Judges 3:17-27

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 to offer the present, he sent away the people that bare 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 that stood by him went out from him.

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

21 And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly:

22 And the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly; and the dirt came out .

23 Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlour upon him, and locked them.

24 When he was gone out , his servants came ; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlour were locked , they said , Surely he covereth his feet in his summer chamber.

25 And they tarried till they were ashamed : and, behold, he opened not the doors of the parlour; therefore they took a key, and opened them: and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth.

26 And Ehud escaped while they tarried , and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped unto Seirath.

27 And it came to pass, when he was come , that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and he before them.

Judges 3:17-27 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. quarries: or, graven images
• [b]. a summer...: Heb. a parlour of cooling
• [c]. the dirt...: or, it came out at the buttocks
• [d]. covereth...: or, doeth his easement