Judges 3:12-30

Ehud and the Moabites

v. 12. And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord strengthened, encouraged, Eglon, the king of Moab, the country southeast of the Dead Sea, against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord.

v. 13. And he, Eglon, who evidently combined shrewdness with energy, gathered unto him the children of Ammon, to the northeast, like those of Moab, inveterate enemies of Israel, Deuteronomy 23:3-Numbers :, and Amalek, toward the southwest, also ancient enemies of the Lord's people, Exodus 17:10-Nehemiah :, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palmtrees, the fertile oasis in which the ruins of Jericho were located. Evidently not only the tribe of Benjamin, in whose territory the battle was fought, but all Israel, had grown careless, dull, and incapable.

v. 14. So the children of Israel served Eglon, the king of Moab, eighteen years, by a regular payment of tribute, such as he chose to exact.

v. 15. But when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, being roused from their lethargy once more, the Lord raised them up a deliverer, as before, Ehud, the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man left-handed, literally, "unpracticed, awkward, with the right hand," because the skill which other people have in their right hand he had in his left; and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon, the, king of Moab, he being the leader or spokesman of the delegation bearing the proof of their subjection.

v. 16. But Ehud, before setting out on this humiliating mission, made him a dagger which had two edges, a very effective weapon for stabbing at short range, of a cubit length (about twenty inches); and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh, out of sight and on the side from which he could immediately draw.

v. 17. And he brought the present unto Eglon, king of Moab, who had made the oasis of Jericho his headquarters while he held the supremacy over Israel; and Eglon was a very fat man, extremely corpulent, even for an Oriental monarch.

v. 18. And when he, Ehud, had made an end to offer the present, the audience giving him an opportunity to make the observations which he needed, he sent away the people that bare the present, for it was considered a mark of special respect to have a great many bearers for the tribute.

v. 19. But he himself turned again from the quarries, or boundary-stones, that were by Gilgal, unto which point he had accompanied the rest of the delegation, returning to the quarters of the Moabite king, and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king; who said, Keep silence, thus bidding Ehud wait until the room was cleared before imparting his secret message, which Eglon naturally thought to be of value to him, especially since the return of Ehud alone seemed to indicate that he did not want his companions to know what he had to say. And all that stood by him, the usual attendants of the king, went out from him, at the king's signal indicating that he wished to be alone with the visitor.

v. 20. And Ehud came unto him, approached nearer to him; and he was sitting in a summer parlor, an inner chamber, opening on an exposed balcony, his private chamber, and a cool retreat, which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat, probably out of respect for this word.

v. 21. And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his (Eglon's) belly;

v. 22. and the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, holding it firmly inside the abdomen, so that he, Ehud, could not draw the dagger out of his belly; and the dirt came out, or, the point of the blade came out at the rear.

v. 23. Then Ehud went forth through the porch, the open balcony, and shut the doors of the parlor upon him, and locked them.

v. 24. When he was gone out, with a calmness intended to disarm every suspicion on the part of the king's attendants, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlor were locked, they said, Surely he covereth his feet (doeth his easement) in his summer chamber.

v. 25. And they tarried till they were ashamed, these words adding the notion of displeasure and ill humor; and, behold, he opened not the doors of the parlor; therefore they took a key, another key, and opened them, the long silence having filled them with great uneasiness; and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth.

v. 26. And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the quarries, or the boundary-stones, and escaped unto Seirath, in the foothills toward the northwest.

v. 27. And it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim, this trumpet-blast being transmitted among the mountains, and the children of Israel, with whom he had evidently agreed upon this signal, went down with him from the mount, and he before them, as their leader.

v. 28. And he said unto them, Follow after me; for the Lord hath delivered your enemies, the Moabites, into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and suffered not a man, namely, of the Moabites, to pass over and thus to escape. The Moabite army was therefore trapped between the Jordan and the mountains, with their leader dead.

v. 29. And they slew of Moab at that time, in the battle which followed, about ten thousand men, all lusty, literally, "fat," in good physical condition, and all men of valor; and there escaped not a man, Moab was thoroughly vanquished.

v. 30. So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years.