Judges 3:18

18 And when he had made an end of offering the present, he sent away the people who bore the present.

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 But Ehud made himself a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit length; and he girded it under his raiment upon his right thigh.

17 And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab. And Eglon was a very fat man.

18 And when he had made an end of offering the present, he sent away the people who bore the present.

19 But he himself turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal and said, "I have a secret errand unto thee, O king," who said, "Keep silence!" And all who stood by him went out from him.

20 And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting in a summer parlor, which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said, "I have a message from God unto thee." And he arose out of his seat.