Judges 3:31

The story of Ehud begins the way the book of Judges has taught us to expect. Judges 2:11–19 sets out the pattern of the whole period: Israel forsakes the LORD, he gives them into the hands of their enemies, they cry to him, he raises up a judge who saves them, and when the judge dies they turn away again. Othniel, the first judge, had given the land forty years of rest (Judges 3:7–11), and with this verse the second round begins. It was an unsettled age, which the book sums up in its closing refrains: “In those days there was no king in Israel” (Judges 17:6), and “every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).

“And the children of Israel did evil again.” The verb behind “again”, yâçaph, means to add or to do once more, so Israel added to the evil of the years before. They had lately seen the LORD deliver them, and they went back to the old way. The word for evil, ra, is the book’s usual word for Israel’s sin. It takes in the worship of other gods along with the wider wrongs that came from leaving the LORD. The phrase “in the sight of the LORD” stands twice in this verse, at its beginning and at its end, so the LORD’s answer is set between two statements of the reason for it. What Israel did was done before him and against him, an offence against his holiness and his covenant.

“And the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel.” The verb is châzaq, which in this form means to make strong, to strengthen or to make firm. The LORD is the one acting, and Eglon’s power over Israel came from his hand. Moses had set before Israel the blessings that would follow obedience and the curses that would follow disobedience (Deuteronomy 28, Leviticus 26:14–17), and Eglon’s rule is one of those curses come true. Everything in this passage happens under that same hand. The God who strengthens Moab in verse 12 raises up Ehud in verse 15 and gives Moab into Israel’s hand in verse 28.

“But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD”. The verb zâʻaq means to cry out, especially for help in hardship, and it can also mean to call people together. In Judges the cry is the turning point of each round of the cycle. After eighteen years Israel turned back to the LORD as their only help, and he answered. He had promised through Moses that when his people sought him in their distress he would hear them, be merciful, and keep his covenant with them (Deuteronomy 4:29–31), and a psalm sings of people who cry to the LORD in their trouble and are saved (Psalm 107:13–14). God answers a cry from people whose trouble is their own fault, and that is mercy.

“The LORD raised them up a deliverer”. The word comes from yâshaʻ, whose root idea is to be open, wide or free, and so to be safe. In its causative sense it means to free or to rescue, so a deliverer is a saviour, one who brings people out of danger into safety. The LORD raised him up, and the rescue was God’s work from the start, for salvation belongs to the LORD (Psalm 3:8).

The deliverer is named with care: “Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite”. His name, ʼÊhûwd, is linked in Strong’s with the idea of being united. Then comes the detail that matters for all that follows: “a man lefthanded”. The Hebrew phrase, ʼiṭṭêr yâmîyn, means “shut up” or “restricted in his right hand”. The words could describe an injured right hand. In this story they mark Ehud as a man who used his left, like the left-handed slingers of Benjamin in Judges 20:16. There is irony in it, because the name Benjamin means “son of the right hand”.

God chose a man restricted in his right hand, and that very trait opened the way to the king. The Lord told Paul, “my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9–10), and Ehud is an early picture of it.

“And by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab.” The present, minchâh, is a gift or tribute, and it is also the usual word for the grain offering brought to God (Leviticus 2:1). Here it is the tribute a subject people paid the king who ruled them, a sign of their servitude. Israel sent it by Ehud’s hand, and that duty gave him his way into the king’s presence.

“But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit length”. The word for dagger, chereb, is the ordinary word for a sword and for other cutting tools such as a knife. This one was short. It had “two edges”, from pêyâh, an edge, so it cut both ways and was made for thrusting. Its length is given by gômed, listed as a span or cubit. A cubit ran from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, about 18 to 21 inches (45 to 53 cm), long enough to kill and short enough to hide under a garment. Ehud made it himself for the work ahead.

He girded it “under his raiment upon his right thigh”. A right-handed man wore his sword on the left thigh and drew it across his body, and anyone checking a visitor to the king would look for a weapon there. A left-handed man draws from the right. Ehud’s dagger sat where it was natural for him and where few would think to look, so the trait named in verse 15 was put to use.

Ehud planned with care, and his planning was one of the means God used. God’s sovereignty and Ehud’s wise preparation work together here, as David chose five smooth stones before he went out against Goliath (1 Samuel 17:40). Proverbs says that every wisdom and counsel set against the LORD fails (Proverbs 21:30), and Ehud’s wisdom was put to work on the LORD’s side.

“But he himself turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal”. Ehud had left the palace, and at the quarries by Gilgal he turned back alone. Gilgal mattered to Israel. It was their first camp after crossing the Jordan, where Joshua set up the twelve stones taken from the river (Joshua 4:19–20), and where the LORD said he had rolled away the reproach of Egypt (Joshua 5:9). The word for “quarries”, pᵉçîyl, most often means carved images or idols, as in Moses’ command to destroy the graven images of Canaan (Deuteronomy 7:5), and Strong’s also lists “quarry” among its meanings. If carved images stood by Gilgal, Ehud turned back at a place of idols beside the place of Israel’s covenant, a picture of the idolatry that had brought Moab on Israel in the first place. On either reading the spot was a known landmark, and it marks his route again in verse 26.

“I have a secret errand unto thee, O king”. The word for errand, dâbâr, means a word or speech, and also a matter or thing. Joined with çêther, “secret”, it can mean a secret word or a secret matter. A private message for the king alone played on Eglon’s curiosity and his sense of his own importance. The king said, “Keep silence”, from hâçâh, to hush, “And all that stood by him went out from him.” His own command cleared the room.

“He was sitting in a summer parlour, which he had for himself alone.” The phrase joins mᵉqêrâh, cooling, with ʿălîyâh, an upper room, a chamber on the roof or an upper floor built to catch the breeze in the summer heat. It was a place of comfort and privacy, and it was the king’s own.

“I have a message from God unto thee.” This is the same word, dâbâr, as the “errand” of verse 19, and now it is a word from God. The word for God, ʼĕlôhîym, is plural in form, and when it names the true God it is a plural of majesty. Eglon, a pagan king, treated a word from God with respect: “And he arose out of his seat”, using qûwm, the common verb for rising, and he stood to receive it. The message truly was from God. God had raised Ehud to deliver Israel, and the word he carried was the LORD’s judgment on the king who oppressed his people.

“And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly”. The left hand of verse 15 and the right thigh of verse 16 meet here, and the king, standing within reach, is taken by surprise. The chereb Ehud made goes into Eglon’s belly, beṭen, the word for the belly and especially the womb.

“And the haft also went in after the blade”. The haft, nitstsâb, is the handle, a word meaning “fixed”, and the whole weapon went in. “And the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly”. The word for fat here, cheleb, is used of the fat of the body, and Eglon’s fat swallowed the dagger, so Ehud had to leave it in the wound. “And the dirt came out.” The word parshᵉdôn, from a root for the crotch or anus, refers to the contents of the bowels. The KJV’s “dirt” puts it mildly, and the detail is there to show how shameful the oppressor’s end was. The king who had grown fat on Israel’s tribute died alone in his private room, defiled by his own body.

The Psalms speak of this kind of end for the wicked, who fall into the pit they dug (Psalm 7:15–16), and they say that the LORD is known by the judgment he carries out (Psalm 9:16). The proud king who rose to hear a word from God received God’s judgment.

“Then Ehud went forth through the porch”. The word miçdᵉrôwn, from a root suggesting rows of pillars, means a colonnade or vestibule, the space between the king’s chamber and the rest of the house. He “shut the doors of the parlour upon him, and locked them.” “Upon him” means upon Eglon, so the king’s private room became his tomb. The verb nâʻal means to fasten up, as with a bar, and the doors would hold against anyone outside.

“When he was gone out, his servants came”. They found the doors locked and drew their own conclusion: “Surely he covereth his feet in his summer chamber.” To cover the feet was a polite way of saying that a man was relieving himself. The verb çâkak means to screen or cover over, and regel is the foot. A man squatting would draw his long garments around him and so cover his feet. The KJV uses the same expression of Saul in the cave where David and his men were hiding (1 Samuel 24:3). The servants’ guess was a natural one, and their respect for the king’s privacy kept them outside.

“And they tarried till they were ashamed”. The verb for “tarried”, chûwl, is one that elsewhere speaks of trembling and anguish, and “ashamed”, bûwsh, means to be put to shame, confounded or at a loss. They waited until the waiting itself became an embarrassment and they were at a loss what to do. “Behold” comes twice in the verse. The first time the doors are still shut: “he opened not the doors of the parlour”. So “they took a key, and opened them”, and the second time the truth is before them: “their lord was fallen down dead on the earth.” The great king lay on the floor of his own room.

The delay was the time God gave Ehud to escape. The servants acted on what they knew, and the LORD, who declares the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10), was at work in their waiting. His counsel stands forever while he brings the plans of the nations to naught (Psalm 33:10–11), the king’s heart is in his hand (Proverbs 21:1), and he works all things together for good for those who love him (Romans 8:28). He laughs at the kings of the earth who set themselves against him (Psalm 2:4), and in the end the wicked are punished (Proverbs 11:21).

“And Ehud escaped while they tarried”. This “tarried” translates another Hebrew word, mâhahh, which means to question or hesitate, and so to delay or linger. The verb for “escaped” is mâlaṭ, to get away from danger. He “passed beyond the quarries”, the same pᵉçîyl as in verse 19, going back past the landmark where he had turned, “and escaped unto Seirath.” Sᵉʻîyrâh is a place whose exact site is unknown, probably in the hill country of Ephraim, and its name may be related to roughness, perhaps a rugged or wooded place. There he was safe and could gather Israel. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him (Psalm 34:7).

“He blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim”. The shôwphâr is a curved horn, usually a ram’s horn, with a clear sound that carried across the hills. Israel used it to sound alarms, to call assemblies, to go to war and to mark feasts. It sounded at Sinai (Exodus 19:16) and before the walls of Jericho (Joshua 6:4), and later deliverers called Israel with it, Gideon (Judges 6:34) and Saul (1 Samuel 13:3). Nehemiah told the builders of Jerusalem to gather wherever they heard it (Nehemiah 4:20). The mountain of Ephraim, from har, mountain or hill country, is the central highland of the land, rough ground that was safe for gathering and looked down on the valley below.

“And the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and he before them.” The verb yârad means to go or come down, and they went down from the hills toward the Jordan valley to meet the enemy. Ehud went first. The man who had faced Eglon alone now led his people from the front.

“Follow after me: for the LORD hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” Ehud gives the victory to the LORD before a blow is struck. “Delivered” is nâthan, the common verb to give, and “into your hand”, from yâd, hand, is the familiar way of saying that God has put an enemy in someone’s power. The LORD had already decided the battle, and Israel went down to carry out what he had done. Moses had told Israel, “For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you” (Deuteronomy 20:4). A psalm remembers, “For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them” (Psalm 44:3). David said the same before Goliath: “for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hands” (1 Samuel 17:47).

“And took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and suffered not a man to pass over.” The fords, maʻăbâr, are the shallow places where the river could be crossed. Holding the fords that led toward Moab closed the road home to every Moabite on the west side of the river and kept help from crossing from the east. God had given Israel such complete victories before (Deuteronomy 2:36), and he did so again.

“And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valour; and there escaped not a man.” The word for “lusty”, shâmên, often means fat or well-fed, and here it describes strong, well-nourished men in their prime. “Valour” is chayil, which means strength, ability, wealth or an army, and “men of valour” are able, courageous fighters. The number is given as “about” ten thousand. These were Moab’s best men, and Israel, after eighteen years under them, destroyed them, so the victory was plainly the LORD’s. He had promised his obedient people victory over their enemies (Deuteronomy 28:7). David praised him for victory over strong foes (Psalm 18:37–40), and Isaiah promised deliverance from the mighty (Isaiah 49:25).

“So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel.” The verb kana means to humble, to bring low or to subdue. The Moab that had made Israel bow now bowed under Israel’s hand. “Hand” is yâd again, the same word as in Ehud’s “into your hand” in verse 28. What the LORD gave into Israel’s hand, Israel now held under its hand.

“And the land had rest fourscore years.” Fourscore is eighty, about two generations, against the eighteen years of servitude. The verb shaqaṭ means to be quiet, still or at rest, and the land lay quiet and free from its enemies. It was God’s gift, like the rest he had given under Joshua (Joshua 21:44). It was also temporary. When the judge died, Israel turned back to its old ways, as the book had said it would (Judges 2:19), and the chapters that follow show Israel straying again.

“And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel.” Shamgar’s whole story is this one verse, and Deborah’s song later speaks of “the days of Shamgar” (Judges 5:6). His name, Shamgar, is of uncertain origin, possibly Hurrian or Hittite, and Anath was the name of a Canaanite goddess of war. The names may point to a family of foreign descent or to a place linked with that goddess. Either way, God chose his deliverer without regard to rank or lineage.

The Philistines lived on the coastal plain in the south-west of Canaan. They had come there from across the sea, likely from Crete or the Aegean, and they had better weapons than Israel, including iron. Here they begin to press on Israel, and they would trouble Israel for generations (Judges 10:6–7). The story moves on from Shamgar to Deborah and Barak (Judges 4–5).

Shamgar’s weapon was an ox goad, malmâd, with bâqâr, ox. It was a long wooden pole, often eight to ten feet, with a sharp metal point at one end for driving the oxen and a flat blade at the other for scraping the plough clean. It was a farmer’s tool, and with it one man killed six hundred Philistines, by strength that came from God. David would later go out against Goliath with a sling (1 Samuel 17), and the LORD says through Zechariah, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit” (Zechariah 4:6). Paul says that God has chosen the foolish and weak things of the world to confound the wise and the mighty, so that the glory is his (1 Corinthians 1:27–29), and a psalm sets the LORD’s help above the size of any army (Psalm 33:16–17).

“And he also delivered Israel.” The verb is yâshaʻ, the same verb behind “deliverer” in verse 15, and the word “also” sets Shamgar beside Ehud as one more deliverer God raised up. His account is brief, and his deliverance may have been local or short. It carries the same message as Ehud’s: God saves his people by the hands and the means he chooses.

Every deliverer in Judges gave Israel a rest that ended. Ehud freed Israel from Moab, and after eighty years the cycle turned again, because the judges could free Israel from its enemies while the heart of the nation stayed the same. These stories make us long for a deliverer who could do more, and God sent him in his Son. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), and he delivers us from the power of darkness into his own kingdom (Colossians 1:13–14). Through him God makes the new covenant he promised, writing his law on the hearts of his people (Jeremiah 31:33, Hebrews 8:10). He proclaims liberty to the captives (Isaiah 61:1), the freedom he gives is freedom indeed (John 8:36), and his kingdom lasts forever (Isaiah 9:6–7, Luke 1:32–33).

The differences teach as much as the likenesses. Ehud went to the king with a hidden blade and a secret word. Christ came openly and laid down his own life. God showed his love for us in that Christ died for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8), and Christ gave himself for us as an offering to God (Ephesians 5:2). The cross looked like weakness and folly, yet the preaching of the cross is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18), and God’s foolishness is wiser than men (1 Corinthians 1:25). His wisdom was hidden from the rulers of this world, who crucified the Lord of glory in ignorance of it (1 Corinthians 2:7–8). Christ humbled himself to death on a cross, and God exalted him (Philippians 2:8–11). By his death he destroyed the one who had the power of death and freed those held by the fear of it (Hebrews 2:14–15). Paul writes that, forgiving us all our trespasses, God in Christ, “having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:13–15). Christ said “It is finished” (John 19:30), and he obtained eternal redemption for us (Hebrews 9:12).

Ehud brought Eglon “a message from God”, and God has now spoken to us by his Son (Hebrews 1:1–2). Ehud went down “before them”, and Jesus has gone before us as the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). He still says, “Follow me” (Matthew 4:19). Ehud blew the trumpet to gather Israel, and the Lord himself will descend from heaven with the trump of God (1 Thessalonians 4:16). Those he frees are made free from sin (Romans 6:18), raised to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4–11), and made more than conquerors through him who loved them (Romans 8:37). His peace is his own gift (John 14:27), it passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7), and it looks toward the day when God wipes away every tear and death is ended (Revelation 21:4).

This passage shows us a God who takes sin seriously, in his own people above all. He strengthened Moab against Israel, and he did it to bring them back to himself. It shows a God who hears. Eighteen years of deserved hardship ended when Israel cried to him, and he answered with a deliverer.

It shows a God who chooses unlikely instruments: a man restricted in his right hand, a farmer’s ox goad, the fat of a king and the courtesy of his servants. Every detail in the account is his to use, and every king stands under his judgment. Ehud’s word to Israel still holds for the people of God, that the battle is decided by the LORD before it is fought.

And it shows that his deliverances in Judges, real as they were, left Israel waiting for more. The eighty years of rest came to an end, and the rest Christ gives remains. The cry of verse 15 is where the help of God began for Israel, and the God who answered them then is the same God who hears his people now.