Judges 3:18

18 After he had given Eglon the payment, Ehud sent away the people who had carried it.

Judges 3:18 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 3:18

And when he had made an end to offer the present
Had delivered the several things contained in it, and very probably made a speech to the king in the name of the people of Israel from whom he brought it:

he sent away the people that bare the present;
not the servants of Eglon that introduced him, as if they assisted in bringing in the present to the king; for over them he could not have so much power as to dismiss them at pleasure; but the children of Israel that came along with him, and carried the present for him: these he dismissed, not in the presence of the king of Moab, but after he had taken his leave of him, and when he had gone on some way in his return home; and this he did for the greater secrecy of his design, and that he might when he had finished it the more easily escape alone, and be without any concern for or care of the safety of others.

Judges 3:18 In-Context

16 Ehud made himself a sword with two edges, about eighteen inches long, and he tied it to his right hip under his clothes.
17 Ehud gave Eglon king of Moab the payment he demanded. Now Eglon was a very fat man.
18 After he had given Eglon the payment, Ehud sent away the people who had carried it.
19 When he passed the statues near Gilgal, he turned around and said to Eglon, "I have a secret message for you, King Eglon." The king said, "Be quiet!" Then he sent all of his servants out of the room.
20 Ehud went to King Eglon, as he was sitting alone in the room above his summer palace. Ehud said, "I have a message from God for you." As the king stood up from his chair,
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.