Shamgar Delivers From The Philistines (Judges 3:31).
‘ And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who smote six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox goad. And he also delivered Israel.' Inevitably pressure was beginning to arise from the Philistines in the west. There Shamgar, the son of Anath, was a judge of Israel, and he kept them to some extent at bay. But ‘the highways were unoccupied and the people walked in by-ways' (Judges 5:6), so times were difficult.
The incident described was a memorable one connected with his name, and he was clearly famous for fighting with an ox goad, a long-handled, sturdy wooden instrument with a metal pin in it, perhaps six to eight foot (two metres plus) in length, which could be wielded with deadly effect. Possibly the details of his other exploits were lost, but this was sufficient to demonstrate that Yahweh was with him and helping ‘Israel', in his case probably Judah and Simeon.
Anath, the name of his father, was the name of a Canaanite goddess, Baal's sister who in the Canaanite myths searches for the dead Baal and on finding him smites Death (Moth). She is regularly called ‘the Virgin' at Ugarit, but not in our understanding of virgin. It rather denotes her availability for and propensity for sexual relations. This name adds to the genuine background of the story. But it need have no significance as regards Anath's allegiance, although it may tell us something about his mother and her allegiance. Perhaps they lived near Beth-anath, ‘the house of Anath' (Joshua 15:59).
But ‘son of Anath' may instead mean that that was a name given to him by the Canaanites around, signifying his warlikeness as being ‘like Anath'. He may have been popularly called ‘the son of Anath' (as we might call someone a Hercules).
The ‘hundreds' would be smaller units than the ‘elephs' (thousands). (Compare the ‘legions' and the ‘centuries' of the later Roman army where the actual numbers were far less than the number words suggested). But six of these units (say ninety men upwards) Shamgar destroyed with an ox goad, although probably assisted by his men. It would give the Philistines pause before they attacked again.
The name Shamgar possibly connects with the Hurrian ‘simiqari' and is testified to at Nuzi. It was not a native Hebrew name but that does not mean that he had not come within the covenant. All who would worship Yahweh truly and submit to His will could come within the covenant, and his family may well have done that generations before in Egypt, while retaining family names.
“And he also delivered Israel.” This demonstrates that he was a ‘judge' and that Yahweh was with him, keeping the Philistines at bay. (Such men are often called ‘minor judges' by modern commentators, but that is simply because little is known about them).
The whole description is tacked on to the Ehud story because it was only a snippet, to indicate that other activity was also taking place. But the event occurred early as is testified to by the song of Deborah (c 1125 BC).