What does Judges 10:8 mean?

In response to yet another fall into faithlessness (Judges 10:7), God has "sold" His people of Israel into the hands of two historic enemies: the Ammonites (Genesis 19:36–38; Judges 3:13) and the Philistines (Genesis 10:13–14; Exodus 13:17). The Lord's anger is reflected in the ferocity of the attacks. These two nations overwhelmed the Israelites in a relatively brief time. The Hebrew root words used here are ra'ats, literally meaning "shatter," and ratsats, literally meaning "crush or bruise." This turn of phrase is somewhat like saying "shattered and shackled" or "crushed and captured" in English.

How long did Israel worship the gods of these other nations before the hammer of God's judgment fell? We are not told. Those who live in sin often believe they are getting away with it. They assume no response is coming, because it does not come immediately (Psalm 10:4–11; 2 Peter 3:3–4). The Lord, though, will not be mocked or ignored (Galatians 6:7; 2 Peter 3:10). The divine blow comes when the time is right.

This chapter will deal mostly with the attacks from the Ammonites. They begin east of the Jordan River in the territory known as Gilead or the "land of the Amorites." It's easy to confuse the Amorites and Ammonites. The area around Gilead belonged to the Amorites before God gave it to Israel, so it was still sometimes called the "land of the Amorites." The Ammonites are a different people, who wish to take possession of that area for themselves, as well as more territory west of the Jordan River.

Gilead is the region from which the most recent judge Jair and his sons governed Israel (Judges 10:3–5). It is the land east of the Jordan, south of the Yarmuk River, and north of the Jabbok River. The Ammonites oppressed the people of this region for eighteen years.