Bible Strands
Judges 3:8
Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram-naharaim, and the Israelites served him eight years.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator records Yahweh’s response to Israel’s idolatry, placing the event between their covenant breach in Judges 3:7 and their subsequent cry for deliverance in Judges 3:9.
The words — The text highlights אַ֤ף (af, anger) and יִמְכֹּר (yimmekhor, he sold), describing divine wrath that transfers Israel into the control of Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram-naharaim.
The thread — This pattern of burning anger followed by surrender to hostile powers recurs in Judges 2:14 and is echoed in Psalms 85:3 where God withholds His fury.
Why it lands — It demands recognition that covenant failure produces concrete subjugation, requiring the people to turn to Yahweh before intervention occurs.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushan–rishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushan–rishathaim eight years.
Cross-references
- Judges 2:14 Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of those who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.
- Judges 4:9 “I will certainly go with you,” Deborah replied, “but the road you are taking will bring you no honor, because the LORD will be selling Sisera into the hand of a woman.” So Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh,
- Psalms 85:3 You withheld all Your fury; You turned from Your burning anger.
- Habakkuk 3:7 I saw the tents of Cushan in distress; the curtains of Midian were trembling.
- Exodus 22:24 My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword; then your wives will become widows and your children will be fatherless.
- Deuteronomy 29:20 The LORD will never be willing to forgive him. Instead, His anger and jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse written in this book will fall upon him. The LORD will blot out his name from under heaven
- Deuteronomy 32:30 How could one man pursue a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?
- Judges 2:20 So the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He said, “Because this nation has transgressed the covenant I laid down for their fathers and has not heeded My voice,
- 1 Samuel 12:9 But they forgot the LORD their God, and He sold them into the hand of Sisera the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them.
- Psalms 6:1 For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments, according to Sheminith. A Psalm of David. O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger or discipline me in Your wrath.