Son of Anath, judge of Israel after Ehud, and immediately before Barak (Judges 5:6; Judges 5:8; Judges 3:31). Probably a Naphtalite, as Beth Anath was of Naphtali. This tribe took a foremost part in the war with Jabin (Judges 4:6; Judges 4:10; Judges 5:18). The tributary Canaanites (Judges 1:33) combined with the Philistines against Israel, rendering the highways unsafe and forcing Israelite travelers into byways to escape notice. The villages were forsaken, and as in later times the oppressors disarmed Israel of all swords and spears (Judges 4:3; 1 Samuel 13:19; 1 Samuel 13:22). With an ox goad, his only weapon (compare Judges 15:15-16, an undesigned coincidence marking genuineness; 1 Samuel 17:47; 1 Samuel 17:50; spiritually 2 Corinthians 10:4; 1 Corinthians 1:27) he slew 600 Philistines, thereby giving Israel deliverance from oppressors for a time. So he prepared the way for Deborah and Barak's more decisive blow. The inadequacy of the instrument renders Jehovah's might the more evident.