Jump to a verse
Judges 3:31–31, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Judges 3:31–31
Shamgar receives one line
Shamgar is a name, a tool, a number, and a deliverance
After Ehud, Shamgar son of Anath smites six hundred Philistines with an ox goad, and he also delivers Israel. That is the whole unit. There is no oppression scene, no call, no geography of the fight, no duration, and no moral portrait. 'Son of Anath' may be a personal or culturally resonant designation; certainty is not available.
An ox goad is an agricultural implement used here as a weapon. Philistine identity belongs to the Iron Age southern Levant. The number and the event are not independently verified. The verse expands the range of deliverers. It does not give enough to call Shamgar flawless, and it does not bless lone vigilantism or improvised violence as sacred technique.
How this should shape us
Honor a sparse record as sparse. Thank someone for a specific help without inventing a legend around them, and do not copy a wartime ox goad as a way to take justice into your own hands.
Teach it back
Explain Judges 3:31–31 in your own words. Include its scene movement, one source-supported detail, one material uncertainty, and one conclusion or imitation the complete context rules out.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: Shamgar's ethnic identity, historical placement, name, and relationship to the Song of Deborah are uncertain. His delivered-Israel role is explicit.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Judges 3:31–31, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clause relationships, repeated terms, wordplays, and translation control.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Judg.xml, 3:31–31
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, poetic, geographical, social, and uncertainty notes.
NET Bible Judges PDF, printed pp. 455-457, translation and notes on 3:31–31
Supports: Recent whole-book literary organization, differentiated judge portraits, progressive decline, Abimelech, Samson, and the double epilogue within the limits of preview access.
Assis, Before There Were Kings, inspected contents and exposed summaries for the relevant literary section, printed pp. 76-95
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Judges 3:31–31, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Judges
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clause relationships, repeated terms, wordplays, and translation control.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Judg.xml, 3:31–31
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Judges with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, poetic, geographical, social, and uncertainty notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Judges PDF, printed pp. 455-457, translation and notes on 3:31–31
Open source ↗modern scholarly monograph preview
Before There Were Kings: A Literary Analysis of the Book of Judges
Elie Assis
Penn State University Press / Eisenbrauns, 2024
Supports: Recent whole-book literary organization, differentiated judge portraits, progressive decline, Abimelech, Samson, and the double epilogue within the limits of preview access.
Exact location: Assis, Before There Were Kings, inspected contents and exposed summaries for the relevant literary section, printed pp. 76-95
Open source ↗