And the land rested forty years, and Othoniel the son of Cenez died.

So the land had rest forty years. Then Oth'ni-el the son of Kenaz died.

and the land resteth forty years. And Othniel son of Kenaz dieth,

Then for forty years the land had peace, till the death of Othniel, the son of Kenaz.

And the land was quiet for forty years. And Othniel, the son of Kenaz, died.

The land - means here, as in Judges 1:2, not the whole land of Canaan, but the part concerned, probably the land of the tribe of Judah. Forty years, here and elsewhere, is (like fourscore years, Judges 3:30) a round number, perhaps equivalent to a generation.

And the land had rest (f) forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.
(f) That is, 32 under Joshua and 8 under Othniel.

And the land had rest forty years,.... As it should seem from the time of this deliverance; though, according to Ben Gersom and Abarbinel, the eight years' servitude are to be included in them; and Bishop Usher (r) reckons these forty years from the rest first settled in the land by Joshua; but the former sense seems best:
and Othniel the son of Kenaz died: not at the end of the forty years; it is not likely he should live so long, but when he died is not certain; Eusebius (s) says he judged Israel fifty years.
(r) Anual. Vet. Test. p. 42. (s) Evangel. Praepar. l. 1O. c. 14. p. 502.

Othniel . . . died--How powerful the influence of one good man is, in church or state, is best found in his loss [BISHOP HALL].

Forty years - It rested about forty years, or the greatest part of forty years: it being most frequent in scripture to use numbers in such a latitude. Nor is it unusual either in scripture, or in other authors, for things to be denominated from the greater part; especially, when they enjoyed some degrees of rest and peace even in their times of slavery.