After Ehud, Shamgar son of Anath rescued Israel. He once killed 600 Philistines with an ox goad.
Parallel translations
- WEB After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who struck six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox goad. He also saved Israel.
- KJV And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel.
- BSB After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath. And he too saved Israel, striking down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad.
- NKJV After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox goad; and he also delivered Israel.
- NASB Now after him came Shamgar the son of Anath, who struck and killed six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad; and he also saved Israel.
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
Shamgar strikes down six hundred Philistines with an ox goad and saves Israel.
Overview
This brief notice introduces another deliverer who used a humble farming tool against a formidable foe. God grants victory through unlikely means and instruments, magnifying His power rather than human weaponry. Shamgar's deliverance, like the others, points to the Lord as Israel's true Savior.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Judg 5:6“In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied. The travelers walked through byways.
- 1 Sam 17:47and that all this assembly may know that Yahweh doesn’t save with sword and spear; for the battle is Yahweh’s, and he will give you into our hand.”
- 1 Cor 1:17For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Good News — not in wisdom of words, so that the cross of Christ wouldn’t be made void.
- 1 Sam 17:50So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine, and killed him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.
- Judg 15:15He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, put out his hand, took it, and struck a thousand men with it.
- Judg 5:8They chose new gods. Then war was in the gates. Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?
- Judg 2:16Yahweh raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them.
- 1 Sam 13:19–22Now there was no blacksmith found throughout all the land of Israel; for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears”;
- Judg 11:4–33After a while, the children of Ammon made war against Israel.
- Judg 4:1The children of Israel again did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, when Ehud was dead.
- Judg 10:7Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the children of Ammon.
- 1 Sam 4:1The word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and encamped beside Ebenezer; and the Philistines encamped in Aphek.
- Judg 10:17Then the children of Ammon were gathered together and encamped in Gilead. The children of Israel assembled themselves together and encamped in Mizpah.
- Judg 4:3–24The children of Israel cried to Yahweh, for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and he mightily oppressed the children of Israel for twenty years.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 3:31 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.