Judges 3:21

21 Ehud^[a] reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and plunged it into Eglon's belly.

Judges 3:21 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 3:21

And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from
his right thigh
Being, as before observed, a lefthanded man; ( Judges 3:15 ) , and this he could the better do, without being taken notice of by the king, who, if he saw him move his left hand, would have no suspicion of his going to draw a dagger with it, and which also was hidden under his raiment, ( Judges 3:16 ) ;

and thrust it into his belly;
Josephus ^F4 says into his heart; it is certain the wound was mortal, and must have been in a part on which, life depended.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 4. sect. 2.

Judges 3:21 In-Context

19 At the carved images near Gilgal he returned and said, "King [Eglon], I have a secret message for you." The king called for silence, and all his attendants left him.

20 Then Ehud approached him while he was sitting alone in his room upstairs [where it was] cool. Ehud said, "I have a word from God for you," and the king stood up from his throne.

21 Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and plunged it into Eglon's belly.

22 Even the handle went in after the blade, and Eglon's fat closed in over it, so that Ehud did not withdraw the sword from his belly. And Eglon's insides came out.

23 Ehud escaped by way of the porch, closing and locking the doors of the upstairs room behind him.

Footnotes

• [a]. LXX reads It happened that when he rose up, Ehud immediately