Judges 3:11

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

Ver. 11. And the land had rest forty years,] sc., From the death of Joshua to the death of Othniel, and the eight years of servitude under the Syrians being taken in, as it may be gathered from 1Ki 6:1.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That is, 32 under Joshua, and eight under Othniel.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Othniel . . . died--How powerful the influence of one good man is, in church or state, is best found in his loss [BISHOP HALL].

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(11) The land had rest forty years.—Rabbi Tanchum interprets this to mean, “till forty years after the death of Joshua.” For the very difficult chronology of this period, see the Introduction. Many questions have been raised, such as—Do the forty years include or exclude the period of servitude? Is forty meant to be an exact or a general number? Are the various periods of rest and servitude continuous and successive, or do they refer to different parts of the Holy Land, and do they synchronise? Perhaps no final answer to these questions is as yet possible, and no less than fifty schemes of the chronology of the period of the judges have been attempted, which fact alone proves how insufficient are the data on which to decide.

Died.—Probably during the forty years, unless we suppose that he attained a most unusual age. After this event the tribe of Judah sinks into the background till the days of David.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. And the land had rest forty years] A formula of the editor, to whom the chronological scheme of the Book is due; cf. Jdg_3:30, Jdg_5:31, Jdg_8:28; and Jos_11:23; Jos_14:15.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the land had rest forty years,.... As it should seem from the time of this deliverance; though, according to Ben Gersom and Abarbinel, the eight years' servitude are to be included in them; and Bishop Usher (r) reckons these forty years from the rest first settled in the land by Joshua; but the former sense seems best:

and Othniel the son of Kenaz died: not at the end of the forty years; it is not likely he should live so long, but when he died is not certain; Eusebius (s) says he judged Israel fifty years.

(r) Anual. Vet. Test. p. 42. (s) Evangel. Praepar. l. 1O. c. 14. p. 502.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The land - means here, as in Jdg 1:2, not the whole land of Canaan, but the part concerned, probably the land of the tribe of Judah. Forty years, here and elsewhere, is (like fourscore years, Jdg 3:30) a round number, perhaps equivalent to a generation.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Died, "forty years after Josue, according to the chronology of Usher, which we follow," (Calmet) or rather Usher translates the land began to rest "in the fortieth year" from the peace of Josue. He places the death to that leader in the year of the world 2570, and the end of Chusan’s dominion 2599; so that, if we deduct 40 years from this last date, we shall come to the year 2559, the sixth of Josue’s administration, when he began to divide the conquered lands. He supposes that the peace of Othoniel lasted about 62 years, when Eglon disturbed it for eighteen years. "Aod delivered Israel. After him Samgar appeared, and the land rested till the 80th year from the peace of Othoniel." Houbigant censures this indiscriminate use of cardinal and of ordinal numbers, and the blending times of servitude with those of peace; (Haydock) and "surely this method of reckoning is very harsh, and contrary to the usual acceptation of words." (Calmet) --- Yet it is adopted by many. (Worthington) --- IT may suit to form a system, but can have no solid foundation. (Haydock) --- The epoch from which Usher dates is no where so distinctly specified, as that we should suppose that the author of the Book of Judges had it in view. Moreover, by this method, we are left to guess how long each of the judges reigned, or how long the peace which they had procured, subsisted. Usher admits that they years of servitude are specified; and, why not also the years of peace, since they are expressed exactly in the same manner? If the ordinal numbers 40th, 80th, &c., were intended, b would be prefixed, as [in] Deuteronomy i. 3.; and this grammatical observation along, suffices to overturn the calculation of Usher. (Houbigant, Proleg.) --- Salien dates from the death of Josue in 2600, and allows that 40 years elapsed from that period till the decease of Othoniel; including the years which some attribute to the ancients, and to the anarchy; (chap. xvii., &c., to the end,) and also the eight years of servitude; so that instead of a rest of 40 years, we shall find that all was in confusion the greatest part of the time. The idolatry of Israel, which shortly brought on the servitude under Eglon, commenced immediately after the conclusion of these 40 years, when Salien begins to enumerate the years of Aod’s government. Thus he does from one judge to another. This system does not indeed make the text bend to uphold it, but it supposes that the sacred writer includes anarchy and servitude under the name of rest. In these matters much is to be supplied by conjecture, and hence the chronological difficulties which infidels propose, to invalidate the authority of the Scripture, can have but little weight, till the learned shall have discovered the exact disposition of former times. The first judge of Israel was of the tribe of Juda. The second was chosen from the almost ruined tribe of Benjamin, as the learned commonly place the dreadful catastrophe which befel that tribe during the anarchy which ensued, and the death of Josue and of the ancients. Aod had no share in the crime. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The land had rest; either, first, It rested about forty years, or the greatest part of forty years; it being most frequent in Scripture to use numbers in such a latitude. Thus the Israelites are said to bear their iniquities forty years in the wilderness, Num 14:34, when there wanted near two years of that number; and to dwell in Egypt four hundred and thirty years, when there wanted many years of that number. Thus Joseph’s kindred, sent for and called by him into Egypt, are numbered seventy-five souls, Act 7:14, although they were but seventy, as is affirmed, Gen 46:27; Exo 1:5. So here

the land is said to

rest forty years, although they were in servitude eight of those years, Jdg 3:8. And in like manner the land is said to have rest eighty years, though eighteen of them they served the king of Moab, Jdg 3:14. And so in some other instances. Nor is it strange and unusual, either in Scripture or in other authors, for things to be denominated from the greater part, as here it was; especially when they did enjoy some degrees of rest and peace, even in their times of slavery, which here they did. Or, secondly, It rested, i.e. began to rest, or recovered its interrupted rest, in the fortieth year, either after Joshua’s death, or after the first and famous rest procured for them by Joshua, as is noted, Heb 4:9, when he destroyed and subdued the Canaanites, and gave them quiet possession of the land; and the land had rest from war, as is said, Jos 11:23; 14:15. So there is this difference between the years of servitude and oppression, and those of rest, that in the former he tells us how long it lasted; in the latter, when it began; by which, compared with the other years, it was easy also to know how long the rest lasted. To strengthen this interpretation, two things must be noted.

1. That resting is here put for beginning to rest, as to beget is put for beginning to beget, Gen 5:32; 11:26; and to reign, for to begin to reign, 2Sa 2:10; and to build, 1Ki 6:15,36, for to begin to build, 2Ch 3:1.

2. That forty years is put for the fortieth year; the cardinal number for the ordinal, which is common both in the Holy Scripture, as Gen 1:5; 2:11; Exo 12:2; Hag 1:1; Mar 16:2 and in other authors.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. Forty years — This long period of peace and independence was necessary to the development of the nation.

Othniel… died — How remarkable the fact that a nation may be held back for nearly a half century from rebellion against God by the influence of a faithful ruler. It is not necessary to suppose that Othniel lived during all the forty years of rest. His influence may have held the people in check long after he was dead, and ever after those years of rest were associated with his name. Few individuals or nations, however, can endure undisturbed prosperity without damage to their moral character.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Othniel, etc. The arrangement of this verse suggests that Othniel lived through the whole forty years of rest, but this is highly improbable. The first part of the verse only belongs to the preceding section, which it closes quite naturally. The result of Othniel"s victories was a rest of forty years (cf. ver. 30; Jud_1:5:31; 8:28, etc.). The latter half of the verse And Othniel the son of Kenaz died begins a new section, and is introductory to the first apostasy, which followed after his death.

"And the land had rest the true peace.

I IT IS A REWARD OF CONSECRATED EFFORT AND SELFDENIAL.

II A PREPARATION FOR HIGHER CONCEPTIONS AND REALISATIONS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. III A SABBATH OF CONSECRATED TIME AND SERVICE TO THE HIGHEST. M.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Forty years - It rested about forty years, or the greatest part of forty years: it being most frequent in scripture to use numbers in such a latitude. Nor is it unusual either in scripture, or in other authors, for things to be denominated from the greater part; especially, when they enjoyed some degrees of rest and peace even in their times of slavery.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.