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Judges 3:31 (ANIV)
Shamgar
After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an ox-goad. He too saved Israel.

DRAWING NOTES:

TIME OF DAY:
Unspecified in the Bible narrative. I have set this scene at mid day.

LIGHTING NOTES:
The sun (high above) casts shadows below the figure and other objects in the scene.

CHARACTERS PRESENT:
Shamgar son of Anath.

RESEARCH/ADDITIONAL NOTES:
There are two versions of this scene:
01) (Previous page) Judges 03 – Shamgar, Israel’s third judge (Version 01).

02) (This page) Judges 03 – Shamgar, Israel’s third judge (Version 02).

The only difference between these versions is that the 2nd has the dead bodies of the Philistine soldier in it.

I have drawn Shamgar standing on the coast of the Philistines, with the Mediterranean sea behind him. Notice the city (of Ashkelon) near the horizon, on the right hand side. I thought I would illustrate Shamgar here where the Philistine strongholds were located, though there is no Biblical reference to him ever having gone to the coastal cities of the Philistine people. The Bible is largely quiet about this region of the Promised land, but I thought it would be nice to draw the sea behind this judge!

Here is the scene without the figures in the foreground.

Background of Judges 03 – Shamgar, Israel’s third judge (Version 01 and 02)

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Background of Judges 03 – Shamgar, Israel’s third judge (Version 01 and 02)

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Map – The 12 Judges home towns or locations

Notice that in Judges 4:1 the Bible says, “After Ehud’s death, the Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight.” Based on that statement, it would seem that Shamgar’s leadership as judge occurred after Ehud’s deliverance but before his death. So there would have been two judges operating at that time, both Ehud and Shamgar.

The name Shamgar is Hurrian [1], but this may only infer an Hurrian influence on his parents, not that he was a non-Israelite himself. Shamgar’s weapon was a ox-goad, an implement used to direct animals. Its consisted of sharp metal-tipped stick about 8 or 10 feet long, the other end usually had a chisel-like blade for cleaning a plow. It is possible that Shamgar was a man who dealt daily with livestock, such as a farmer or similar.

That he saved Israel identifies Shamgar as a judge, although the only comment the Bible makes regarding his judgeship was that he struck down 600 Philistines with an ox-goad. We don’t know whether this was in a single battle, or whether this tally was a lifetime total.

[1]
Defining Hurrian: a member of an ancient people, originally from Armenia, who settled in Syria and northern Mesopotamia during the 3rd–2nd millennia B.C. and were later absorbed into the Hittites and Assyrian nations.