Judges 3:11

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

And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died. Othniel ... died. 'How powerful the influence of one good man is, in church or state, is best found in his loss' (Dr. Hall).

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, , 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, , although they were but seventy, as is affirmed, . So here the land is said to rest forty years, although they were in servitude eight of those years, . And in like manner the land is said to have rest eighty years, though eighteen of them they served the king of Moab, . 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, , 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, 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, 11:26; and to reign, for to begin to reign, ; and to build, ,36, for to begin to build, . 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 2:11 and in other authors.

Judges 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 1 Kings 6:1.

(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.

11. And the land had rest forty years] A formula of the editor, to whom the chronological scheme of the Book is due; cf. Judges 3:30, Judges 5:31, Judges 8:28; and Joshua 11:23; Joshua 14:15.

The land - means here, as in Judges 1:2, not the whole land of Canaan, but the part concerned, probably the land of the tribe of Judah.

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