Judges 3 Bible Study Guide — Summary, Themes & Outline

Judges 3 records the first three cycles of the judges period. Othniel, Caleb's nephew, delivers Israel from Cushan Rishathaim and the land rests for forty years. Ehud, a left-handed Benjaminite, uses his skill to assassinate the obese Moabite king Eglon and leads Israel against Moab for eighty years of rest. Shamgar kills six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. The pattern is established, and the reader sees both God's mercy and Israel's persistent unfaithfulness.