What Does Judges 3:10 Mean in the King James?
And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the LORD delivered Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushan-rishathaim.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The king’s defeat is described as something given into a hand, and that same hand grows strong: the verse joins received deliverance to enacted strength.
THE MEANING
The LORD’s breath rests on the one who judges, and judgment moves into action: he goes out to war. The LORD gives the opposing king into his hand, and that same hand grows strong against him. The verse holds received help and human action in one living movement.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Divine help does not mean the person remains passive; here the LORD gives the victory into a hand that still moves into the conflict.
THE ROOT
וַיִּתֵּן
wayyitten
GROWS FROM
נתן
natan
To give, set, or place.
“delivered” in this verse is wayyitten. The Hebrew verb says “gave”: the king is placed into the judge’s hand. The sentence then repeats “hand” and says that hand grows strong, joining what is received to what is enacted.
ALSO GROWS
natan: To give or place.
נָתַן
This is the verb behind the LORD giving the king into the judge’s hand.
mattanah: Gift.
מַתָּנָה
The related word for a gift echoes the passage’s picture of strength and victory as received.
רוּחַ
ruach
GROWS FROM
רוח
ruach
Wind, breath, or spirit.
English separates “Spirit” from wind and breath, while ruach can name all three. Here the LORD’s ruach marks the animating presence that rests on the judge.
ALSO GROWS
ruach: Wind: moving air.
רוּחַ
This sense keeps the word’s image of an active force in view.
ruach: Breath: the air that gives life.
רוּחַ
This sense reveals the bodily, living dimension carried by the same Hebrew word.
ruach: Spirit: the LORD’s animating presence.
רוּחַ
This is the sense in the verse, joined in Hebrew to wind and breath rather than separated from them.
וַיִּשְׁפֹּט
wayyishpot
GROWS FROM
שפט
shaphat
To judge, decide, or govern.
“judged” in this verse is wayyishpot. The shaphat family includes both the judge and mishpat, judgment or justice. The verse places Israel’s governance beside the battle: the same figure judges Israel and then goes out to war.
ALSO GROWS
shofet: Judge or ruler.
שֹׁפֵט
This names the person carrying out the judging in the verse.
mishpat: Judgment or justice.
מִשְׁפָּט
This branch shows that judging can name a public ordering of life, not only a private decision.
THE PATTERN
Strength received from God becomes visible through a person’s action.
But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abi-ezer was gathered after him.It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.THE THREAD
Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle.Judges uses נָתַן (natan), “give,” where the KJV says the LORD “delivered” the king into the judge’s hand. Deuteronomy uses the same root in “I have given into thine hand,” showing the hand as the place where what the LORD gives meets human action.
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