Judges 3:9-10

3:9 When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, he 1  raised up a deliverer for the Israelites who rescued 2  them. His name was Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. 3  3:10 The Lord’s spirit empowered him 4  and he led Israel. When he went to do battle, the Lord handed over to him King Cushan-Rishathaim of Aram and he overpowered him. 5 

Judges 3:15

3:15 When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, he 6  raised up a deliverer for them. His name was Ehud son of Gera the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. 7  The Israelites sent him to King Eglon of Moab with their tribute payment. 8 

1 tn Heb “the Lord.”

2 tn Or “delivered.”

3 tn “Caleb’s younger brother” may refer to Othniel or to Kenaz (in which case Othniel is Caleb’s nephew).

4 tn Heb “was on him.”

5 tn Heb “his hand was strong against Cushan-Rishathaim.”

6 tn Heb “the Lord.” This has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

7 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 tn Heb “The Israelites sent by his hand an offering to Eglon, king of Moab.”