- 87-
The next judgment to rebellious Israel came likewise from the east. Quite on the eastern
boundary of Reuben and of Gad lay the land of Moab. One of the chieftains of its tribes,
Eglon,^191 now allied himself with the old enemies of Israel, Ammon and Amalek, the
former occupying the territory south of Reuben, the latter the districts in the far south-
west, below Philistia. Eglon swept over the possessions of the trans-Jordanic tribes,
crossed the river, and made Jericho, which was probably rebuilt as a town, though not
as a fortress, his capital. Having thus cut the land, as it were, into two, and occupied its
center and garden, Eglon reduced Israel for eighteen years to servitude. At the end of
that period the people once more "cried unto the Lord," and "the Lord raised them up a
deliverer," although Holy Scripture does not say that in his mode of deliverance he
acted under the influence of the Spirit of the Lord. In the peculiar circumstances of the
case this silence is most significant.
The "deliverer" was "Ehud (probably, the praised one), the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a
man left-handed," or, as the original has it, "shut up"^192 or "weak" "as to his right
hand." The conspiracy against Eglon was well planned. Ehud placed himself at the head
of a deputation charged to bring Eglon "a present," or, more probably, the regular
tribute, as we gather from the similar use of the word in 2 Samuel 8:2, 6; 17:3, 4. But
Ehud carried under his raiment a two-edged dagger, a cubit long; according to the LXX
translation, about three-quarters of a foot. The tribute was delivered, no doubt with
many protestations of humility and allegiance^193 on the part of Ehud, and the deputation
graciously dismissed.
It was needful for his plan, and probably in accordance with his wish to involve no one
else in the risk, that the rest should be done by Ehud alone. Having seen his fellow-
countrymen safely beyond "the quarries that were by Gilgal," or, rather, as the term
implies, beyond "the terminal columns" (always objects of idolatrous worship), that
divided the territory of Eglon from that of Israel, he returned to the king, whose
confidence his former appearance had no doubt secured. The narrative here is
exceedingly graphic. The king is no longer in the palace where the deputation had been
received, but in his "upper chamber of cooling,"^194 a delicious summer-retreat built out
upon the end of the flat roof. Ehud professes to have "a secret errand," which had
brought him back when his companions were gone.
All the more that he does not ask for the withdrawal of the king's attendants does Eglon
bid him be "Silent!" in their presence, which, of course, is the signal for their
retirement. Alone with the king, Ehud saith, in a manner not uncommon in the East: "I
have a message from God unto thee," on which Eglon, in token of reverence, rises from
his seat.^195 This is the favorable moment, and, in an instant, Ehud has plunged his
dagger up to the hilt into the lower part of his body, with such force that the blade came
out behind.^196 Not pausing for a moment, Ehud retires, closes and locks the doors upon
the murdered king, and escapes beyond the boundary.
(^)