EHUD ē’ hud (אֵה֤וּד, Judg 3:15, 1 Chron 7:10; אֵח֑וּד, 1 Chron 8:6). A Benjamite name designating the son of Gera. (“Abihud,” a personal name in 1 Chron 8:3, is prob. a mistake for “father of Ehud.”) Ehud was notable for being left-handed (Heb. “hindered in the right hand”), a physical characteristic sufficiently unusual in antiquity to merit mention. This hero led the revolt against the Edomite King Eglon, who early in the Judges period had subjugated Israel for eighteen years.

Some scholars have seen in the deliverance narrative (Judg 3:15-30) two closely interwoven accounts with Judges 3:17a being a continuation of 3:15b, and vv. 18, 19 an insertion between 3:17b and 20. However, this rearrangement does nothing to clarify or enhance the narrative, which possesses its own genuine motifs typical of the exploits of heroes in the E Mediterranean Heroic Age. While Ehud was not specifically described as a “judge,” the characteristic introduction and conclusion to the narrative (3:12-15a, 28-30; 4:1) indicate that the compiler of Judges clearly regarded him as such.

Before taking the annual tribute to Eglon, Ehud fashioned a thirteen inch double-edged dagger which he carried on his right thigh for convenience, being left-handed. Having publicly paid the tribute, he seized an opportunity through a ruse to speak privately to Eglon and slew the unsuspecting king. Gaining time by locking the body in the private chamber, Ehud escaped through a window and marshaled the W Jordanian Israelites to prevent 10,000 Moabite soldiers from fleeing homeward, thus insuring peace for eighty years (3:30).

Bibliography E. G. Kraeling, JBL (1935), LIV, 205-210.