Judges 3:17

17 Then he presented the tribute payment to Moab's King Eglon, who was a very fat man.

Judges 3:17 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 3:17

And he brought a present unto Eglon king of Moab
Accompanied by two servants, as Josephus says ^F2, and who doubtless bore the presents; for that there were such with him that did is clear from ( Judges 3:18 ) ; nor can it be thought that so great a personage as a judge in Israel should go alone and carry a present in his own hands; though it is possible, when come to the king of Moab, he might take it from his servants, and deliver it to him with his own hands:

and Eglon [was] a very fat man:
and so the less active, and unable to decline and avoid the stroke, he might see, when about to be given him.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F2 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 4. sect. 2.

Judges 3:17 In-Context

15 Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD. So the LORD raised up a deliverer for them, Ehud, Gera's son, a Benjaminite, who was left-handed. The Israelites sent him to take their tribute payment to Moab's King Eglon.

16 Now Ehud made for himself a double-edged sword that was about a foot and a half long, and he strapped it on his right thigh under his clothes.

17 Then he presented the tribute payment to Moab's King Eglon, who was a very fat man.

18 When he had finished delivering the tribute payment, Ehud sent on their way the people who had carried it.

19 But he himself turned back at the carved stones near Gilgal, and he said, "I have a secret message for you, King." So Eglon said, "Hush!" and all his attendants went out of his presence.