Judges 3:8

“Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, etc.] Because of their idolatry; (see <070214>Judges 2:14,20); and he sold them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim, king of Mesopotamia; or Aramnaharaim; that is, Syria, between the two rivers, which were Tigris and Euphrates; hence the Greek name of this place is as here called Mesopotamia. Josephus f45 calls him king of Assyria, and gives him the name of Chusarthus; and indeed Chushanrishathaim seems to be his whole name, though the Targum makes Rishathaim to be an epithet, and calls him Cushan, the wicked king of Syria; the word is of the dual number, and signifies two wickednesses; which, according to the mystical exposition of the…”

“OTHNIEL DELIVERS ISRAEL. (Jdg 3:8-11) sold them--that is, "delivered them" into the hand of Chushan-rishathaim--or, Chushan, "the wicked." This name had been probably given him from his cruel and impious character. served Chushan-rishathaim eight years--by the payment of a stipulated tribute yearly, the raising of which must have caused a great amount of labor and privation.”

“Here we hold again the thread of the proper narrative, which seems as if it ought to have run thus Judges 1:1 : Now, etc. Judges 3:8, therefore (or “and”) etc. Served Chushan-Rishathaim - This is the same phrase as in Judges 3:14. From it is derived the expression, “the times of servitude,” as distinguished from “the times of rest,” in speaking of the times of the Judges. Mesopotamia, or Aram-naharaim, was the seat of Nimrod’s kingdom, and Nimrod was the son of Cush Genesis 10:8-12. Rishathaim is perhaps the name of a city, or a foreign word altered to a Hebrew form. Nothing is known from history, or the cuneiform inscriptions, of the political condition of Mesopotamia at this time, though…”

“Served - That is, were made subject to him. Mesopotamia was that part of Syria which lay between the two great rivers, Tigris and Euphrates. This lay at such a distance, that one would not have thought Israel's trouble should have come from such a far country: which shews so much the more of the hand of God in it. Judges 3:9”

“am 2591, bc 1413, An, Ex, Is, 78 was hot: Jdg 2:14, Jdg 2:20; Exo 22:24; Deu 29:20; Psa 6:1, Psa 85:3 he sold: Jdg 2:14, Jdg 4:9; Deu 32:30; Sa1 12:9; Isa 50:1; Rom 7:14 Chushanrishathaim: Hab 3:7 Mesopotamia: Heb. Aram-naharaim. Aram-naharayim, "Syria of the two rivers," or Mesopotamia, "between the rivers," is a famous province situated between the Tigris and Euphrates. It is called by Arabian geographers, Maverannaher, "the country beyond the river;" and is now called Diarbek. Judges 3:9”