Judge Shamgar

Shamgar receives a single verse in Judges 3:31: "After him came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down 600 Philistines with an oxgoad; he too saved Israel." An oxgoad (malmad habakar) was a long wooden pole with a pointed, often metal, tip used to drive plowing oxen, a farmer's tool rather than a soldier's weapon. Judges 4:1 continues directly from Ehud, so Shamgar was probably a local deliverer active in Ehud's time rather than a ruler of all Israel.

The Song of Deborah remembers his era as one of insecurity: "In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were deserted and travelers went by winding paths" (Judges 5:6). His name puzzles scholars: Anath was a Canaanite war goddess, so "son of Anath" may point to a town such as Beth-anath, a warrior title, or a non-Israelite background. His feat is often compared with Samson's slaughter of the Philistines with a donkey's jawbone.