Therefore the anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Cushan Rishathaim eight years.
In response to His people’s cries for deliverance (cf. Exodus 2:23), God moved and empowered Othniel to lead the Israelites in throwing off their foreign yoke. Throughout Judges we read that God delivered the Israelites when they called out to Him for salvation from their desperate situations (cf. Judges 3:9; Judges 3:15; Judges 7:2; Judges 7:9; Judges 10:12; Judges 18:10). He did not wait until they cleaned up their lives, the popular meaning of repentance. God provided deliverance as grace in response to their helpless cry, not as a reward they had earned (cf. Joel 2:32; Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13). [Note: See Greenspahn, pp. 391-95; and Lawhead, pp. 25-27.] Each deliverance was "a sort of new exodus" for the Israelites (cf. Exodus 3:7-8). [Note: McCann, p. 42.] 