Judges 3:23

23 Then Ehud went out to the porch[a] ; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.

Judges 3:23 in Other Translations

KJV
23 Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlour upon him, and locked them.
ESV
23 Then Ehud went out into the porch and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them.
NLT
23 Then Ehud closed and locked the doors of the room and escaped down the latrine.
MSG
23 Ehud slipped out by way of the porch and shut and locked the doors of the rooftop room behind him.
CSB
23 Ehud escaped by way of the porch, closing and locking the doors of the upstairs room behind him.

Judges 3:23 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 3:23

Then Ehud went forth through the porch
Which the Targum interprets by "exedra", a place, as Kimchi, where there were many seats, either for the people to sit in while waiting to have admittance into the presence of the king, or where the guards sat, and may be called the guard room; through this Ehud passed with all serenity and composure of mind imaginable, without the least show of distress and uneasiness in his countenance, being fully satisfied that what he had done was right, and according to the will of God:

and shut the doors of the parlour upon him, and locked them;
joined the doors of the parlour, as the Targum, the two folds of the door, shut them close together upon Eglon within the parlour, and bolted them within, or drew the bolt on the inside, which he was able to do with a key for that purpose; of which see more on ( Judges 3:25 ) ; and which it is probable he took away along with him; this must be understood as done before he went through the porch, and therefore should be rendered, "when" or "after he had shut the doors" F5; wherefore in the Vulgate Latin version this clause is put first.


FOOTNOTES:

F5 (rgoyw) "quum occlusisset", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Judges 3:23 In-Context

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.
23 Then Ehud went out to the porch ; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.
24 After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, “He must be relieving himself in the inner room of the palace.”
25 They waited to the point of embarrassment, but when he did not open the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them. There they saw their lord fallen to the floor, dead.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
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