Judges 3:16-26

16 Ehud made himself a short two-edged sword and strapped it on his right thigh under his clothes.
17 He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Eglon was grossly fat.
18 After Ehud finished presenting the tribute, he went a little way with the men who had carried it.
19 But when he got as far as the stone images near Gilgal, he went back and said, "I have a private message for you, O king." The king told his servants, "Leave." They all left.
20 Ehud approached him - the king was now quite alone in his cool rooftop room - and said, "I have a word of God for you." Eglon stood up from his throne.
21 Ehud reached with his left hand and took his sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king's big belly.
22 Not only the blade but the hilt went in. The fat closed in over it so he couldn't pull it out.
23 Ehud slipped out by way of the porch and shut and locked the doors of the rooftop room behind him.
24 Then he was gone. When the servants came, they saw with surprise that the doors to the rooftop room were locked. They said, "He's probably relieving himself in the restroom."
25 They waited. And then they worried - no one was coming out of those locked doors. Finally, they got a key and unlocked them. There was their master, fallen on the floor, dead!
26 While they were standing around wondering what to do, Ehud was long gone. He got past the stone images and escaped to Seirah.

Judges 3:16-26 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.

Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.