Topic
Shamgar
7 passages cited, from 4 classic reference works.
These works date from 1884–1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- Judges 3:31Easton · Smith · ISBE · Nave A deliverer (judge, hero) of Israel
¶ 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.
- Judges 5:6Easton · ISBE · Nave A deliverer (judge, hero) of Israel
In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways.
- Judges 5:1–31ISBE
Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying, Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves. Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the LORD; I will sing…
- Judges 5:7ISBE
The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.
- Judges 15:15ISBE
And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.
- 1 Samuel 13:21Smith
Yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen the goads.
- 2 Samuel 23:11ISBE
And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentiles: and the people fled from the Philistines.
In the reference works
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · 2 references
The Philistines from the maritime plain had made incursions into the Hebrew upland for the purposes of plunder, when one of this name, the son of Anath, otherwise unknown, headed a rising for the purpose of freeing the land from this oppression. He repelled the invasion, slaying 600 men with an “ox goad” (q.v.). The goad was a formidable sharpointed instrument, sometimes ten feet long. He was probably contemporary for a time with Deborah and Barak (Judg. 3:31; 5:6).
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884) · 2 references
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 7 references
sham'-gar (shamgar):
1. Biblical Account:
One of the judges, son of Anath (`anath), in whose days, which preceded the time of Deborah (Jud 5:6,7) and followed those of Ehud, Israel's subjugation was so complete that "the highways were unoccupied, and the travelers walked through byways." The government had become thoroughly disorganized, and apparently, as in the days of Deborah, the people were entirely unprepared for war. Shamgar's improvised weapon with which he helped to "save Israel" is spoken of as an oxgoad. With this he smote of the Philistines 600 men. This is the first mention of the Philistines as troublesome neighbors of the Israelites (Jud 3:31). According to a tradition represented in Josephus (Ant., V, iv, 3), Shamgar died in the year he became judge.
2. Critical Hypotheses:
Several writers have challenged the Biblical account on the following grounds: that in Jud 5 no mention is made of any deliverance; that the name "Shamgar" resembles the name of a Hittite king and the name "Anath" that of a Syrian goddess; that the deed recorded in Jud 3:31 is analogous to that of Samson (Jud 15:15), and that of Shammah, son of Agee (2Sa 23:11 f); and lastly, that in a group of Greek manuscripts and other versions this verse is inserted after the account of Samson's exploits. None of these is necessarily inconsistent with the traditional account. Neverthelesss, they have been used as a basis not only for overthrowing the tradition, but also for constructive theories such as that which makes Shamgar a foreign oppressor and not a judge, and even the father of Sisera. There is, of course, no limit to which this kind of interesting speculation cannot lead.
(For a complete account of these views see Moore, "Judges," in ICC, 1895, 104 f, and same author in Journal of the American Oriental Society, XIX, 2, 159-60.)
Ella Davis Isaacs
In the topical indexes
Texts: Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897); Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884); International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915); Nave's Topical Bible (1896), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.