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Deceit, Assassination, and Deliverance

12 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight.[a] The Lord gave King Eglon of Moab control over Israel[b] because they had done evil in the Lord’s sight. 13 Eglon formed alliances with[c] the Ammonites and Amalekites. He came and defeated Israel, and they seized the city of date palm trees.[d] 14 The Israelites were subject to[e] King Eglon of Moab for eighteen years.

15 When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, he[f] raised up a deliverer for them. His name was Ehud son of Gera the Benjaminite, a left-handed man.[g] The Israelites sent him to King Eglon of Moab with their tribute payment.[h] 16 Ehud made himself a sword—it had two edges and was 18 inches long.[i] He strapped it under his coat on his right thigh. 17 He brought the tribute payment to King Eglon of Moab. (Now Eglon was a very fat man.)

18 After Ehud brought the tribute payment, he dismissed the people who had carried it.[j] 19 But he went back[k] once he reached[l] the carved images[m] at Gilgal. He said to Eglon,[n] “I have a secret message for you, O king.” Eglon[o] said, “Be quiet!”[p] All his attendants left. 20 When Ehud approached him, he was sitting in his well-ventilated[q] upper room all by himself. Ehud said, “I have a message from God[r] for you.” When Eglon rose up from his seat,[s] 21 Ehud reached with his left hand, pulled the sword from his right thigh, and drove it into Eglon’s[t] belly. 22 The handle went in after the blade, and the fat closed around the blade, for Ehud[u] did not pull the sword out of his belly.[v] 23 As Ehud went out into the vestibule,[w] he closed the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.

24 When Ehud had left, Eglon’s[x] servants came and saw the locked doors of the upper room. They said, “He must be relieving himself[y] in the well-ventilated inner room.”[z] 25 They waited so long they were embarrassed, but he still did not open the doors of the upper room. Finally they took the key and opened the doors.[aa] Right before their eyes was their master, sprawled out dead on the floor![ab] 26 Now Ehud had escaped while they were delaying. When he passed the carved images, he escaped to Seirah.

27 When he reached Seirah,[ac] he blew a trumpet[ad] in the Ephraimite hill country. The Israelites went down with him from the hill country, with Ehud in the lead.[ae] 28 He said to them, “Follow me, for the Lord is about to defeat your enemies, the Moabites!”[af] They followed him, captured the fords of the Jordan River[ag] opposite Moab,[ah] and did not let anyone cross. 29 That day they killed about 10,000 Moabites[ai]—all strong, capable warriors; not one escaped. 30 Israel humiliated Moab that day, and the land had rest for eighty years.

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Notas al pie

  1. Judges 3:12 tn Heb “in the eyes of the Lord” (also later in this verse).
  2. Judges 3:12 tn Heb “strengthened Eglon…against Israel.”
  3. Judges 3:13 tn Heb “and he gathered to him.”
  4. Judges 3:13 sn The city of date palm trees refers to Jericho. See Deut 34:3.
  5. Judges 3:14 tn Or “the Israelites served Eglon.”
  6. Judges 3:15 tn Heb “the Lord.” This has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  7. Judges 3:15 tn The phrase, which refers to Ehud, literally reads “bound/restricted in the right hand,” apparently a Hebrew idiom for a left-handed person. See Judg 20:16, where 700 Benjaminites are described in this way. Perhaps the Benjaminites purposely trained several of their young men to be left-handed warriors by restricting the use of the right hand from an early age so the left hand would become dominant. Left-handed men would have a distinct military advantage, especially when attacking city gates. See B. Halpern, “The Assassination of Eglon: The First Locked-Room Murder Mystery,” BRev 4 (1988): 35.
  8. Judges 3:15 tn Heb “The Israelites sent by his hand an offering to Eglon, king of Moab.”
  9. Judges 3:16 tn The Hebrew term גֹּמֶד (gomed) denotes a unit of linear measure, perhaps a cubit (the distance between the elbow and the tip of the middle finger—approximately 18 inches [45 cm]). Some suggest it is equivalent to the short cubit (the distance between the elbow and the knuckles of the clenched fist—approximately 13 inches [33 cm]) or to the span (the distance between the end of the thumb and the end of the little finger in a spread hand—approximately 9 inches [23 cm]). See BDB 167 s.v.; HALOT 196 s.v.; B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 142.
  10. Judges 3:18 tn Heb “the tribute payment.”
  11. Judges 3:19 tn Or “returned” (i.e., to Eglon’s palace).
  12. Judges 3:19 tn The words “once he reached” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Hebrew text simply reads “from.”
  13. Judges 3:19 tn Or “idols.”
  14. Judges 3:19 tn The words “to Eglon” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
  15. Judges 3:19 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eglon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  16. Judges 3:19 tn Or “Hush!”
  17. Judges 3:20 tn Or “cool.” This probably refers to a room with latticed windows which allowed the breeze to pass through. See B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 144.
  18. Judges 3:20 tn Heb “word of [i.e., from] God.”
  19. Judges 3:20 tn Or “throne.”
  20. Judges 3:21 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Eglon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  21. Judges 3:22 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ehud) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  22. Judges 3:22 tc The Hebrew text has “and he went out to the [?].” The word פַּרְשְׁדֹנָה (parshedonah) occurs only here, and is of uncertain meaning. The noun has the directional suffix, meaning “to the parshedon.” Some translations (e.g. KJV, NRSV, NASB, ESV, NKJV) take it as a reference to feces or intestinal organs coming out. This would interpret the noun ending as feminine (not directional). But the verb (וַיֵּצֵא, vayyetseʾ) is masculine so this does not explain the text, even though the notion might fit the context. The subject is either Ehud or the blade–either would match the verb form–and the word in question tells where the subject went out. If the blade (לַהַב, lahav) is the subject, then פַּרְשְׁדֹנָה (parshedonah) might be an anatomical reference describing the exit point; if Ehud is the subject, then the word is probably a technical architectural term. The entire phrase is missing from the LXX. The present translation omits the clause, understanding it as an ancient variant of the first clause in v. 23. See B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 146-48, for discussion of the options.
  23. Judges 3:23 tn Again the precise meaning of the Hebrew word, used only here in the OT, is uncertain. Since it is preceded by the verb “went out” and the next clause refers to Ehud closing doors, the noun is probably an architectural term referring to the room (perhaps a vestibule; see HALOT 604 s.v. מִסְדְּרוֹן) immediately outside the king’s upper chamber. As v. 24 indicates, this vestibule separated the upper room from an outer room where the king’s servants were waiting.
  24. Judges 3:24 tn Heb “his.”
  25. Judges 3:24 tn Heb “covering his feet” (i.e., with his outer garments while he relieves himself).
  26. Judges 3:24 tn The Hebrew expression translated “well-ventilated inner room” may refer to the upper room itself or to a bathroom attached to or within it.
  27. Judges 3:25 tn The words “the doors” are supplied.
  28. Judges 3:25 tn Heb “See, their master, fallen to the ground, dead.”
  29. Judges 3:27 tn Heb “When he arrived.”
  30. Judges 3:27 tn That is, “mustered an army.”
  31. Judges 3:27 tn Heb “now he was before them.”
  32. Judges 3:28 tn Heb “for the Lord has given your enemies, Moab, into your hand.” The verb form (a Hebrew perfect, indicating completed action from the standpoint of the speaker) emphasizes the certainty of the event. Though it had not yet taken place, the Lord speaks of it as a “done deal.”
  33. Judges 3:28 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for clarity.
  34. Judges 3:28 tn Or “against Moab,” that is, so as to prevent the Moabites from crossing.
  35. Judges 3:29 tn Heb “They struck Moab that day—about ten thousand men.”

12 Now the sons of Israel again (A)did evil in the sight of the Lord. So (B)the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. 13 And he gathered to himself the sons of Ammon and Amalek; and he went and [a]defeated Israel, and they took possession of (C)the city of the palm trees. 14 And the sons of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab for eighteen years.

Ehud Kills Eglon

15 But when the sons of Israel (D)cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. And the sons of Israel sent tribute by [b]him to Eglon the king of Moab. 16 Now Ehud made himself a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length, and he strapped it on his right thigh under his cloak. 17 Then he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. 18 And it came about, when he had finished presenting the tribute, that Ehud sent away the people who had carried the tribute. 19 But he himself turned back from the idols which were at Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And the king said, “Silence!” And all who were attending him left him. 20 Then Ehud came to him while he was sitting in his cool roof chamber alone. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he got up from his seat. 21 Then Ehud reached out with his left hand and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 22 The hilt of the sword also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade because he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and [c]the refuse came out. 23 Then Ehud went out into the [d]vestibule, and shut the doors of the roof chamber behind him, and locked them.

24 When he had left, [e]the king’s servants came and looked, and behold, the doors of the roof chamber were locked; and they said, “(E)Undoubtedly he is [f]relieving himself in the cool room.” 25 So they waited [g]until it would have been shameful to wait longer; but behold, he did not open the doors of the roof chamber. So they took the key and opened them, and behold, their master had fallen to the [h]floor dead.

26 Now Ehud escaped while they were hesitating, and he passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah. 27 And [i]when he arrived, (F)he blew the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was [j]leading them. 28 Then he said to them, “Pursue them, for the Lord has handed your enemies the Moabites over to you.” So they went down after him and took control of (G)the crossing places of the Jordan opposite Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross. 29 They struck and killed about ten thousand Moabites at that time, all robust and valiant men; and no one escaped. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land was at rest for eighty years.

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Notas al pie

  1. Judges 3:13 Lit struck
  2. Judges 3:15 Lit his hand
  3. Judges 3:22 Meaning of the Heb uncertain, but perhaps excrement
  4. Judges 3:23 Meaning uncertain
  5. Judges 3:24 Lit his
  6. Judges 3:24 Lit covering his feet; a euphemism referring to a squatting position
  7. Judges 3:25 Lit until shaming
  8. Judges 3:25 Lit earth
  9. Judges 3:27 Lit it happened
  10. Judges 3:27 Lit before them