Movatterモバイル変換

Judges 3:11
And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

Judges 5:31
So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: butlet them that love himbe as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.

and the land had rest for eighty years
The "rest" mentioned here refers to a period of peace and stability following the turmoil of oppression. This rest is a divine blessing, a time when Israel could live without the threat of foreign domination. The duration of eighty years is significant, as it represents one of the longest periods of peace recorded in the Book of Judges. This extended period of rest underscores the effectiveness of Ehud's leadership and the completeness of the victory over Moab. It also highlights the cyclical nature of Israel's history during the time of the judges, where periods of peace follow deliverance, only to be disrupted by subsequent disobedience. Theologically, this rest can be seen as a foreshadowing of the ultimate rest promised in Christ, who offers eternal peace and deliverance from sin.

The opening words signal a decisive turnaround. For eighteen years (Judges 3:14) Moab had oppressed Israel; now the oppressor is overthrown.

• God keeps His covenant promise to protect His people when they cry out (Judges 3:15; cf.Psalm 34:17).

• Subduing is God’s work first, accomplished through Ehud but credited to the Lord, just asPsalm 47:3 affirms: “He subdues nations beneath us.”

• The victory is total—no more tribute, no foreign garrisons—mirroring earlier triumphs likeJoshua 10:42.

The phrase highlights agency and responsibility.

• “Hand” in Scripture often pictures power (Exodus 15:6). Here, Israel’s hand is strong only because the Lord strengthens it (Judges 2:18;Deuteronomy 7:24).

• The people who once feared Moab now become God’s instrument of judgment, similar to how Deborah and Barak later bring Sisera “into the hand of a woman” (Judges 4:9).

• God’s plan places victory in the “hand” of His covenant community, showing He works through obedient faith, not detached miracles.

Deliverance is not gradual but immediate.

• Like the Red Sea crossing (“That day the LORD saved Israel,”Exodus 14:30) and the overnight destruction of the Assyrian army (2 Kings 19:35), God’s salvation can be sudden.

• The phrase underscores historical reality; this is not legend but a datable event in Israel’s calendar.

• It reassures believers that God’s timing is perfect—He can change circumstances in a single day.

“Rest” is more than absence of war; it is shalom—wholeness under God’s rule.

•Judges 3:11 notes a similar rest under Othniel, showing a repeating cycle: sin, oppression, deliverance, rest.

• InJoshua 21:44 the Lord “gave them rest on every side,” pointing to His desire for His people’s peace.

•Hebrews 4:9 uses Israel’s rest to foreshadow the greater rest found in Christ, the ultimate Deliverer.

This is the longest peace recorded in Judges, double the forty-year pattern seen elsewhere (Judges 5:31; 8:28).

• God’s grace exceeds expectation; He grants a full lifetime of peace to a generation that previously knew only slavery.

• The length shows that obedience brings sustained blessing (Deuteronomy 28:1-6).

• Yet the book will soon reveal that external peace does not guarantee lasting faithfulness, preparing readers for the need of a righteous King (Isaiah 9:6-7).

Judges 3:30 records a historical, God-given victory that flipped Moab’s dominance, empowered Israel, occurred in a single decisive day, ushered in profound rest, and lasted an exceptional eighty years. The verse showcases the Lord’s faithfulness to deliver, His ability to grant peace that surpasses human strategy, and His invitation to trust Him for both immediate and long-term security.

Fourscore years.--The LXX. add, "And Ehud judged them till he died." Josephus (Antt. v. 5, ? 1) seems to have read "eight years."

As to the moral aspect of the assassination committed by Ehud, it is only necessary to say that while his courage, and capacity, and readiness to sacrifice himself, if need be, for the deliverance of his country were thoroughly noble, the act by which he achieved his end was unjustifiable. To quote his example in defence of the principle of assassination is a gross abuse of Scripture. Those who defend the murder do so by assuming that the Divine call to Ehud to deliver his people sanctioned and possibly even suggested themeansby which it was accomplished. But such methods of inferential exegesis undermine the very bases of morals. It is not in the least surprising that, when adopted, they are liable to the grossest abuse, and made to cover the most horrible crimes. Thus, when Jacques Clement asked whether a priest might kill a tyrant, he was told that "it was not a mortal sin, but only an irregularity"; and when Pope Paul V. heard of the murder of Henry IV. by Ravaillac, he said, "The God of nations did this, because he was given over to a reprobate mind."If it has been always true that

"The devil can quote Scripture for his purpose,"

he has done so not rarely by the lips of those who have professed to teach it. "Worse than the dagger," says Prof. Cassel, "is such doctrine."

Parallel Commentaries ...