In this chapter, I. A general account of Israel’s enemies is premised, and of the mischief they did them, Judg. 3:1–7. II. A particular account of the brave exploits done by the first three of the judges. 1.

We are here told what remained of the old inhabitants of Canaan. 1. There were some of them that kept together in united bodies, unbroken : The five lords of the Philistines, namely, Ashdod, Gaza, Askelon, Gath, and Ekron, 1 Sam. 6:17.

We now come to the records of the government of the particular judges, the first of which was Othniel, in whom the story of this book is knit to that of Joshua, for even in Joshua’s time Othniel began to be famous, by which it appears that it was not long after Israel’s settlement in Canaan before…

Ehud is the next of the judges whose achievements are related in this history, and here is an account of his actions. I. When Israel sins again God raises up a new oppressor, Judg. 3:12–14.

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…