Judges 3:30 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years.

NIV: That day Moab was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace for eighty years.

NASB: So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land was at rest for eighty years.

CSB: Moab became subject to Israel that day, and the land had peace for eighty years.

NLT: So Moab was conquered by Israel that day, and there was peace in the land for eighty years.

KJV: So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years.

NKJV: So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years.

This verse brings the repeated pattern of the book of Judges (Judges 2:16–19) back to its starting place. In this cycle, Israel begins in a right relationship with God, and in state of freedom and peace. The judge whom God used to save Israel dies. Lacking that influence, the people turn from God into sin and idolatry. So, the Lord allows another foreign nation to oppress them. The Israelites eventually cry out to the Lord for help. He sends a new judge to save them. Peace is restored until that judge dies. Then the pattern is repeated once more.

Through Ehud's leadership (Judges 3:14–15), God freed Israel from the rule of the Moabites (Judges 3:26–29) and returned peace and security to Israel. This time, the Israelites remained unconquered and at peace in the land for eighty years, suggesting that Ehud enjoyed a long life. Eighty years may have indicated the passing of two generations. Often, it is children or grandchildren of those who have been powerfully rescued by God who stop being faithful to the Lord and bring on a new round of judgment by their sinfulness.

Judges 3:12–30 describes another phase of sin, judgment, and deliverance in Israel. The people again provoke God's anger, so He strengthens Eglon, the king of Moab, to defeat and enslave them. After eighteen years, He raises up Ehud as the deliverer. In an infamously graphic assassination, Ehud kills Eglon in his palace in Jericho, then leads an army of Ephraim fighters to take the fords of the Jordan River. Having cut off the Moabites' escape route, the Israelites wipe out the Moabite army, leading to eighty years of peace.

God leaves several Canaanite nations in and around the Promised Land to test Israel's reliance on Him. Some live among the people, others are part of unconquered territories. The Israelites immediately ignore God's commands and begin serving other gods. First, the Lord subjects them to Mesopotamia. After eight years, the first judge, Othniel, leads them to victory and peace. Israel again rebels and is conquered by Moab for 18 years. Ehud's brutal assassination of the Moabite king sparks another period of freedom and peace. In a single brief statement, the obscure Shamgar is celebrated for his victory.

After Israel's failure to complete their mission, as described in chapters 1 and 2, chapter 3 begins by describing the idolatrous nations God left intact to test Israel. In the first of many such cycles, the people sin, are conquered, then are rescued by a "judge." This chapter describes the victories of Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar. Chapter 4 mentions the first of the truly famous names among the judges, describing the careers of Deborah and Barak. This is followed in chapter 6, which introduces Gideon.

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).

Accessed 5/2/2024 12:38:51 PM