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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 And these [are] the nations which Jehovah left, to try Israel by them, all who have not known all the wars of Canaan; |
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| 2 (only for the sake of the generations of the sons of Israel's knowing, to teach them war, only those who formerly have not known them) |
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| 3 five princes of the Philistines, and all the Canaanite, and the Zidonian, and the Hivite inhabiting mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-Hermon unto the entering in of Hamath; |
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| 4 and they are to prove Israel by them, to know whether they obey the commands of Jehovah that He commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. |
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| 5 And the sons of Israel have dwelt in the midst of the Canaanite, the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, |
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| 6 and take their daughters to them for wives, and their daughters have given to their sons, and they serve their gods; |
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| 7 and the sons of Israel do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and forget Jehovah their God, and serve the Baalim and the shrines. |
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| 8 And the anger of Jehovah burneth against Israel, and He selleth them into the hand of Chushan-Rishathaim king of Aram-Naharaim, and the sons of Israel serve Chushan-Rishathaim eight years; |
Eight years – One of many captivities, showing that the "seven times" of Lev. 26 could not be literal. B89
The chronological periods mentioned in Judges cover a total of 450 years; but the judges did not cover all the space of time, they were merely scattered over most of it. HG45:3
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| 9 and the sons of Israel cry unto Jehovah, and Jehovah raiseth a saviour to the sons of Israel, and he saveth them Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother; |
Cried – A cry of loyalty. R5646:3
Such a cry by a spiritual Israelite implies that the sin was contrary to the transgressor's will. R5646:3
The LORD raised up – All who cry to the Lord in sincerity and faith shall be heard and delivered. R5646:3
A deliverer – A judge in ancient times was one who executed justice and relieved the oppressed. The coming Judge of earth will be its deliverer. A142
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| 10 and the Spirit of Jehovah is upon him, and he judgeth Israel, and goeth out to battle, and Jehovah giveth unto his hand Chushan-Rishathaim king of Aram, and strong is his hand against Chushan-Rishathaim; |
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| 11 and the land resteth forty years. And Othniel son of Kenaz dieth, |
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| 12 and the sons of Israel add to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah; and Jehovah strengtheneth Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because that they have done the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah; |
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| 13 and he gathereth unto him the Bene-Ammon and Amalek, and goeth and smiteth Israel, and they possess the city of palms; |
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| 14 and the sons of Israel serve Eglon king of Moab eighteen years. |
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| 15 And the sons of Israel cry unto Jehovah, and Jehovah raiseth to them a saviour, Ehud son of Gera, a Benjamite (a man shut of his right hand), and the sons of Israel send by his hand a present to Eglon king of Moab; |
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| 16 and Ehud maketh for himself a sword, and it hath two mouths (a cubit [is] its length), and he girdeth it under his long robe on his right thigh; |
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| 17 and he bringeth near the present to Eglon king of Moab, and Eglon [is] a very fat man. |
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| 18 And it cometh to pass, when he hath finished to bring near the present, that he sendeth away the people bearing the present, |
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| 19 and he himself hath turned back from the graven images which [are] at Gilgal, and saith, 'A secret word I have unto thee, O king;' and he saith, 'Hush!' and go out from him do all those standing by him. |
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| 20 And Ehud hath come unto him, and he is sitting in the upper chamber of the wall which he hath for himself, and Ehud saith, 'A word of God I have unto thee;' and he riseth from off the throne; |
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| 21 and Ehud putteth forth his left hand, and taketh the sword from off his right thigh, and striketh it into his belly; |
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| 22 and the haft also goeth in after the blade, and the fat shutteth on the blade, that he hath not drawn the sword out of his belly, and it goeth out at the fundament. |
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| 23 And Ehud goeth out at the porch, and shutteth the doors of the upper chamber upon him, and hath bolted [it]; |
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| 24 and he hath gone out, and his servants have come in, and look, and lo, the doors of the upper chamber are bolted, and they say, 'He is only covering his feet in the inner chamber of the wall.' |
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| 25 And they stay till confounded, and lo, he is not opening the doors of the upper chamber, and they take the key, and open, and lo, their lord is fallen to the earth dead. |
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| 26 And Ehud escaped during their tarrying, and hath passed by the images, and is escaped to Seirath. |
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| 27 And it cometh to pass, in his coming in, that he bloweth with a trumpet in the hill-country of Ephraim, and go down with him do the sons of Israel from the hill-country, and he before them; |
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| 28 and he saith unto them, 'Pursue after me, for Jehovah hath given your enemies, the Moabites, into your hand;' and they go down after him, and capture the passages of the Jordan towards Moab, and have not permitted a man to pass over. |
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| 29 And they smite Moab at that time, about ten thousand men, all robust, and every one a man of valour, and not a man hath escaped, |
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| 30 and Moab is humbled in that day under the hand of Israel; and the land resteth eighty years. |
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| 31 And after him hath been Shamgar son of Anath, and he smiteth the Philistines six hundred men with an ox-goad, and he saveth he also Israel. |
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