Bible Strands
Judges 3:9
But when the Israelites cried out to the LORD, He raised up Othniel son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz as a deliverer to save them.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the Israelites’ response after eight years of subjugation under Cushan-rishathaim, marking the moment divine judgment shifts to intervention.
The words — וַיִּזְעֲקוּ (va-yiz‘aḵû) translates as “and they cried out,” and וַיָּקֶם (va-yāqem) translates as “and He raised up,” structuring the verse around a direct cause-and-effect action.
The thread — This cry-and-response pattern repeats in Judges 3:15 with Ehud and aligns with the structural promise in Psalms 22:5 that crying to Yahweh yields deliverance.
Why it lands — It requires the reader to recognize that the narrative mechanism of Judges operates on a fixed sequence: oppression, invocation, and appointed rescue.
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
And when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.
Cross-references
- Judges 3:15 And again they cried out to the LORD, and He raised up Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed Benjamite, as their deliverer. So they sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab.
- Judges 1:13 So Othniel son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz captured the city, and Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him in marriage.
- Psalms 22:5 They cried out to You and were set free; they trusted in You and were not disappointed.
- Judges 6:7 Now when the Israelites cried out to the LORD because of Midian,
- Judges 10:10 Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, saying, “We have sinned against You, for we have indeed forsaken our God and served the Baals.”
- Judges 2:16 Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them from the hands of those who plundered them.
- Judges 4:3 Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, because Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and he had harshly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.
- Psalms 107:13 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress.
- 1 Samuel 12:10 Then they cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned, for we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and Ashtoreths. Now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, that we may serve You.’
- Nehemiah 9:27 So You delivered them into the hands of enemies who oppressed them, and in their time of distress they cried out to You. From heaven You heard them, and in Your great compassion You gave them deliverers who saved them from the hands of their enemies.