Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 3:31
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.
31. Shamgar the son of Anath ] was unknown to the author of Jdg 4:1, who passes at once from Ehud to Deborah. Shamgar is often reckoned as one of the minor Judges, but the account given of him is not modelled on the form of Jdg 10:1-5, Jdg 12:8-15; no date is attached to the period of his activity, and he is not included in the chronology of the Book. It is clear that this brief notice was inserted after the Dtc. compiler had done his work. Further, an exploit against the Philistines in the period between Ehud and Deborah comes too early; the Philistines do not appear in history as enemies of Israel till the time of Saul (in the Samson story they are not yet the aggressors); the verse would be more in place after Jdg 16:31, and there in fact some mss. of the LXX actually insert it as well as here (so Aldine edn. of LXX, Syro-Hexaplar and Slav. Versions). Its present position is no doubt due to the mention of Shamgar ben Anth in Jdg 5:6, which gives the impression that he was an oppressor, not a deliverer, of Israel in the days just before Deborah: he has no connexion with the Philistine country; the area of the oppression lies in the district of the northern tribes. This is all that we know of Shamgar 1 [30] . His name is foreign; cf. Sangara, a Hittite king of Carchemish in the time of Ashurnasipal and Shalmaneser II 1 [31] (the Samgar-nebo of Jer 39:3 is probably a textual error); no Israelite could have been called ‘son of (the goddess) Anth,’ who was worshipped in early times in Syria and Palestine, as appears from the old Canaanite place-names, Anathoth, Beth-anath etc. 2 [32] It is curious that one of the allies of the Hittite king Sangara just mentioned bears the name Bur-anati (king of Jasbuki 3 [33] ). The exploit here recorded resembles that of Samson in Jdg 15:14 f., and still more closely that of Shammah ben Agee, one of David’s mighty men, at Lehi, 2Sa 23:11 f. (which has been influenced by Samson’s story); cf. also 2Sa 21:15-22. It is probable that the author of this verse derived his particulars in a general way from these sources, and attached them to the Shamgar of Jdg 5:6.
[30] Nestle in Journ. Th. St. xiii. p. 424 f. shews that in some early Latin chronologies Shamgar was both placed after Samson, and regarded as an oppressor though also as a judge!
[31] Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek i. p. 139.
[32] See further NSI., p. 80 f.
[33] KB. i. 159. This has been pointed out by Ball in Smith’s Dict. of the Bible 2 , s.v. Ishbak.
an ox goad ] A pole from 6 to 8 feet long, with a pointed end of iron, the of Act 26:14; it could be used readily as a spear.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
From this verse and Jdg 5:6 we may gather that Shamgar was contemporary with Jael, and that he only procured a temporary and partial deliverance for Israel by his exploit. He may have been of the tribe of Judah.
An ox goad – An instrument of wood about eight feet long, armed with an iron spike or point at one end, with which to spur the ox at plow, and with an iron scraper at the other end with which to detach the earth from the plowshare when it became encumbered with it. The fact of their deliverer having no better weapon enhances his faith, and the power of his divine helper. At the same time it shows how low the men of Judah were brought at this time, being disarmed by their oppressors Jdg 5:8, as was also the case later 1Sa 13:19.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Jdg 3:31
Shamgar the son of Anath.
Shamgar
This is one of the most singular and astonishing battles in the history of the world. If Shamgar had been stationed in some Thermopylae, where the foe could only come one or two at a time it would not have been so wonderful; but he was in the open field, literally surrounded by six hundred desperadoes, bent on plunder and death. It gives us some idea of what pluck can do for a man when fired with the love of home and country. To my mind, there is something wonderful, almost miraculous, in this strange battle and unparalleled victory. I wonder, first of all, how he could muster courage to face so many, and how he escaped when surrounded by such a multitude. I wonder also, that when the Philistines saw that they were being slaughtered at every blow, and that they had no power to injure their mysterious antagonist, that they fought on and stood their ground until the last man was slain. It only shows that men may have courage in fighting on the side of evil without a particle of truth or righteousness to inspire them; that they will sacrifice their lives on the altar of a bad cause as well as a good one.
I. Men determine their future by the manner in which they meet the duties and provocations of the present. God never selects a lazy, idle man, when He is going to choose a person to do some noble work. He promotes none but busy men. Shamgar was ploughing when the Philistines came upon him. It speaks well for him that he had heart to plough at such a time, for the whole country was thrown into great fear and discouragement. Few men, I am inclined to think, had courage enough just then to plough. Such men are an inspiration and a blessing to any community. So far as we can ascertain, Shamgar was an humble labouring man. Yet his heroic conduct on this occasion brought him into notice, and raised him to be one of the judges of Israel. The world is looking for men who can bring things to pass. Noble deeds are the stairway leading to greatness and honour. If you would be trusted, first learn to be honest; if you would rule, first learn how to obey; if you would rise to a more important position, fill the place where you are to overflowing with yourself, and God will soon beckon you to a wider sphere.
II. In the absence of success, it is poor logic to throw the blame on our instruments or surroundings. The workman is more than his tools. The spirit and skill of the worker tower above his surroundings, and give value and significance to the instruments he wields. Shamgar fought this battle with an ox goad. However discouraging your circumstances, if you give yourself fully to God, and walk in the full honours of uprightness before Him, the great Captain of our salvation will not only give you blessed foretastes of the rest that remaineth for the people of God, but He will also enable you to cut your way to victory through all the spiritual Philistines that may confront you, even though your instruments may be as insignificant as those of Shamgar.
III. In our life work we should be natural, and use the instruments we know best how to handle. Shamgar fought with the ex-goad. He knew so well how to handle it that, at close range, it was a terrible weapon to come in contact with. He could kill more men with it in a crowd than with sword or musket. He knew the spring and feel of it so perfectly that every stroke brought two or three Philistines to the ground. What we want in order to our greatest possible efficiency is, not somebody elses way of doing things, but our own, trained and sanctified by the grace of God. No two persons are exactly alike; and so there are phases of work which each individual is constitutionally fitted to do which no other person can ever do quite as well.
IV. New instrumentalities should not be condemned simply because they are new and out of the regular order, but should be judged and valued according to their results. As a weapon of destruction the ox goad was unknown up to this time; but, judged of by its results, it was worthy of high appreciation. It may be that, in the past, the Church has been a little too conservative in the matter of new agency; that she has been too much inclined to condemn any agency that was not officially sanctioned or technically approved. There is nothing that carries conviction like the logic of facts, and nothing succeeds like success. Think of one man against six hundred, with nothing in his hands but an ox goad. You may not be as well qualified for the work as some others; but still God has a work for you to do, and He will help you to do it if you do your best and trust Him. It may be that your sphere is humble and obscure, but you can live a noble life and do grand work in obscurity. Some of the greatest evangelists of our own day teach us two lessons–
1. That sanctified individuality is the condition of usefulness and the great want of the times.
2. That the vast majority of Christians have talent enough to become each a mighty power, in the hands of God, to hasten the millennial glory of the future. (T. Kelly.)
A man for the time
From this let all true patriots take heart–with the hour and the peril comes the man required.
I. The apparent incompatibility and insufficiency of the deliverer and his weapon. A herdman carrying a goad, an ugly implement some eight or ten feet long, and shod with iron. Uncouth, without such military training as the science of the times could give, destitute of such arms as the Philistines would be likely to fear. He could only be looked upon as an improvised leader with an extemporised armament. Opposed to him was a host led by hereditary chieftains. Now, as ever, the Philistine opponents of Christ and the truth grin inanely at the rabble rout, as they deem the Lords host to be. They sneer at the Word, albeit they bear many scars inflicted by that old Damascene blade. They laugh at the praying, the preaching, and the labour of the unlearned and ignorant men whom the Lord has called to do His work.
II. The triumphant efficacy of both. Shamgars generalship, strong arm, awful ox-goad, proved to be no laughing matters. The soul of a patriot, the genius of a leader, the skill of a strategist, were all in him. Neither devil, lords, nor army had much time to sneer when Shamgar reached them. They had mistaken the man, the instrument, and the God behind all. History repeats and spiritualises itself. For, we ask, in what is the augury, whence is the success of our Christian warfare, waged against the enemies of God and man? In numbers, literary efficiency, dialectical skill, scientific theology? Not so; Satan can beat us out of the field in every one of these. He is constantly doing it. Not all the drum-beating, banner-waving, and shouting of our conferences and demonstrations ever frighten him. But his doom is sealed when a Christ-filled Shamgar leads. That man who on his knees pleads and waits to know, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?–such are the men we want, the men we should pray for, the men we ought to be. The fact that we are Christians should be a certificate that we are surrendered, Christ-filled men, or our profession is a lie. Would that all were so. Oh, that all may become so! Whatever the sacrifice involved, there is no more happy life, and, at its close, can be no more glorious epitaph than he saved Israel! (James Dann.)
Shamgar: mean instruments
1. How absurd it is for any man to blame his tools for bad work. Shamgar used an ox-goad; Samson wielded the jawbone of an ass; David had but a sling and stone. Some times we think what wonders we could do if we had better instruments.
2. How important it is that men should use those instruments which they can handle most skilfully. Shamgar knew how to use the ox-goad, and David knew how to use the sling and stone.
3. How foolish it would be to ridicule the instruments when the results are so obviously good. Look at the six hundred dead men! Look at the slain giant! Look at the prostrate walls of Jericho! The rule applies to every department of life. It applies to preaching. It applies to foreign missions. It applies to every Christian effort.
4. How victories are sometimes won in the face of the greatest improbabilities. One man against six hundred! Some men would have succumbed under the mere pressure of numbers, but Shamgar fought the crowd. Do not let us blame men for working with instruments that have not been officially or technically approved. The one great object is to do good. What meaner instrument can there be than the Cross? (J. Parker, D. D.)
Shamgars ox-goad
Shamgar considered not whether he was equipped for attacking Philistines, but turned on them from the plough, his blood leaping in him with swift indignation. The instrument of his assault was not made for the use to which it was put: the power lay in the arm that wielded the goad and the fearless will of the man who struck for his own birthright, freedom–for Israels birth right, to be the servant of no other race. Undoubtedly it is well that in any efforts made for the Church or for society men should consider how they are to act, and should furnish themselves in the best manner for the work that is to be done. No outfit of knowledge, skill, experience, is to be despised. A man does not serve the world better in ignorance than in learning, in bluntness than in refinement. But the serious danger for such an age as our own is that strength may be frittered away and zeal expended in the mere preparation of weapons, in the mere exercise before the war begins. The important points at issue are apt to be lost sight of, and the vital distinctions on which the whole battle turns to fade away in an atmosphere of compromise. (R. A. Watson, M. A.)
Shamgars ox-goad
The ox-goad was not much; but Shamgar with the ox-goad, that was the sight to see. Perhaps you cannot work the ox-goad. It fitted Shamgar, and he fitted it; but, after all, it was the man. It is the man. I read Wesleys sermons–those sermons that routed the Philistines of a hundred years ago, and delivered Israel over all this England; I read those sermons of Wesley and Whitefield, and, I say, what is in them? You would be tired of them from me. Why? You see the obvious answer. You look at that ox-goad and say, There is not much in that; neither is there. It was the man, and God in the man. One was taken to see a famous sword that had belonged to a famous swordsman, and when he saw it he said, I do not see much in that sword, and there came the obvious answer, No, but you should have seen the arm that wielded it. Shamgars hand grew into the hilt of that ox-goad, and it became part of him. The ox-goad and Shamgar, again, became part of the arm of the Lord God Almighty. That was all in it, and that may be in you and me, God taking our individuality and consecrating it and using it for His eternal glory. Now, be yourself, whether you be at the plough or at the desk; God can do His work with the ox-goad; He can do it with the pen; He can do it with anything if it lies near His hand. And, last of all, what honourable mention this ploughman gets: He also delivered Israel. Why, the mighty Joshua did no more! (John McNeill.)
Great results with imperfect tools
Many of the discoveries in astronomy, chemistry, mathematics, navigation, and science generally, were made with very imperfect instruments. Dr. Valentine Motts remarkable surgical skill is the more honourable because of his comparatively poor instruments. True genius shows itself in accomplishing grand results with imperfect tools. Rittenhouse, whose name is a synonym for marvellous scientific attainments, worked in boyhood on his fathers farm, and calculated eclipses on plough-handles and fences; and, although studying alone, made himself master of Newtons Principia, and discovered for himself the method of fluxions when in his nineteenth year. It is little wonder that when he observed the transit of Venus (June 3, 1769), while in his private observatory at Norriton, he fainted from excitement at the moment of apparent contact. Benjamin West, the Anglo-American painter, made his first colours from leaves and berries, and his first brushes were taken from a cats tail. Thus self-taught, at the age of sixteen he practised portrait-painting in the villages near Philadelphia, his first historical picture being The Death of Socrates. Humphry Davy had but little opportunity to acquire scientific knowledge, but he made old pans, kettles, and bottles contribute to his success as he experimented in the attic of the apothecary shop in which he was employed. Over a stable in London lived Michael Faraday, a poor boy who made a living by carrying news papers to customers. While apprenticed to a bookbinder and engaged in binding the Encyclopaedia Britannica, his eyes fell on the article on electricity. He had only a glass vial, an old pan, and a few other articles with which to make experiments. A friend took him to hear Sir Humphry Davy lecture on chemistry. Later the great Davy called on the humble Michael. The years pass, and Tyndall said of Faraday, He is the greatest experimental philosopher the world has ever seen..
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 31. And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath] Dr. Hales supposes that “Shamgar’s administration in the West included Ehud’s administration of eighty years in the East; and that, as this administration might have been of some continuance, so this Philistine servitude which is not noticed elsewhere, might have been of some duration; as may be incidentally collected from Deborah’s thanksgiving, Jud 5:6.”
Slew – six hundred men with an ox-goad] malmad habbakar, the instructer of the oxen. This instrument is differently understood by the versions: the Vulgate has vomere, with the coulter or ploughshare, a dreadful weapon in the hand of a man endued with so much strength; the Septuagint has , with the ploughshare of the oxen; the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic, understand it of the goad, as does our translation.
1. THAT the ox-goad, still used in Palestine, is a sufficiently destructive weapon if used by a strong and skilful hand, is evident enough from the description which Mr. Maundrell gives of this implement, having seen many of them both in Palestine and Syria: “It was observable,” says he, “that in ploughing they used goads of an extraordinary size; upon measuring of several I found them about eight feet long, and at the bigger end about six inches in circumference. They were armed at the lesser end with a sharp prickle for driving the oxen, and at the other end with a small spade or paddle of iron, strong and massy, for cleansing the plough from the clay that encumbers it in working.” See his Journey from Aleppo, c., 7th edit., pp. 110, 111. In the hands of a strong, skilful man, such an instrument must be more dangerous and more fatal than any sword.
It is worthy of remark that the ox-goad is represented by Homer to have been used prior to this time in the same way. In the address of Diomed to Glaucus, Iliad. lib. vi., ver. 129, Lycurgus is represented as discomfiting Bacchus and the Bacchanals with this weapon. The siege of Troy, according to the best chronologers, happened within the time of the Israelitish judges.
* * * * * * * * *
‘ ‘
, ‘
.
“I fight not with the inhabitants of heaven
That war Lycurgus, son of Dryas, waged,
Nor long survived. – From Nyssa’s sacred heights
He drove the nurses of the frantic god,
Thought drowning Bacchus: to the ground they cast
All cast, their leafy wands; while, ruthless, he
Spared not to smite them with his murderous goad.”
The meaning of this fable is: Lycurgus, king of Thrace, finding his subjects addicted to drunkenness, proscribed the cultivation of the vine in his dominions, and instituted agriculture in its stead; thus , the thyrsi, were expelled, , by the ox-goad. The account, however, shows that Shamgar was not the only person who used the ox-goad as an offensive weapon. If we translate a cart-whip, the parallel is lost.
2. It appears that Shamgar was merely a labouring man; that the Philistines were making an inroad on the Israelites when the latter were cultivating their fields; that Shamgar and his neighbours successfully resisted them; that they armed themselves with their more portable agricultural instruments; and that Shamgar, either with a ploughshare or an ox-goad, slew six hundred of those marauders.
3. The case of Ehud killing Eglon is a very serious one; and how far he was justified in this action is with all a question of importance, and with not a few a question of difficulty. “Is it right to slay a tyrant?” I, without hesitation, answer, No individual has a right to slay any man, except it be in his own defence, when a person attacks him in order to take away his life. “But may not any of his oppressed subjects put an end to the life of a tyrant?” No. The state alone can judge whether a king is ruling contrary to the laws and constitution of that state; and if that state have provided laws for the punishment of a ruler who is endeavouring to destroy or subvert that constitution, then let him be dealt with according to those laws. But no individual or number of individuals in that state has any right to dispose of the life of the ruler but according to law. To take his life in any other way is no less than murder. It is true God, the author of life and the judge of all men, may commission one man to take away the life of a tyrant. But the pretension to such a commission must be strong, clear, and unequivocal; in short, if a man think he have such a commission, to be safe, he should require the Lord to give him as full an evidence of it as he did to Moses; and when such a person comes to the people, they should require him to give as many proofs of his Divine call as the Hebrews did Moses, before they should credit his pretensions. “But had not Ehud a Divine call?” I cannot tell. If he had, he did not murder Eglon; if he had not, his act, however it succeeded, was a murderous act; and if he had no message from God, (and there is no proof that he had,) then he was a most base and hypocritical assassin. The sacred historian says nothing of his motives nor call; he mentions simply the fact, and leaves it without either observation or comment, and every reader is left to draw his own inference.
The life of any ruler can only be at the disposal of the constitution, or that system of rules, laws, and regulations, by which the people he rules should be governed; if he rule not according to these, he is, ipso facto, deposed from his government. If he break the constitution, to the great injury or ruin of his subjects, then he is to be judged by those laws according to which he must have pledged himself to govern. If a king be deposed on any other account, it is rebellion. If his life be taken away by any means but those provided by the constitution, it is murder. No pretended or proved tyranny can justify his being taken off in any other way, or on any other account. And what constitution in the civilized world provides for the death of the supreme magistrate? It is true the good people, as they were called, of England and France, have each under a pretense of law, beheaded their king; and they endeavoured to justify their conduct on the ground that those kings had broken the constitution: this being proved, they should have been deposed. But by what law, either of those nations or of the civilized world, were their lives taken away? Let it be remembered that the inflation of the punishment of death, either against or without law, is murder.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Slew six hundred men with an ox-goad; as Samson did a thousand with the jaw-bone of an ass; both being miraculous actions, and not at all incredible to him that believes a God, who could easily give strength both to the persons and to their weapons to effect this.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
31. after him was ShamgarNonotice is given of the tribe or family of this judge; and from thePhilistines being the enemy that roused him into public service, thesuffering seems to have been localconfined to some of the westerntribes.
slew . . . six hundred menwith an oxgoadThis instrument is eight feet long and about sixinches in circumference. It is armed at the lesser end with a sharpprong for driving the cattle, and on the other with a small ironpaddle for removing the clay which encumbers the plough in working.Such an instrument, wielded by a strong arm, would do no meanexecution. We may suppose, however, for the notice is veryfragmentary, that Shamgar was only the leader of a band of peasants,who by means of such implements of labor as they could lay hold of atthe moment, achieved the heroic exploit recorded.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath,…. That is, after the death of Ehud, when the people of Israel were in distress again from another quarter, this man was raised up of God to be a judge and deliverer of them; but who he was, and who his father, and of what tribe, we nowhere else read:
which slew of the Philistines six hundred men; who invaded the land, and came in an hostile manner into it; or rather, as it seems from Jud 5:6; they entered as a banditti of thieves and robbers, who posted themselves in the highways, and robbed travellers as they passed, so that they were obliged to leave off travelling, or go through bypaths, and not in the public road; and this man, who seems to have been called from the plough to be a judge of Israel, as some among the Romans were called from thence to be dictators and deliverers of them from the Gauls:
with an ox goad; which he had used to push on his oxen with at ploughing, cleared the country of them, and with no other weapon than this slew six hundred of them, either at certain times, or in a body together; which is no ways incredible, being strengthened and succeeded by the Lord, any more than Samson’s slaying a thousand men with the jawbone of an ass, Jud 15:15. So Lycurgus is said to put to flight the forces of Bacchus with an ox goad q which is said to be done near Carmel, a mountain in Judea, which makes it probable that this is hammered out of the sacred history; or that Shamgar and Lycurgus are the same, as Bochart conjectures r. The ox goad, as now used in those parts, is an instrument fit to do great execution with it, as Mr. Maundrell s, who saw many of them, describes it; on measuring them, he found them to be eight feet long, at the bigger end six inches in circumference, at the lesser end was a sharp prickle for driving the oxen, and at the other end a small spade, or paddle of iron, for cleansing the plough from the clay:
and he also delivered Israel, from those robbers and plunderers, and prevented their doing any further mischief in the land, and subjecting it to their power, and so may very properly be reckoned among the judges of Israel; but how long he judged is not said, perhaps his time is to be reckoned into the eighty years of rest before mentioned; or, as Abarbinel thinks, into the forty years of Deborah, the next judge; and who also observes, that their Rabbins say, Shamgar judged but one year.
q , Homer. Iliad. 6. ver. 135. r Hieozoic. par. 1. l. 2. c. 39. col. 385. & Canaan. l. 1. c. 18. col. 446. s Journey to Aleppo, &c. p. 110, 111.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
After him (Ehud) was, i.e., there rose up, Shamgar the son of Anath. He smote the Philistines, who had probably invaded the land of the Israelites, six hundred men, with an ox-goad, so that he also (like Othniel and Ehud, Jdg 3:9 and Jdg 3:15) delivered Israel. , . . , signifies, according to the Rabbins and the ancient versions, an instrument with which they trained and drove oxen; and with this the etymology agrees, as is used in Hos 10:11 and Jer 31:18 to denote the training of the young ox. According to Rashi, is the same as , , in 1Sa 13:21. According to Maundrell in Paulus’ Samml. der merkw. Reisen nach d. Or. i. p. 139, the country people in Palestine and Syria use when ploughing goads about eight feet long and six inches in circumference at the thick end. At the thin end they have a sharp point to drive the oxen, and at the other end a small hoe, to scrape off any dirt that may stick to the plough. Shamgar may have smitten the Philistines with some such instrument as this, just as the Edonian prince Lycurgus is described by Homer (Il. vi. 135) as putting Dionysius and the Bacchantines to flight with a . Nothing is recorded about the descent of Shamgar, either here or in the Song of Deborah, in Jdg 5:6. The heroic deed recorded of him must be regarded, as O. v. Gerlach affirms, as “merely the result of a holy inspiration that suddenly burst forth within him, in which he seized upon the first weapon that came to his hand, and put to flight the enemy when scared by a terror for God, just as Samson did on a later occasion.” For he does not seem to have secured for the Israelites any permanent victory over the Philistines. Moreover, he is not called judge, nor is the period of his labours taken into account, but in Jdg 4:1 the renewed apostasy of Israel from the Lord is dated from the death of Ehud.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Shamgar Slays Six Hundred Philistines. | B. C. 1316. |
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.
When it is said the land had rest eighty years, some think it meant chiefly of that part of the land which lay eastward on the banks of Jordan, which had been oppressed by the Moabites; but it seems, by this passage here, that the other side of the country which lay south-west was in that time infested by the Philistines, against whom Shamgar made head. 1. It seems Israel needed deliverance, for he delivered Israel; how great the distress was Deborah afterwards related in her song (ch. v. 6), that in the days of Shamgar the highways were unoccupied, c. that part of the country which lay next to the Philistines was so infested with plunderers that people could not travel the roads in safety, but were in danger of being set upon and robbed, nor durst they dwell in the unguarded villages, but were forced to take shelter in the fortified cities. 2. God raised him up to deliver them, as it should seem, while Ehud was yet living, but superannuated. So inconsiderable were the enemies for number that it seems the killing of 600 of them amounted to a deliverance of Israel, and so many he slew with an ox-goad, or, as some read it, a plough-share. It is probable that he was himself following the plough when the Philistines made an inroad upon the country to ravage it, and God put it into his heart to oppose them; the impulse being sudden and strong, and having neither sword nor spear to do execution with, he took the instrument that was next at hand, some of the tools of his plough, and with that killed so many hundred men and came off unhurt. See here, (1.) That God can make those eminently serviceable to his glory and his church’s good whose extraction, education, and employment, are very mean and obscure. He that has the residue of the Spirit could, when he pleased, make ploughmen judges and generals, and fishermen apostles. (2.) It is no matter how weak the weapon is if God direct and strengthen the arm. An ox-goad, when God pleases, shall do more than Goliath’s sword. And sometimes he chooses to work by such unlikely means, that the excellency of the power may appear to be of God.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Shamgar, v. 31
Shamgar is only mentioned here and briefly in Jdg 5:6. Nothing more is known of him. Since there is a town called Beth-anath in the tribe of Naphtali, some have conjectured that he was a Naphtalite, while others have suggested Judah. The important thing about him is that he was God’s man at a time when His people needed deliverance. His feat was a mighty singlehanded victory, though perhaps not formidable in a general sense, (1Co 1:27-28). It did give the Israelites relief for the time. The ox goad, which was his only weapon, was a sturdy implement, and rightly wielded could, indeed, wreak havoc. It is described as being sharpened on the end which was used to goad the ox to turn him to the right or the left when driving him. The other end of this long implement was flattened much like a spade, so that the farmer could use it to scrape the soil from his plowshare. So Shamgar’s ox goad was a spear on one end and a club on the other.
We find from this chapter that 1) The Lord allows us to suffer the bad consequences of our disobedience to discipline and train us; 2) the Lord still raises up those to lead us in His way, and it behooves us to follow them; 3) God will definitely judge and destroy those who oppose themselves to God’s will and His people; 4) God uses little things to accomplish mighty deeds.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Sham-gar Delivers Israel Jdg. 3:31
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,
13.
Who was Shamgar? Jdg. 3:31
Shamgar was of the tribe of Benjamin, We are not told that he was of the family of Ehud, but since he was from the same tribe, it is apparent that the leadership of Israel in this era centered in this tribe. Nothing much is recorded of his career. We are not told how long he prevailed as a judge, and this has led many to believe that his judgeship is a part of the eighty years mentioned in Jdg. 3:30. It is not said that Ehud judged for eighty years, but that the land had rest fourscore years. Probably the deliverance wrought by Ehud began an era of peace which continued through the time of Shamgar, The most outstanding deed performed by Shamgar was his killing six hundred Philistines, using an ox goad as his weapon. The enemy of this time was the Philistines, who lived on the west border of Palestine, thus indicating Israel was beset not only by those living across the Jordan, such as Moab and Ammon, but also by the Philistines on the west and others in different directions. Whenever the people weakened themselves by their sins, their enemies on all sides oppressed them.
14.
In what time was this slaying? Jdg. 3:31
It was probably in the springtime when oxen were plowing in the field since an ox goad was the weapon mentioned. Warfare was waged in what seems to us today a very peculiar way. Kings would not go to battle in the wintertime, even though winter weather was not particularly cold. Wintertime brought many rains, and it was not a time for living in the fields. After the rainy season ended along towards the spring equinox, the kings would go to battle against each other. Such must have been the time when Ehud brought this deliverance.
15.
In what part of the land did this take place? Jdg. 3:31
The Philistines lived along the west coast of Israels borders, and the slaying no doubt occurred there. No place is mentioned, of course, to identify the field of battle; but Shamgars deliverance was evidently an attempt to extend the territory possessed by the Israelites. The maritime plain which was occupied by the Philistines was very fertile, and it would have meant a great deal to Israel to be able to till the fields there. Since there is no particular mention of a conquest on the part of the Philistines, it seems better to think of this battle as having occurred in the western territory.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(31) Shamgar.Mentioned here alone, and alluded to in Jdg. 5:6.
The son of Anath.There was a Beth-anath in Naphtali, but Shamgar could hardly have belonged to Northern Israel. We know nothing of Shamgars tribe or family, but, as neither his name nor that of his father is Jewish, it has been conjectured that he may have been a Kenite; a conjecture which derives some confirmation from his juxtaposition with Jael in Jdg. 5:6. Shamgar means name of a stranger (comp. Grershom, a stranger there). Samgar-Nebo is the name of a Babylonian general (Jer. 39:3).
Six hundred men.It has been most needlessly assumed that he slew them single-handed, and not, as is probable, at the head of a band of peasants armed with the same rude weapons as himself. If he slew 600 with his own hand, the whole number that perished would almost certainly have been added. There is, indeed, no impossibility (even apart from Divine assistance, which is implied though not expressly attributed to him) in the supposition that in a battle which may have lasted for more than one day a single chief may with his own hand have killed this number, for we are told that in a night battle against Moawijah, Ali raised a shout each time he had killed an enemy, and his voice was heard 300 times in one night; and a story closely resembling that of Shamgar is narrated of a Swedish peasant; but the question here is merely one of interpretation, and nothing is more common in Scripture, as in all literature, than to say that a leader personally did what was done under his leadership, e.g., Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands (1Sa. 18:7).
With an ox goad.The LXX. (Codex B) and Vulgate have with a ploughshare; and the Alexandrian Codex of the LXX. renders it besides the oxen. These translations are not tenable. The phrase occurs here alonebemalmad ha bkr; literally, with a thing to teach oxen. There can be little doubt that an ox-goad is meant. In the East they are sometimes formidable implements, eight feet long, pointed with a strong sharp iron head. The use of themsince whips were not used for cattleis alluded to in 1Sa. 13:21; Act. 9:5. Being disarmed, the Israelites would be unable to find any more effective weapon (Jdg. 5:6; Jdg. 5:8). Disarmament was the universal policy of ancient days (1Sa. 13:19); and this reduced the Israelites to the use of inventive skill in very simple weapons (1Sa. 17:40; 1Sa. 17:43). Samson had nothing better than the jawbone of an ass (Jdg. 15:15). Similarly the Thracian king Lycurgus is said to have chased the Bacchanals with an ox-goad (bouplgi, II. vi. 134), and that in this very neighbourhood (near Carmel, Nonnus, Dionys. 20). The Athenians, in their painting of Marathon, in the Pcile, represented the gigantic rustic, Echetlus, who was supposed to have slain so many of the Persians, with his ploughshare (Pausan. i. 15, 4). Comp. Hom. Iliad, vi. 134.
He also delivered Israel.Josephus (Antt. v. 4, 3), following some Jewish hagadah, says that Shamgar was chosen judge, but died in the first year of his office. This may have been a mere inference, from his being passed over in Jdg. 4:1. He does not mention his deed of prowess.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
EXPLOITS OF SHAMGAR, Jdg 3:31.
31. Shamgar His tribe is not known, but it is probable that he belonged to a tribe bordering on the Philistines Judah, Simeon, or Dan. The particulars of this Philistine oppression are unknown, but the fact here recorded shows that these enemies of the sea-coast had troubled Israel before the days of Samson.
Which slew We are not to suppose that he slew, or smote, all these six hundred on one occasion, or one day; nor is it necessary to maintain that he performed the feat without any assistance.
Oxgoad The Septuagint and Vulgate render this word ploughshare. The oxgoad was about eight feet long and six inches in circumference, at one end pointed with iron, and at the other having an iron paddle for removing dirt from the plough. Why Shamgar had no better weapon we do not know, unless it be because the Philistines had conquered a part of Israel and disarmed them. Compare Jdg 5:8, and 1Sa 13:19. Perhaps he was attacked in the field while ploughing, and made a brave defence with the utensil in his hand.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Shamgar Delivers From The Philistines ( Jdg 3:31 ).
Jdg 3:31
‘ And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who smote six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox goad. And he also delivered Israel.’ Inevitably pressure was beginning to arise from the Philistines in the west. There Shamgar, the son of Anath, was a judge of Israel, and he kept them to some extent at bay. But ‘the highways were unoccupied and the people walked in by-ways’ (Jdg 5:6), so times were difficult.
The incident described was a memorable one connected with his name, and he was clearly famous for fighting with an ox goad, a long-handled, sturdy wooden instrument with a metal pin in it, perhaps six to eight foot (two metres plus) in length, which could be wielded with deadly effect. Possibly the details of his other exploits were lost, but this was sufficient to demonstrate that Yahweh was with him and helping ‘Israel’, in his case probably Judah and Simeon.
Anath, the name of his father, was the name of a Canaanite goddess, Baal’s sister who in the Canaanite myths searches for the dead Baal and on finding him smites Death (Moth). She is regularly called ‘the Virgin’ at Ugarit, but not in our understanding of virgin. It rather denotes her availability for and propensity for sexual relations. This name adds to the genuine background of the story. But it need have no significance as regards Anath’s allegiance, although it may tell us something about his mother and her allegiance. Perhaps they lived near Beth-anath, ‘the house of Anath’ (Jos 15:59).
But ‘son of Anath’ may instead mean that that was a name given to him by the Canaanites around, signifying his warlikeness as being ‘like Anath’. He may have been popularly called ‘the son of Anath’ (as we might call someone a Hercules).
The ‘hundreds’ would be smaller units than the ‘elephs’ (thousands). (Compare the ‘legions’ and the ‘centuries’ of the later Roman army where the actual numbers were far less than the number words suggested). But six of these units (say ninety men upwards) Shamgar destroyed with an ox goad, although probably assisted by his men. It would give the Philistines pause before they attacked again.
The name Shamgar possibly connects with the Hurrian ‘simiqari’ and is testified to at Nuzi. It was not a native Hebrew name but that does not mean that he had not come within the covenant. All who would worship Yahweh truly and submit to His will could come within the covenant, and his family may well have done that generations before in Egypt, while retaining family names.
“And he also delivered Israel.” This demonstrates that he was a ‘judge’ and that Yahweh was with him, keeping the Philistines at bay. (Such men are often called ‘minor judges’ by modern commentators, but that is simply because little is known about them).
The whole description is tacked on to the Ehud story because it was only a snippet, to indicate that other activity was also taking place. But the event occurred early as is testified to by the song of Deborah (c 1125 BC).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Shamgar
v. 31. And after him
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Jdg 3:31. After him was Shamgar, &c. It is uncertain of what tribe Shamgar was, and when he commenced judge of Israel; nothing being mentioned concerning him, but this exploit against the Philistines, in which he slew six hundred men with an ox-goad; i.e. the instrument by which oxen are broken to the plough and managed. An observation of Mr. Maundrel will justify our version. He says, that in Palestine he observed them to use goads of an extraordinary size. “Upon measuring of several, I found them about eight feet long, and at the bigger end six inches in circumference. They were armed at the lesser end with a sharp prickle for driving the oxen, and at the other end with a small spade, or paddle of iron, strong and massy, for cleansing the plough from the clay that encumbers it in working. May we not from hence conjecture, that it was with such a goad as one of these that Shamgar made that prodigious slaughter related of him, Jdg 3:31.? I am confident, that whoever should see one of these instruments would judge it to be a weapon, not less fit, perhaps fitter, than a sword for such an execution. Goads of this sort I saw always used hereabouts, and also in Syria; and the reason is, because the same single person both drives the oxen, and holds and manages the plough; which makes it necessary to use such a goad as is above described, to avoid the incumbrance of two instruments.” See Journey from Aleppo, p. 110. One cannot help remarking, upon a view of this and the preceding chapters, how soon the Israelites forgot the wonders which God had done for them, revolted from his law, and fell into idolatry.
REFLECTIONS.Far from being suitably affected by their late deliverance, after Othniel’s death the long enjoyment of ease and affluence plunged them again into their old sins, and provoked God to give them up to new oppressors.
1. The king of Moab, who in vain, in former years, attempted to stand against them, now that God is no longer their defence, arises to war, strengthens himself by the forces of Ammon and Amalek, and prevails against them. The Israelites, unable to resist, are every where beaten, their strong-holds taken, and the city of palm-trees, a fort near Jericho, is garrisoned to keep them under the yoke. Eighteen years they endured this servitude, and paid tribute to their oppressors. Note; (1.) When we return to sin, we may expect that God will return to judgment. (2.) If lighter corrections are ineffectual, God will make them longer and heavier. (3.) No instrument so despicable, but God, whenever he pleases, can make it the rod of his anger.
2. Israel had again recourse to prayer; and, though their suffering was prolonged, at last God pities and delivers them by the hand of Ehud. Note; (1.) The greatest dangers do not intimidate, nor the greatest difficulties entangle, those whom God arms with holy courage, and supplies with the spirit of wisdom. (2.) It is a great mercy to have rest from our spiritual enemies; let us improve it by diligence to grow in grace, that we may be better prepared for their reception when they than renew their attacks.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Shamgar smites six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad
Jdg 3:31
31And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which [and he] slew [smote] of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox-goad; and he also [he, too,] delivered Israel.
EXEGETICAL AND DOCTRINAL
After him. After his example. Following Ehuds example,41 Shamgar smote the Philistines. That the expression is not to be taken of time, as if on the death of Ehud Shamgar had succeeded him, is evident from Jdg 4:1. Moreover, if that were the meaning, a statement of the years of Shamgar would not be absent. The hypothesis of Josephus, that he governed one year, is untenable. Accordingly, the other Jewish expositors have properly assigned the exploit of Shamgar to the time of Ehud, i.e. to the period of eighty years.
Shamgar,42 the son of Anath. To what tribe he belonged, is not stated. If it be correct to connect with , Anathoth (cf. Kaplan, Erets Kedumim, ii. 142), it will follow that like Ehud he was of Benjamin, and defended the territory of that tribe in the west against the Philistines, as Ehud did in the east against the Moabites. His whole history, as here given, consists of a single heroic exploit, in which he repulsed an attack of the Philistines with extraordinary strength.43
With an ox-goad. The Septuagint gives , by which it evidently means the plough-handle, stiva, that part which the ploughman holds in his hand, and with which he guides the plough.44 More correct, however, is the rendering ox-goad (cf. Bochart, Hierozoicon, i. 385); , as the Targum has it. It was the prick against which the oxen kicked, when struck with it. The Greeks called it . With such an instrument, King Lycurgus is said to have attacked the wandering Bacchus and his followers45 (Il. vi. 135). There is a tradition in Holstein that in the Swedish time a peasant armed with a pole put to flight a multitude of Swedes who had entered his house and threatened to burn it (Mllenhoff, Sagen, etc., p. 81).
He delivered Israel. He procured victory for them, and assisted them over the danger of present and local subjugation. But to deliver is not to judge. Nor is there any mention of the Spirit of the Lord in connection with him.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Shamgar the deliverer with the ox-goad. Courageous examples find worthy followers. Shamgar trode in Ehuds footsteps. One triumphs with a sword, the other with an implement of peace. Hence we may infer, says Origen, that a judge of the church need not always carry a sword, and be full of severity and admonitions to repentance, but should also be like a husbandman, who, gradually opening the earth with his plough, prepares it for the reception of good seed.
Starke: When God wishes to terrify the enemy, He needs not many men, nor strong defense and preparation for the purpose.Gerlach: Shamgars deed is probably to be viewed only as the effect of a sudden outbreak of holy enthusiasm, under the influence of which he seized the first best weapon, and put to flight the enemy whom some terror from God had scared.
[Henry: 1. God can make those eminently serviceable to his glory and the churchs good, whose extraction, education, and employment are very obscure. He that has the residue of the Spirit, could, when he pleased, make ploughmen judges and generals, and fishermen apostles. 2. It is no matter what the weapon is, if God direct and strengthen the arm. An ox-goad, when God pleases, shall do more than Goliaths sword. And sometimes He chooses to work by such unlikely means, that the excellency of the power may appear to be of God.Tr.]
Footnotes:
[41][Bachmann observes that this and similar interpretations of this expression, militate against the analogy of Jdg 10:1; Jdg 10:3; Jdg 12:8; Jdg 12:11; Jdg 12:13, in all which passages refers to the duration of the official or natural life of the previously mentioned person. Appealing to Jdg 5:6, where the days of Shamgar are described in such a way as to exclude the supposition that they belonged to the period of rest obtained by Ehud, he makes them synchronous with some part of the Canaanite oppression under Jabin. While the Canaanites subjugated the northern part of the And, the Philistines attempted to extend their power in the south, which occasioned the conflicts of Shamgar with them.Tr.]
[42] . The ancients translated it: Nomen Advence, Name of a stranger. Ehud was the son of a certain . Perhaps Shamgar also is somehow related to that name.
[43][Bachmann: We are undoubtedly to think here of a marauding band like those brought to view in 1Sa 30:1 ff. and Job 1:15, against whom Shamgar, either engaged at the moment in ploughing, or else seizing the first weapon that came to hand, proceeded with an ox-goad, with such effect as to strike down six hundred of them.Tr.]
[44]This interpretation of the LXX. has nothing to do (as Bertheau thinks) with the reading , found by Augustine.
[45]This legend is copiously treated by Nonnus, on the basis of Homers version of it. It is remarkable that although the scene is laid in Arabia, Nonnus nevertheless transfers the above-mentioned event and the city of Lycurgus to Carmel and the Erythran Sea. It is doubtless true, as Khler observes (Die Dionysiaka von Nonnus von Panopolis, Halle, 1853, pp. 76, 77), that by Nonnus appears to have understood an axe. The Roman poets also give an axe to Lycurgus.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
REFLECTIONS
MY soul! learn here again, in the history of Israel, how much in all ages the church of God is the same, and how uniformly the Lord is training his people for himself. God leaves his people in the midst of their enemies, to try them, and to prove them. As polished stones, for his temple, they are long preparing, and all the plan of his proceedings towards them, is mercy and goodness. But oh! how very precious is it to see, in Israel’s history, how everything pointed to the Lord Jesus. Brought, as the people were, by sin and rebellion, into a state of repeated slavery, God raised up the several judges as their deliverers. But what are Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar, compared to him who delivereth his people from the wrath to come, and whose deliverance is everlasting! Look up, m y soul, to Jesus, when the corruptions from within, or foes from without, would bring thee again into bondage; and in the cry of distress and sorrow to the Lord, oh for faith to behold Jesus the sent and sealed of the Father, to drive out thine enemies from before thee, and to make thee more than conqueror through him that loveth thee.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Shamgar
Jdg 3:31
SHAMGAR was the third judge in Israel. He was at the beginning a labouring man, a tiller of the ground, and it is thought that on account of the exploit recorded of him in the text he was raised to dignity. According to the Song of Deborah ( Jdg 5:6 ) life was very insecure at that time: “In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways.” What is termed an “ox goad” in the text is literally “a thing to teach oxen.” Ox goads have always been regarded as formidable instruments some eight feet long and pointed with a strong, sharp iron head. The Thracian king Lycurgus is said to have chased the Bacchanals with an ox goad. According to Ellicott’s Bible “The Athenians in their painting of Marathon represent the gigantic rustic Echetlus, who was supposed to have slain so many Persians with his ploughshare.” A traveller who had seen Eastern ploughing thus writes: “It was observable that in ploughing they used goads of an extraordinary size; upon measuring several I found them about eight feet long, and at the bigger end six inches in circumference. They were armed at the lesser end with a sharp prickle for driving the oxen, and at the other end with a small, spade or paddle of iron, strong and massy, for cleansing the plough from the clay which encumbers it in working.” Shamgar was working in the field with one of those goads when six hundred Philistines made their appearance but so vigorously did he wield it that not a man of the whole crowd escaped with his life. According to the authority already quoted, “it has been most needlessly assumed that he slew them single-handed, and not, as is probable, at the head of a band of peasants armed with the same rude weapons as himself…. But the question here is merely one of interpretation, and nothing is more common in Scripture, as in all literature, than to say that a leader personally did what was done under his leadership.”
One of the most obvious lessons deducible from this incident is that we should not complain of our tools when we have hard work to do. When the work is done badly we are apt to blame the tools. Shamgar used an ox goad; Samson wielded the jawbone of an ass; David had but a sling and stone. Sometimes we think what wonders we should do if we had better instruments. The bad writer blames his pen. The unskilful carver grumbles at his knife. The unsuccessful preacher says that he could do better if his church were in a better locality, or if some rearrangement of woodwork could be made. Who ever blames himself for failure? Or even if blaming himself, who does not suggest that he could have done much better if the tools had been more distinctly adapted to the service he had to accomplish? Our success in the great battles of life depends more upon spirit, intelligence, devotedness, and enthusiasm, than upon merely mechanical arrangements. What is a feeble instrument in the hands of one man is a mighty instrument in the hands of another, simply because the spirit of that other burns with holy determination to accomplish the work that has to be done. There is one thing which ought to be noticed with special care, the proper noticing of which will greatly enlarge the charitableness of our social judgments; namely, men should work with those instruments which they can handle most skilfully. Shamgar knew how to use the ox goad, and David knew how to use the sling and stone. Other instruments may be far heavier, keener, and likelier altogether, but if we are not accustomed to them why should we run the risk of a failure? Men are strong in proportion as they keep within the circle of their own tried ability and experience. The instrument may be the grandest in the world, but if we do not know how to handle it we can accomplish infinitely better results with instruments which expose themselves to the contempt of advanced civilisation. There are preachers who could do incalculable good if they would confine themselves to the subjects which they understand and to language which is spoken by the people whom they address. The moment such preachers begin to talk finely they lose all their ease and power, and stumble like men who are endeavouring to speak in a foreign tongue. How foolish it would be to ridicule the instrument when the results are so obviously good! Look at the six hundred dead men; look at the slain giant; look at the prostrate walls of Jericho. The rule applies to every department of life. Why set up some arbitrary standard of judgment when the results are open to scrutiny and estimate? This rule should be applied to preaching. Why say that the sermons are not skilfully proportioned or expressed according to the usages of the schools, and therefore are not valuable sermons, when sinners are being converted and believers are being edified through their instrumentality? Let the result determine everything. Whilst military critics might be unfavourably criticising the ox goad, Shamgar was standing rejoicingly over six hundred defeated foes. This is the best answer of the Church to unfriendly criticism. When souls are converted, when households are reconstructed, when lives are inspired and encouraged, when clouds of distress and fear are driven away, the Church may well point to such results and be stirred to multiplied efforts rather than be deterred by the criticism of men who pay more attention to instruments than to results. God hath chosen the weak things of this world to throw down the things that are mighty. We are not called upon to defend this divine method; it is enough for us to know that it is God’s way, and to accept it and obey it with loving thankfulness. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” “All this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s.” He who fights for the right has God upon his side. If God be for us, who can be against us? The army on the other side is but a multitude of shadows; one ray of light from the rising sun shall disperse the host of emptiness. What meaner instrument can there be than the Cross of Christ? Hath it not pleased God, by the foolishness of the thing that is preached, to save them that believe? Were not Peter and John accounted unlearned and ignorant men? Are not the highest; things hidden from the wise and prudent, and revealed unto babes? Such is the way of God, that no flesh should glory in his presence. All these thoughts are necessary to comfort the earnest worker against the pitiful criticism which is directed against Christian service. There are men so skilled in the use of bitter words that they might even discourage Shamgar himself by dwelling upon the ugliness and the unwieldiness of the weapon which he used. They might laugh him into a kind of shame. The thing to be done is to point men to the results which they have been enabled to secure, and to ask them to trust the instruments which have served them in good stead in the day of opposition and conflict. David said concerning the sword of Goliath “Give me that; there is none like it.” Do not easily give up tried methods, proved instruments, machineries and utilities which have been of service in the time of war. The same rule applies to trusty comradeships. We fight better in the society of some men than we could do in the society of others: we know their voices in the dark: we know their touch even when they do not say a word to us: we can depend upon them when the strain is greatest. New methods should be well studied in secret before they are tried in public, or they may bring their patrons to disappointment and chagrin. The Cross of Christ will stand when all things fail. Let us be determined to know nothing among men but Jesus Christ and him crucified. God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our speech and our preaching should not be with enticing words of man’s wisdom but with demonstration of the Spirit and with power. The instrument indeed is mean enough. To the Jews it is a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness; nevertheless it works its daily miracles and finds in renewed hearts and brightened lives the only needful proof of its divinity and sanction.
Prayer
Almighty God, thy word is full of love. It draws us towards thee with a sweet compulsion. It is a word of grace, of light, of pity, and tenderness. Thy word knows us; it is familiar with our nature, and all the mystery thereof, and it speaks to us in music, in thunder, in judgment, in sharp exhortation, and in tender consolation; it is in very deed a wondrous word, coming all the way from heaven, and yet touching our hearts as the light touches the flower. We bless thee for thy word, for thy house, and for everything that is specially thine. We know that all things are thine: but some things seem to be twice thine, specially and wholly thine the Lord’s Day, the Lord’s Book, the Lord’s Portion, the Lord’s own Spirit Take not thy Holy Spirit from us! May it abide with us a sun that never sets, a gracious presence that never tires, a gift that grows by giving. We bless thee for all the love we have seen in all the way of life. The way of life has been made beautiful by thy love; even the uphill parts have been rendered quite easy because of thy sustaining grace; and the winding ways and the dark valleys have not been so fearsome when we have come to them, because thou didst go before us and prepare a path. Thy comforts have been our strength; thy grace has been our sun and our shield, and we have good hope of heaven. We pray thee to regard us as sinners, and have pity upon us, yea, mercy saving pity and redeeming mercy, such as we have seen in Christ Jesus thy Son, bleeding, dying, rising, praying for us. If thou hast freely delivered him up for us all, thou wilt with him also freely give us all things; so we shall have no necessity; we shall carry no burden, because, though the weight be great, the strength shall be more than equal to it. Let the whole year be a new year new in thought, new in resolve, and new in sacrifice: thus shall the years not take away from our strength, but add to it, and make us younger as they fly, because bringing us nearer to the land where there is no sin, no death. Be this our good hope in Christ Jesus; in this hope may we stand together as Christian students and worshippers, growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let our prayer prevail in heaven; let us have the answer hidden in our heart, a secret treasure, a great, yea, an infinite prize. Amen.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
Jdg 3:31 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.
Ver. 31. And after him was Shamgar. ] Who if he were not Judex, yet surely he was Vindex, renowned for this one thing only, that he slew so many of the enemy with so mean a weapon. Samson did the like with the jaw bone of an ass. What cannot the Lord do when his will is that his people shall be helped with a little help, Dan 11:34 that through weaker means they may see God’s greater strength
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Shamgar. Compare Jdg 5:6-8.
an ox goad. See note on Jdg 3:21. No weapons. Compare Jdg 5:8. 1Sa 13:19-22.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Shamgar: Jdg 5:6, Jdg 5:8
an ox goad: This implement, Mr. Maundrell informs us, in Palestine and Syria is of an extraordinary size. He measured several, and “found them about eight feet long; and at the bigger end about six inches in circumference. They were armed at the lesser end with a sharp prickle for driving the oxen; and at the other end with a small paddle of iron, strong and massive, for cleansing the plough from the clay. In the hand of a powerful man such an instrument must be more dangerous and fatal than a sword.” Jdg 15:15, 1Sa 13:19-22, 1Sa 17:47, 1Sa 17:50, 1Co 1:17
also: Jdg 2:16
Israel: “So part is called Israel.” Jdg 4:1, Jdg 4:3-24, Jdg 10:7, Jdg 10:17, Jdg 11:4-33, 1Sa 4:1,”It seems to concern only the country next to the Philistines.
Reciprocal: Jos 23:10 – One man Jdg 4:21 – took Jdg 7:13 – a cake Jdg 10:11 – Philistines 1Sa 17:40 – staff
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Shamgar also delivered Israel, but we know very little about him. The text simply says he slew 600 Philistines with an ox goad and delivered Israel ( Jdg 3:31 ).
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Jdg 3:31. After him was Shamgar He was the third judge of the Israelites, and delivered them from some small oppressions which they suffered from the Philistines. The sacred text gives us no further particulars concerning him than that he slew six hundred of them with an ox-goad; or, as the Latin and Greek versions render it, with a plough-share. Indeed the Hebrew , malmad habakar, signifies any instrument by which oxen are broken to labour. The Philistines, it seems, were more careful than any other nation to strip the Israelites of all their military weapons whenever they had them in subjection; and if this was the case at present, it is likely that the expression means only such rustic instruments as he could lay his hand on. It is probable he was following the plough when the Philistines made an inroad into the country, and having neither sword nor spear, when God put it into his heart to oppose them, he took up the instrument which was next at hand. It is no matter, says Henry, how weak the weapon is, if God direct and strengthen the arm. An ox- goad, when God pleaseth, shall do more than Goliahs sword. And sometimes he chooseth to work by such unlikely means, that the excellence of the power may appear to be of God, and that he may have all the glory. If we may believe Mr. Maundrell, however, he saw goads used in Palestine which were of an extraordinary size, several of them being about eight feet long, and at the thicker end six inches in circumference. They were armed, he tells us, at the smaller end, with a sharp prickle for driving the oxen, and at the other end with a small spade or paddle of iron, strong and massy, for cleansing the plough from the clay that is wont to encumber it in working. And he conjectures it was with such a goad as one of these that Shamgar made this prodigious slaughter, and judges that such an instrument was not less fit, perhaps fitter, than a sword for such an execution. See Journey from Aleppo, p. 110. It is evident, however, that the sacred writer here does not attribute the slaughter made, and victory obtained by Shamgar, to the excellence of the weapon which he used, but to the power of God.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jdg 3:31. The Exploit of Shamgar.The absence of Ds formul, and of a chronological scheme, suggests that this verse was introduced by an editor who wished to bring the number of the Judges up to ten, not counting Abimelech worthy to rank as one. The verse interrupts the flow of the narrativeobserve when Ehud was dead in Jdg 4:2. Shamgar ben Anath is a foreign and heathenish name, Anath being a goddess whose name is found on an Egyptian stele now in the British Museum; and a reference to Shamgar in the Song of Deborah suggests that he had been an oppressor rather than a deliverer of Israel (cf. Moore, 143). The ox-goad, with which Shamgar performed his exploit, is a pole from 6 to 8 ft. long, tipped with an iron spike.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
3:31 And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox {l} goad: and he also delivered Israel.
(l) So that it is not the number, nor the means that God regards, when he will get the victory.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
2. Oppression under the Philistines and deliverance through Shamgar 3:31
Several factors suggest that Shamgar’s victory took place sometime during the 98 years described in the previous section (Jdg 3:12-30). First, Jdg 4:1 refers to Ehud, not Shamgar. Second, there is no reference to Israel doing evil in Yahweh’s sight in this verse. Third, the length of the Philistine oppression was long. Fourth, the writer did not mention a number of years that the land enjoyed rest. Evidently during this 98-year period the Philistines also oppressed Israel.
David Washburn argued that the phrase "after him" may indicate the beginning of a new episode. If this is so, we should place Shamgar contemporary with Deborah rather than Ehud (cf. Jdg 5:6). He acknowledged, however, that it is impossible to determine exactly when Shamgar slew the 600 Philistines. [Note: Washburn, pp. 417-18, 421.]
The Philistines had been in Canaan since Abraham’s day at least (Gen 21:32; et al.). However, during the period of the judges a major migration of the Sea Peoples from the Aegean area brought many new inhabitants into Canaan, perhaps about 1230 B.C. These peoples settled in the coastal areas of Canaan, especially in the South. They became the infamous Philistines who opposed and fought the Israelites until David finally brought them under Israel’s control.
"The name Shamgar is non-Israelite and may have been of Hittite or Hurrian origin. This does not automatically infer that he was a Canaanite, although this is possible; it may witness to the intermingling of the Israelites with the native population. In any case his actions benefited Israel." [Note: Cundall and Morris, p. 80. See also Hamlin, p. 78.]
Peter Craigie believed that Shamgar may have been a Hurrian mercenary soldier rather than a Hebrew. His name "ben (son of) Anath" suggests that he might have been a religious Canaanite since Anath was a Canaanite goddess. [Note: Peter Craigie, "A Reconsideration of Shamgar ben Anath (Judges 3:31 and 5:6)," Journal of Biblical Literature 91:2 (1972):239-30.] It seems unlikely, however, that he was a religious Canaanite because the writer identified him as a hero through whom God delivered His people. Another suggestion is that "son of Anath" indicated that Shamgar was like Anath, namely, of a warlike character. [Note: Cyrus Gordon, The Ancient Near East, p. 151.] Shamgar could have been the son of a mixed marriage or even a foreigner whom God used. Perhaps he was a proselyte to Yahweh worship. Whatever his background and whomever he may have served, his destruction of 600 Philistines accomplished God’s will, specifically the destruction of the non-Israelite occupants of the land.
The writer did not record Shamgar’s hometown, but some commentators connect Beth-anath (lit. house of Anath) in Naphtali or Beth-anoth in Judah (Jos 15:59) with him. Most assume Anath was the name of Shamgar’s father.
An "oxgoad" was a stout stick 8 to 10 feet long used to train and drive oxen.
"At the thin end they have a sharp point to drive the oxen, and at the other end a small hoe, to scrape off any dirt that may stick to the plough." [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, p. 299.]
Evidently Shamgar seized an opportunity to kill 600 Philistines with this unusual instrument that he used as a weapon (cf. 2Sa 23:11). The text does not say how quickly he did this, whether all at once, or one by one in guerrilla type warfare.
Though the writer did not call Shamgar a judge in the text, he was one of Israel’s heroic deliverers (cf. Jdg 5:4). Few students of the book exclude him from the list of judges, though he may not have functioned in the nation as a typical one.
Like Shamgar, Samson also fought the Philistines. The writer devoted four chapters to Samson, but Samson did not accomplish in four chapters what Shamgar did in one verse. Samson did not deliver Israel. This comparison further demonstrates the pattern of progressive deterioration that characterizes the Book of Judges. [Note: McCann, p. 48.] It also suggests that the writer saw more instructive lessons for the reader in Samson’s life than he did in Shamgar’s.
The major lesson we should learn from Shamgar is that a shady personal background and lack of proper equipment do not keep God from working through people who commit to doing His will. Many Christians think that because they do not have a good background or the best tools they cannot serve God. If we commit ourselves to executing God’s will and use whatever background and equipment we have, God can accomplish a great deal through us.
In this third chapter we see that God raised up unusual people and empowered them to do great acts for His glory. Often very distinguished people rise from humble backgrounds, as these judges did. Jesus’ disciples are similar illustrations. A single individual committed to executing God’s revealed will is all He needs. He uses all types of people but only those committed to His will who step out in faith. In the case of the judges, the will of God was the extermination of Israel’s enemies.