- 88-
Meanwhile the king's attendants, finding the room locked, have waited, till, at last, they
deem it necessary to break open the doors. The horror and confusion consequent upon
the discovery of the murder have given Ehud still further time. And now the
preconcerted signal is heard. The shrill blast of the trumpet in Seirath (perhaps the
"hairy" or "wooded") wakes the echoes of Mount Ephraim. All around from their hiding
troop the men of Israel. The first object is to haste back towards Jericho and take the
fords of Jordan, so as to allow neither help to come, nor fugitives to escape; the next to
destroy the garrison of Moab. In both, Israel are successful, and, "at that time" - of
course, not on that precise day - 10,000 of Moab are slain, all of them, as we should say,
fine men and brave soldiers. "And the land had rest fourscore years."
Ancient history, both Greek and Roman, records similar stories,^197 and, where the
murderer has been a patriot, elevates him to the highest pinnacle of heroism. Nay, even
Christian history records like instances, as in the murder of Henry III and Henry IV of
France, the former, even in its details, so like the deed of Ehud. But strikingly different
from the toleration, and even commendation, of such deeds by the Papacy^198 is the
judgment of the Old Testament. Its silence is here severest condemnation. It needed not
cunning and murder to effect deliverance. Not one word of palliation or excuse is said
for this deed. It was not under the influence of "the Spirit of Jehovah" that such
deliverance was wrought, nor is it said of Ehud, as of Othniel, that he "judged Israel."
Even Jewish tradition^199 compares Ehud to the "ravening wolf" which had been the
early emblem of his tribe, Benjamin (Genesis 49:27).
It must have been during this period of eighty years' rest,^200 that another danger at least
threatened Benjamin. This time it came from an opposite direction - from the west,
where the Philistines held possession. "After" Ehud (3:31), that is, after his example, a
notable exploit was performed by Shamgar ("the name of a stranger"?). Under the
impulse of sudden sacred enthusiasm, he seized, as the first weapon to hand, an ox-
goad, commonly used to urge on the oxen in ploughing. The weapon is formidable
enough, being generally about eight feet long, and six inches round at the handle, which
is furnished with an iron horn to loosen the earth off the plough, while the other end is
armed with a long iron spike. With this weapon he slew no fewer than 600 Philistines,
whom, probably, panic seized on his appearance.^201 The exploit seems to have been
solitary, and we read neither of further war, nor yet of Shamgar's rule, only that for the
time the danger of a Philistine incursion was averted.
(^)