Judges 3:9-15

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  3:11 The land had rest for forty years; then Othniel son of Kenaz died.

Deceit, Assassination, and Deliverance

3:12 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight. 6  The Lord gave King Eglon of Moab control over Israel 7  because they had done evil in the Lord’s sight. 3:13 Eglon formed alliances with 8  the Ammonites and Amalekites. He came and defeated Israel, and they seized the City of Date Palm Trees. 3:14 The Israelites were subject to 9  King Eglon of Moab for eighteen years.

3:15 When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, he 10  raised up a deliverer for them. His name was Ehud son of Gera the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. 11  The Israelites sent him to King Eglon of Moab with their tribute payment. 12 

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 “in the eyes of the Lord” (also later in this verse).

7 tn Heb “strengthened Eglon…against Israel.”

8 tn Heb “and he gathered to him.”

9 tn Or “the Israelites served Eglon.”

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 This has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

11 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.

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