World English Bible · The judges
Judges 3
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Now these are the nations which left, to Israel by them, even as many as had not known all the wars of ; only that the generations of the might know, to teach them war, at least those who knew nothing of it before: the five lords of the , all , the , and the who lived on Mount , from Mount Hermon to the entrance of . They were left to Israel by them, to know whether they would listen to , which he commanded their fathers by . The lived among , the , the , the , the , and the . They took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons and their gods. The did that which was evil in sight, and forgot their , and and the Asheroth. Therefore burned against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of king of ; and the eight years. When the cried to , up a to the , who them, even the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. came on him, and he judged Israel; and he went out to war, and king of into his hand. His hand prevailed against . The land had rest forty years, then the son of Kenaz . The again did that which was evil in sight, and strengthened the king of against Israel, because they had done that which was evil in sight. He gathered and to himself; and he went and struck Israel, and they the city of palm trees. The the king of eighteen years. But when the cried to , up a for them: the son of , the , a left-handed man. The sent tribute by him to the king of . made himself a which had two edges, a in length; and he wore it under his clothing thigh. He offered the tribute to king of . Now was a very fat man. 18When had finished the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. But he himself turned back from the stone idols that were by , and said, "I have a secret message for you, O king." The king said, "Keep silence!" All who stood by him left him. came to him; and he was sitting by himself alone in the cool upper room. said, "I have a message from to you." He arose out of his seat. put out his left hand, and took from his right thigh, and thrust it into his body. 22The handle also went in after the blade; and closed on the blade, for he didn't draw out of his body; and it came out behind. 23Then went out onto the porch, and shut the doors of the upper room on him, and locked them. After he had gone, his servants came and saw that the doors of the upper room were locked. They said, "Surely he is covering his feet in the upper room." 25They waited until they were ; and behold, he didn't open the doors of the upper room. Therefore they took the key and opened them, and behold, their had fallen down on the floor. 26 escaped while they waited, passed beyond the stone idols, and escaped to Seirah. When he had come, he blew a in the hill country of ; and the went down with him from the hill country, and he led them. He said to them, "Follow me; for has your the into your hand." They followed him, and took the fords of against the , and didn't allow any man to pass over. They struck at that time about ten thousand men of , every strong man and every man of valor. No man escaped. So was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. Then the land had rest eighty years. After him was the son of , who struck six hundred men of the with an ox goad. He also Israel.
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The world at this moment · The judges, 1200 BC to 1050 BC ›
No central government and no standing army. The great empires are weak, which is precisely why Israel's troubles come from close neighbors: Moab, Ammon, Midian, and the newly arrived Philistines on the coast.
- Egypt
- Broken into competing power centres and no longer able to project force into Canaan. Its withdrawal is the single biggest reason this period has no imperial overlord.
- Mesopotamia
- Assyria exists but is dormant, hemmed in and looking east. The century that would have crushed a stateless Israel simply has not arrived yet.
- The coast
- The Philistines settle their five cities after arriving from the Aegean world, bringing Mycenaean-style pottery, a taste for pork, and an early advantage in ironworking. Further north the Phoenician ports of Tyre and Sidon start the trading expansion that will eventually give the alphabet to Greece.
- Further afield
- Greece has entered its dark age: the palaces are gone, Linear B is forgotten, and writing disappears from the Aegean for three centuries. In China the Zhou dynasty replaces the Shang in 1046 BC and issues the doctrine that heaven withdraws its mandate from unjust kings, an idea with an interesting resemblance to the book of Judges.