Chushan-rishathaim

Chushan-rishathaim (meaning: blackness of iniquities) was the first foreign oppressor of Israel in the period of the Judges. He is described as king of Mesopotamia — or more precisely Aram-Naharaim, the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers — who subjected the Israelites to eight years of servitude after the death of Joshua (Judges 3:8). His name, which may be a contemptuous epithet applied by Israelite tradition, signals his character as an enemy of God's people.

His oppression ended through the ministry of Othniel, son of Kenaz and nephew of Caleb, who became the first judge of Israel. The Spirit of the LORD came upon Othniel, who led Israel in battle and prevailed over Chushan-rishathaim, securing forty years of rest for the land. The episode establishes the recurring pattern of the book of Judges: apostasy, foreign oppression, crying out to God, and deliverance through a raised-up judge.