3:7 Each of the major judge accounts begins with the statement that Israel did “what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” As the major judge accounts are presented in two sets of three, the accounts of Othniel and of Gideon constitute the first judge in each set and appear with the same introductory formula. The judges that follow are introduced with a slight variation: “And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord” (Judg. 3:12; 4:1; 10:6; 13:1). This literary convention helps the reader to track the larger structure of the narratives presented in the book’s central section.

The book’s second introduction prepared us for this statement of Israel’s conduct and for the nature of the evil committed: idolatry (2:11). Here it is recorded that Israel “served the Baals and the Asheroth” because “they forgot the Lord their God.” In the OT the language of “forgetting” and “remembering” is used often with reference to covenant faithfulness, not with loss or gain of memory. For example, in Deuteronomy 4:23 God’s people are warned against forgetting the covenant by committing idolatry, and in 4:31 it is recorded that God will not forget the covenant—that is, he will always act in accordance with it. As such, to remember the covenant is to live according it. For example, God “remembered” the covenant he made with Noah and so caused the waters of the flood to subside (Gen. 8:1; cf. Gen. 9:15–16; 19:29; 30:22; Ex. 2:24; 6:5; Lev. 26:42, 45). Thus in Judges Israel does not forget about the Lord but rather fails to live faithfully in covenant with him.

3:8 The second element of the judge cycle is God’s giving or selling over of Israel into the hand of the enemy (cf. Judg. 2:14). In this instance Israel is sold into the hand of “Cushan-rishathaim” (“Cushan the double wicked”), “king of Mesopotamia” (lit., “Aram of the double river”). The period of subjugation is comparatively brief: eight years. The connection is clear between Israel’s idolatry in 3:7 and her subjugation in 3:8. In her idolatry she “served” foreign gods and so in her subjugation she “served” foreign nations. This irony is intentional: the punishment suits the crime. In Hebrew this verb can be translated as either “to serve” or “to worship,” depending on the relationship between the subject and the object.

3:9 The third and fourth elements of the judge cycle appear in this verse. First, Israel cries out to the Lord in the midst of her oppression (cf. Ex. 2:23). This may be an act of repentance or simply a cry of desperation. Either way it is the context in which God moves in compassion to raise up a judge to deliver his people—the next element in the judge cycle. In this case the judge is “Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.” Very little is known about Othniel, but we do know him to be a brave and capable warrior. He appears two other times in the OT (Josh. 15:17//Judg. 1:13; cf. 1 Chron. 4:13).

3:10 In the second introduction it was recorded that the success of the judges is connected to the enabling presence of God. “Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge” (Judg. 2:18). This enabling presence is frequently depicted as the Spirit of the Lord’s coming upon the judge. In Judges the Spirit comes upon Othniel, Gideon (6:34), Jephthah (11:29), and Samson (13:25; 14:6, 19; 15:14). Interestingly, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson are those judges that appear in Hebrews 11:32, alongside Barak. Deliverance by the power of the Spirit reminds us that the Lord himself saves his people. Othniel is the instrument; the Lord is the agent.

3:11 This last verse in the Othniel narrative includes the sixth and seventh elements of the judge cycle. First, it is stated that the land had rest for forty years, a number reminiscent of Israel’s wandering in the wilderness. Then it is recorded that Othniel died. This latter statement should prompt readers to remember the description in the book’s second introduction: “Whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers” (2:19). It appears that the life of the judge secured the rest of the land and the faithfulness of God’s people. It is, therefore, the death of one judge that moves us to look for the coming of another.