📖 Biblical Definition
Third of the judges of Israel after Othniel and Ehud (Judges 3:31; Judges 5:6). Shamgar is described in a single verse: 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 3:31). The brevity of the account is itself instructive. Shamgar appears with the most modest equipment imaginable (an ox goad, the pointed stick used to drive plow oxen), without an army, without confederate tribes, without a recorded campaign — and the Lord uses him to slay six hundred Philistines and deliver Israel. The Song of Deborah confirms his historical setting: 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 5:6) — a portrait of Israelite oppression and disorder. Shamgar's example demonstrates a recurring biblical pattern: the Lord uses the unequipped, the unlikely, and the apparently inadequate to accomplish His deliverances. He does not require armies, sophisticated weapons, or politically connected leaders; an ox goad in the hand of a faithful man suffices when the Lord is doing the delivering.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Third judge of Israel (Judges 3:31); slew six hundred Philistines with an ox goad; the Lord's pattern of unlikely deliverance through unequipped men.
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SHAMGAR, proper n. (OT judge) Third of the judges of Israel after Othniel and Ehud (Judges 3:31; 5:6). Son of Anath. Described in a single verse: he slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel. The Song of Deborah confirms his historical setting (5:6 — days of oppression and disorder in Israel). Shamgar's example demonstrates the recurring biblical pattern of the Lord's use of the unequipped and unlikely for His deliverances.
📖 Key Scripture
Judges 3:31 — "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 5:6 — "In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways."
1 Corinthians 1:27-29 — "But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty."
Zechariah 4:6 — "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
No major postmodern redefinition. Shamgar is a minor biblical figure; the principal contemporary mishandling is simple ignorance of the account.
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Shamgar as a proper name does not undergo lexical corruption. The principal contemporary mishandling is simple ignorance: many modern Christians have never noticed the verse, have no awareness of his place in the judges-sequence, and have not received the pastoral lesson of his ox-goad deliverance. The recovery is the careful reading of Judges that does not skip the single-verse judges in pursuit of the longer Deborah, Gideon, Samson narratives.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Judges 3:31; 5:6; third judge of Israel; son of Anath; the ox-goad deliverer.
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['Hebrew', 'H8044', 'Shamgar', 'possibly Hurrian in origin']
['Hebrew', 'H6063', 'Anath', 'place or person name; possibly Beth-anath in Galilee']
['Hebrew', 'H4451', 'malmad', 'ox goad']
Usage
"Third judge of Israel; slew six hundred Philistines with an ox goad."
"The Lord uses the unequipped and unlikely for His deliverances."
"Pattern: not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit (Zechariah 4:6)."