Judges 3:25

25 And they stay till confounded, and lo, he is not opening the doors of the upper chamber, and they take the key, and open, and lo, their lord is fallen to the earth -- dead.

Judges 3:25 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 3:25

And they tarried until they were ashamed
And knew not what to think of it, or what methods to take to be satisfied of the truth of the matter, and what should be the meaning of the doors being kept locked so long:

and, behold, he opened not the doors of the parlour;
this was what surprised them, and threw them into this confusion of mind, that they knew not what course to take for fear of incurring the king's displeasure, and yet wondered the doors were not opened for so long a time:

therefore they took a key and opened [them];
this is the first time we read of a key, which only signifies something to open with; and the keys of the ancients were different from those of ours; they were somewhat like a crooked sickle ^F9, which they put in through a hole in the door, and with it could draw on or draw back a bolt, and so could lock or unlock with inside, see ( Song of Solomon 5:4 Song of Solomon 5:5 ) ; and at this day the keys in the eastern countries are unlike ours. Chardin ^F11 says, that a lock among the eastern people is like a little harrow, which enters half way into a wooden staple, and the key is a wooden handle with points at the end of it, which are pushed into the staple, and so raise this little harrow:

and, behold, their lord [was] fallen dead on the earth;
lay prostrate on the floor of the parlour, dead.

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 (klhid' eukampea) , Homer. Odyss. 21. ver. 6. & Eustathius in ib.
F11 Apud Calmet's Dictionary, on the word "Key".

Judges 3:25 In-Context

23 And Ehud goeth out at the porch, and shutteth the doors of the upper chamber upon him, and hath bolted [it];

24 and he hath gone out, and his servants have come in, and look, and lo, the doors of the upper chamber are bolted, and they say, `He is only covering his feet in the inner chamber of the wall.'

25 And they stay till confounded, and lo, he is not opening the doors of the upper chamber, and they take the key, and open, and lo, their lord is fallen to the earth -- dead.

26 And Ehud escaped during their tarrying, and hath passed by the images, and is escaped to Seirath.

27 And it cometh to pass, in his coming in, that he bloweth with a trumpet in the hill-country of Ephraim, and go down with him do the sons of Israel from the hill-country, and he before them;