Judges 3:15-22

15 Again the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he gave them a deliverer—Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab.

16 Now Ehud had made a double-edged sword about a cubit^[a] long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing.

17 He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man.

18 After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way those who had carried it.

19 But on reaching the stone images near Gilgal he himself went back to Eglon and said, “Your Majesty, I have a secret message for you.” The king said to his attendants, “Leave us!” And they all left.

20 Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his palace^[b] and said, “I have a message from God for you.” As the king rose from his seat,

21 Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king’s belly.

22 Even the handle sank in after the blade, and his bowels discharged. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it.

Judges 3:15-22 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 3

This chapter gives an account of the nations left in Canaan to prove Israel, and who became a snare unto them, Jud 3:1-7; and of the servitude of Israel under the king of Mesopotamia for their sins, from which they were delivered by Othniel, Jud 3:8-11; and of their subjection to the Moabites, from which they were freed by Ehud, who privately assassinated the king of Moab, and then made his escape, Jud 3:12-30; and of the destruction of a large number of Philistines by Shamgar, with an ox goad, Jud 3:31.

Cross References

• 1. S ver 9; Psalms 78:34; Psalms 107:13
• 2. ver 16; Judges 4:1
• 3. Judges 20:16; 1 Chronicles 12:2
• 4. ver 17,18; 2 Samuel 8:2,6; 1 Kings 4:21; 2 Kings 17:3; Esther 10:1; Psalms 68:29; Psalms 72:10; Psalms 89:22; Ecclesiastes 2:8; Isaiah 60:5; Hosea 10:6
• 5. S ver 15
• 6. S ver 15
• 7. Job 15:27; Psalms 73:4; ver 12
• 8. Amos 3:15
• 9. Nehemiah 8:5
• 10. 2 Samuel 2:16; 2 Samuel 3:27; 2 Samuel 20:10

Footnotes

• [a]. That is, about 18 inches or about 45 centimeters
• [b]. The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain; also in verse 24.