Judges 3:8
in Judges 3Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram-naharaim, and the Israelites served him eight years.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years.
KJV
Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushan–rishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushan–rishathaim eight years.
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This verse in Judges 3
Commentary
9 notes on this verseNow Chusarsaton's name is translated as "humiliation." They were delivered, then, to the hands of one who would humiliate them. And it was because they acted wickedly on the heights of the mountains against the Most High that he sent them to their humiliation. But I don't want you to think that it is only in relation to the ancients that divine providence delivers those who were exalted in wickedness for the purpose of humiliating them and that they may be healed by such a wholesome remedy.
This site's exposition
they forgot the LORD their God
on Judges 3:7-8
Verse 7 is the second of the book's seven reports of evil. Where 2:13 named Baal and the Ashtoreths, it names "the Baals and the Asherahs", the wooden poles Deuteronomy 16:21 forbids beside the altar. So idolatry is described by its furniture as well as its gods.
This site's exposition
Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram-naharaim
Origen of Alexandria reads the oppressor's name as meaning humiliation, so Israel is handed to a king whose name describes their sentence. He holds that God humbles those lifted up in wickedness so that they may be healed. Eight years is the first servitude of the book.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Served - That is, were made subject to him. Mesopotamia was that part of Syria which lay between the two great rivers, Tigris and Euphrates. This lay at such a distance, that one would not have thought Israel's trouble should have come from such a far country: which shews so much the more of the hand of God in it.
Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel,.... Because of their idolatry; see Jdg 2:14, and he sold them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim, king of Mesopotamia; or Aramnaharaim; that is, Syria, between the two rivers, which were Tigris and Euphrates; hence the Greek name of this place is as here called Mesopotamia.
It is probable that this was a warlike prince, and, aiming to enlarge his dominions, he invaded the two tribes first on the other side Jordan that lay next him, and afterwards, perhaps by degrees, penetrated into the heart of the country, and as far as he went put them under contribution, exacting it with rigour, and perhaps quartering soldiers upon them.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Chushan-rishathaim - Kushan, the wicked or impious; and so the word is rendered by the Chaldee Targum, the Syriac, and the Arabic, wherever it occurs in this chapter. King of Mesopotamia - King of ארם נהרים Aram naharayim, “Syria of the two rivers;” translated Mesopotamia by the Septuagint and Vulgate. It was the district situated between the Tigris and Euphrates, called by the Arabian geographers Maverannaher, “the country beyond the river,” it is now called Diarbek. See the note on Act 2:
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
sold them--that is, "delivered them" into the hand of Chushan-rishathaim--or, Chushan, "the wicked." This name had been probably given him from his cruel and impious character. served Chushan-rishathaim eight years--by the payment of a stipulated tribute yearly, the raising of which must have caused a great amount of labor and privation.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Here we hold again the thread of the proper narrative, which seems as if it ought to have run thus Jdg 1:1: Now, etc. Jdg 3:8, therefore (or “and”) etc. Served Chushan-Rishathaim - This is the same phrase as in Jdg 3:14. From it is derived the expression, “the times of servitude,” as distinguished from “the times of rest,” in speaking of the times of the Judges. Mesopotamia, or Aram-naharaim, was the seat of Nimrod’s kingdom, and Nimrod was the son of Cush Gen 10:8-12. Rishathaim is perhaps the name of a city, or a foreign word altered to a Hebrew form. Nothing is known from history, or the cuneiform inscriptions, of the political condition of Mesopotamia at this time, though Thotmes I and III in the 18th Egyptian dynasty are known to have invaded Mesopotamia. It is, however, in accordance with such an aggressive Aramean movement toward Palestine, that as early as the time of Abraham we find the kings of Shinar and of Elam invading the south of Palestine. There is also distinct evidence in the names of the Edomite kings Gen 36:32, Gen 36:35, Gen 36:37 of an Aramean dynasty in Edom about the time of the early Judges. Compare, too, Job 1:17.
The words behind it
19 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּֽחַר־ | vaiyichar- | and it burned | H2734 → | 91 times |
| אַ֤ף | ʾaf | [the] anger of | H639 → | 276 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | beyisrael | on Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וַֽיִּמְכְּרֵ֗ם | vaiyimkerem | and he sold them | H4376 → | 80 times |
| בְּיַד֙ | beyad | in [the] hand of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| כּוּשַׁ֣ן | kushan | Cushan- | H3573 → | 8 times |
| רִשְׁעָתַ֔יִם | rishatayim | Rishathaim | H3573 → | 8 times |
| מֶ֖לֶךְ | melekh | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| אֲרַ֣ם | ʾaram | Aram | H763 → | |
| נַהֲרָ֑יִם | naharayim | Naharaim | H763 → | |
| וַיַּעַבְד֧וּ | vaiyaavdu | and they served | H5647 → | 288 times |
| בְנֵֽי־ | venei- | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כּוּשַׁ֥ן | kushan | Cushan- | H3573 → | 8 times |
| רִשְׁעָתַ֖יִם | rishatayim | Rishathaim | H3573 → | 8 times |
| שְׁמֹנֶ֥ה | shemoneh | eight | H8083 → | 109 times |
| שָׁנִֽים׃ | shanim | years | H8141 → | 877 times |
וַיִּֽחַר־and it burned
vaiyichar-H2734 →91 times
אַ֤ף[the] anger of
ʾafH639 →276 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔לon Israel
beyisraelH3478 →2507 times
וַֽיִּמְכְּרֵ֗םand he sold them
vaiyimkeremH4376 →80 times
בְּיַד֙in [the] hand of
beyadH3027 →1618 times
כּוּשַׁ֣ןCushan-
kushanH3573 →8 times
רִשְׁעָתַ֔יִםRishathaim
rishatayimH3573 →8 times
מֶ֖לֶךְ[the] king of
melekhH4428 →2525 times
אֲרַ֣םAram
ʾaramH763 →
נַהֲרָ֑יִםNaharaim
naharayimH763 →
וַיַּעַבְד֧וּand they served
vaiyaavduH5647 →288 times
בְנֵֽי־[the] people of
venei-H1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֛לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
כּוּשַׁ֥ןCushan-
kushanH3573 →8 times
רִשְׁעָתַ֖יִםRishathaim
rishatayimH3573 →8 times
שְׁמֹנֶ֥הeight
shemonehH8083 →109 times
שָׁנִֽים׃years
shanimH8141 →877 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 32:30How could one man pursue a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?
it leads to
- Leviticus 26:8
Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.
- Joshua 23:10
One of you can put a thousand to flight, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as He promised.
- Isaiah 30:17
A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee, until you are left alone like a pole on a mountaintop, like a banner on a…
- Leviticus 26:8
Through
Judges 2:14Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of those who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they…
it leads to
- Psalms 106:40–42
So the anger of the LORD burned against His people, and He abhorred His own inheritance.
- 2 Kings 17:20
So the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel. He afflicted them and delivered them into the hands of plunderers, until He had banished them from His presence.
- Deuteronomy 32:30
How could one man pursue a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?
- Psalms 106:40–42
Through
Psalms 85:3You withheld all Your fury; You turned from Your burning anger.
it leads to
- Psalms 106:23
So He said He would destroy them— had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach to divert His wrath from destroying them.
- Deuteronomy 13:17
Nothing devoted to destruction shall cling to your hands, so that the LORD will turn from His fierce anger, grant you mercy, show you compassion, and multiply you as He swore to your fathers,
- Psalms 106:23
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies10
About Judges
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JUDGES 3.1.