Judges 3:17

17 Then he presented the tribute to 'Eglon king of Mo'av. Now 'Eglon 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 But when the people of Isra'el cried out to ADONAI, ADONAI raised up for them a savior, Ehud the son of Gera, from the tribe of Binyamin, a left-handed man. The people of Isra'el appointed him to take their tribute to 'Eglon the king of Mo'av.

16 Ehud made himself a double-edged sword eighteen inches long and strapped it to his right thigh under his clothes.

17 Then he presented the tribute to 'Eglon king of Mo'av. Now 'Eglon was a very fat man.

18 When he had finished presenting the tribute, he dismissed the people who had brought it.

19 But he himself, after reaching the quarries at Gilgal, went back and said, "King, I have a secret message for you." The king commanded silence, and all his attendants withdrew.