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So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.
Judges 3:14 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB The children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.
  • BSB The Israelites served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.
  • NKJV So the children of Israel served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.
  • NASB And the sons of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab for eighteen years.
  • NLT And the Israelites served Eglon of Moab for eighteen years.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Israel is enslaved to Moab for eighteen years as the consequence of its rebellion.

Overview

The eighteen-year servitude measures the weight of Israel's apostasy. Such oppression is the covenant curse for unfaithfulness (Deuteronomy 28), yet it sets the stage for grace. The prolonged bondage prepares the people to cry out and prefigures humanity's longer bondage to sin from which only God can deliver.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 3

  • Lev 26:23–25And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me;
  • Deut 28:40Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit.
  • Deut 28:47–48Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Judges videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Judges 3:14YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JudgesMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.

How Judges 3:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.