Juges 3

¹ These are the nations the Lord left in order to test all those in Israel who had experienced none of the wars in Canaan.

² This was to teach the future generations of the Israelites how to fight in battle, especially those who had not fought before.

³ These nations included the five rulers of the Philistines and all of the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in the Lebanese mountains from Mount Baal-hermon as far as the entrance to Hamath.

⁴ The Lord left them to test Israel, to determine if they would keep the Lord’s commands he had given their fathers through Moses.

⁵ But they settled among the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

⁶ The Israelites took their daughters as wives for themselves, gave their own daughters to their sons, and worshiped their gods.

Note · Juges 3.1–6

L’apprentissage de la guerre ne constitue pas un idéal universel

La présence des peuples est reliée à la mise à l’épreuve et à l’expérience militaire des générations suivantes. Le texte situe les alliances matrimoniales dans un mouvement vers le service des autres dieux. Il ne propose pas une théorie de pureté ethnique applicable à tout mariage ni un ordre chrétien d’entretenir la guerre pour former les jeunes.

⁷ The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight; they forgot the Lord their God and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs.

⁸ The Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and he sold them to King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-naharaim, and the Israelites served him eight years.

⁹ The Israelites cried out to the Lord. So the Lord raised up Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s youngest brother, as a deliverer to save the Israelites.

¹⁰ The Spirit of the Lord came on him, and he judged Israel. Othniel went out to battle, and the Lord handed over King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram to him, so that Othniel overpowered him.

¹¹ Then the land had peace for forty years, and Othniel son of Kenaz died.

Note · Juges 3.7–11

Othniel illustre le cadre de la délivrance

Oubli, oppression, cri, intervention de l’Esprit et repos s’enchaînent en quelques versets. Peu de détails sont donnés sur les combats ou le gouvernement. Cette sobriété ne doit pas être comblée par une biographie imaginée ; la fonction du passage est surtout de poser le mouvement qui sera repris et compliqué dans la suite.

¹² The Israelites again did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. He gave King Eglon of Moab power over Israel, because they had done what was evil in the Lord’s sight.

¹³ After Eglon convinced the Ammonites and the Amalekites to join forces with him, he attacked and defeated Israel and took possession of the City of Palms.

¹⁴ The Israelites served King Eglon of Moab eighteen years.

¹⁵ Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and he raised up Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed Benjaminite, as a deliverer for them. The Israelites sent him with the tribute for King Eglon of Moab.

¹⁶ Ehud made himself a double-edged sword eighteen inches long. He strapped it to his right thigh under his clothes

¹⁷ and brought the tribute to King Eglon of Moab, who was an extremely fat man.

¹⁸ When Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he dismissed the people who had carried it.

¹⁹ At the carved images near Gilgal he returned and said, “King Eglon, I have a secret message for you.” The king said, “Silence!” and all his attendants left him.

²⁰ Then Ehud approached him while he was sitting alone in his upstairs room where it was cool. Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you,” and the king stood up from his throne.

²¹ Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and plunged it into Eglon’s belly.

²² Even the handle went in after the blade, and Eglon’s fat closed in over it, so that Ehud did not withdraw the sword from his belly. And the waste came out.

²³ Ehud escaped by way of the porch, closing and locking the doors of the upstairs room behind him.

Note · Juges 3.12–23

Une faiblesse supposée devient une possibilité de surprise

Éhoud se sert de la main gauche et dissimule son arme du côté droit. Le récit exploite cette singularité dans une scène de proximité avec le roi. L’annonce d’une parole de Dieu fait partie de la ruse rapportée ; elle ne donne pas une autorisation de tuer quelqu’un sous couvert d’un message religieux.

²⁴ Ehud was gone when Eglon’s servants came in. They looked and found the doors of the upstairs room locked and thought he was relieving himself in the cool room.

²⁵ The servants waited until they became embarrassed and saw that he had still not opened the doors of the upstairs room. So they took the key and opened the doors — and there was their lord lying dead on the floor!

²⁶ Ehud escaped while the servants waited. He passed the Jordan near the carved images and reached Seirah.

²⁷ After he arrived, he sounded the ram’s horn throughout the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites came down with him from the hill country, and he became their leader.

²⁸ He told them, “Follow me, because the Lord has handed over your enemies, the Moabites, to you.” So they followed him, captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross over.

²⁹ At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all stout and able-bodied men. Not one of them escaped.

³⁰ Moab became subject to Israel that day, and the land had peace for eighty years.

³¹ After Ehud, Shamgar son of Anath became judge. He also delivered Israel, striking down six hundred Philistines with a cattle prod.

Note · Juges 3.24–31

Le récit de délivrance emploie aussi l’ironie contre l’oppresseur

Les serviteurs tardent à entrer parce qu’ils interprètent mal le silence du roi. La fuite d’Éhoud conduit ensuite à la mobilisation et au contrôle des gués. Shamgar est nommé sans un développement comparable. La diversité des récits empêche de construire un portrait uniforme du juge, comme s’il possédait partout les mêmes origines et les mêmes fonctions.