan. Rashi mentions these events for clarification. At Mount Ephrayim. Which was in the land of Canaan, on the western side of the Yardein. The land of Moav was on the eastern side of the Yardein, but as they had subdued Yisroel and crossed the Yardein, they occupied Yericho as stated above, and installed their princes and governors over Yisroel. ==== Verse 28 Charge behind me to wipe out all the Moabites on our side of the Yardein. Took control of the Yardein passes so that the Moabites could not cross to escape and return to their country. ==== Verse 29 All horrific [lit. corpulent]. Every man awe inspiring. ==== Verse 31 With a goad. A saddle spur, "aiguillon" in old French.